It has been an honor and privilege serving the California wrestling community… After serving the California wrestling community for over 25 years, I am departing from editorship responsibilities with the California Wrestler Newsletter (TCW) and moving on to a new chapter in my life. It has been an honor and... Read more

Ok, if any of you are fans of Top Gear (BBC) or Grand Tour (Amazon), you’ll “get” that headline. Our man, Al Fontes met up with his main man, Ali Afshar, who wrestled for Casa Grande High School in NCS some years back. Afshar’s now, among other things car-related, the... Read more

Mike Cho takes the reigns at The California Wrestler, and as a matter of course, his first post is data-packed! It features a list of previous California prep wrestling stars who find themselves now on college rosters. California Wrestlers Now on College Rosters For over two decades, The California Wrestler... Read more

CA Wrestlers: The Open Mat National High School Rankings – October 28, 2020 The California Wrestler covers high school wrestling and reports on CA wrestler rankings, as provided by The Open Mat. These California wrestler rankings are based nationally. See more California wresting reports on SportStars home page.120 – ZETH... Read more

National High School Rankings – October 2020 (California Wrestlers) Top Wrestler Rankings by Open Mat are contributed by SportStars INSIDER, Al Fontes of The California Wrestler. Feature image: 106 – ANDRE GONZALES (Poway, SD) #1 Nation Rankings by Weight Class 106 – Aden Valencia (Ann Sobrato, CC, 9) #4 106 –... Read more

Feature image: 120 – RICHARD FIGUEROA (Selma, CS, 12) 3x California State Champion/#1 Nation California’s Top Wrestler Rankings by Open Mat are contributed by SportStars INSIDER, Al Fontes of The California Wrestler. Rankings by Weight Class 106 – Aden Valencia (Ann Sobrato, CC, 9) #4 106 – Isaiah Quintero (El... Read more

Editor’s note: During this Covid-19 pandemic, sports at all levels are on hold. We are taking this opportunity to look back at significant chapters in our sports history, including the 1991 California college state wrestling championships roster. Feature image: 177 – MONDAY EQUABAR (East Los Angeles College, S) *Outstanding Wrestler... Read more

A bevy of seniors top 2020 AWN’s High School All-American Team. Gonzales, Figueroa, Vasquez, and Saldate earn First Team Honors. With more than 10,000 high schools across the country sponsoring wrestling programs for more than 250,000 athletes, it’s easy to see how picking the crème de la crème of those... Read more

Editors note: Regional Training Centers (RTC’s) are becoming very popular among the collegiate level programs. Fresno State also has an RTC program that is open to former wrestlers training for the international level, as well as top level high school wrestlers that meet specified criteria (e.g., cadet/Jr. All-Americans, state placers).... Read more

An exhaustive compilation of CIF State Wrestling Medal Count Since 1973 (Individual Champions from California schools) by Al Fontes- Editor, The California Wrestler. Feature image: Clovis High School (CS) Holds the CIF State Record of 177 Medals since 1973. The most wrestling champions crowned in State history. But several schools... Read more

California wrestlers did well, extremely well, across the national landscape in the recent NWCA Scholar All-American awards. USA Wrestling selections included Chase Saldate to the Dream Team. In our SportStars Wrestling Insider, Ike Dodson selected Saldate as the NorCal Wrestler of the Year. (For more, see “National No. 1 And... Read more

2x CIF State Medalist, Aliso Niguel’s Juliana Cubias-Marsh (pictured above and below), signs with Gannon University in Erie, PA (Division II)! Also, 2020 CIF State Medalist, Buchanan High’s Raymond Lopez Commits to Army West Point. It’s college commitment time. Certainly for The California Wrestler, this is one of the most... Read more