Rivalry among local standout wrestlers Hicks, Cruz, Kapler and Sanchez dates back to grade school days
| Wednesday, Feb 04 2009 11:02 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:28 PM
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Jonah Cruz, from BHS, celebrates after winning in overtime in his second round 140-pound match against Nikko Cataline of Roosevelt High.
Greg Kapler, Liberty High School
Seth Hicks of Centennial won the 135-pound title at the Central Section Yosemite Divisional in Lemoore.
Javier Sanchez, Ridgeview wrestler, is ranked No.2 in the Central Section at 140 pounds.
Centennial wrestler Seth Hicks knows it.
The revolving doors of the four-way rivalry that have followed his career are about to come to a close.
But not before a final hurrah.
Four of the state's best wrestlers — 135-pounders HIcks and Greg Kapler of Liberty, and 140-pounders Jonah Cruz of Bakersfield and Javier Sanchez of Ridgeview — hail from Bakersfield.
And if that weren't rare enough, they've known each other since they weighed half that much.
"In elementary school and middle school, I used to wrestle Javier and Greg all the time," Hicks said. "Then towards the end of middle school, I faced Jonah, and Jonah was my new rival. And now it's Greg. It's always been one-on-one."
The chance that those rivalries have turned into battles for Central Section championships — Hicks and Kapler are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the section by The California Wrestler, as are Cruz and Sanchez at their weight — is rare but perhaps not a coincidence.
"A lot of the most dedicated people in Bakersfield that have been wrestling since they were little are the ones who are going to come out like this," Cruz said. "We're probably the ones good enough — I mean, I've known Greg and Seth for a really long time, and we've all stuck it out."
The wrestlers have avoided, sometimes intentionally, any meetings thus far this year. Sanchez started the year wrestling at 171 and has steadily dropped his weight, while Cruz was at 145 before dropping five pounds. Kapler was at 140 before doing the same. Only Hicks has been in the same weight class since Christmas.
Kapler and Hicks had a chance to wrestle at last weekend's Kern County Invitational at Centennial, but Kapler pulled himself out of the tournament after the quarterfinals.
"Part of it was I haven't been feeling well," Kapler said. "And part of it was, if I did wrestle him, I didn't want to show him my best stuff. Then I can beat him when it really counts."
Hicks, who is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state, said when he found Kapler was coming down to 135, he prepared all week for the challenge.
"It would have been nice," Hicks said, "but he's got his reasons."
The two aren't in the same league, so they won't meet until the section's Yosemite Division meet Feb. 20-21 at Lemoore. They could stage rematches the following Saturday at the Grand Masters meet at East or March 6-7 at the state tournament inside Rabobank Arena.
"Whoever has a better day is going to come out on top," Kapler said. "We're all pretty close."
The budding rivalry at 140 holds perhaps even more intrigue. Sanchez wrestled off and on at Bakersfield as he battled personal problems, transferred to Ridgeview, back to BHS and then back to Ridgeview, where his brother Josh is a sophomore, in time for his senior year.
"A lot of stuff happened," Sanchez said. "I wanted a fresh start."
Now, Sanchez finds himself No. 2 in the section in a weight class where No. 1 is his former practice partner, Cruz.
"We know what each other's going to do, so it's kind of a weird situation," Cruz said. "We know each other's style so well from wrestling all the time."
Oh yeah. Cruz happens to be a two-time state medalist and the champion of last month's prestigious Five Counties Invitational. He'll also wrestle for Hicks' uncle, Dan, at Cal State Fullerton next year, where Seth might join him.
"Javier's really looking forward to wrestling Jonah," Ridgeview coach Tony Gonzalez said. "He really wants to wrestle Jonah, and I'd really expect to see those boys in the finals at Valley and at Masters."
But no matter what happens in the final stage of these rivalries, you can be assured that the winner will know the loser — and even have him to thank for getting him where he is.
"Me, Javier and Seth were always in the same weight class, every year since I was four years old till about sixth or seventh grade at least," Kapler said. "We were always wrestling in local tournaments, and we would always be the top three in the freestyle state tournaments. We were pretty tough kids back then. Still are."
