There were 10 Moore League wrestlers competing at the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet on Friday, and by the end of the evening, seven had been eliminated.

Lakewood’s Kimo Napohaku and Cody Gurule, and Millikan’s Nick Pena are the three Moore League wrestlers still left standing after day one.

Gurule (130), Napohaku (135) and 152-pound Pena could all secure their spot at the CIF-SS State Meet in Bakersfield next weekend with a first-match win on Saturday morning.  All three grapplers have just one loss and even with a first-match loss, they could advance if they win two consecutive matches, so there’s two different scenarios that could see each of the three move on.

Wilson’s Josh Newman (160) and 171-pound Miguel Peralta, Poly’s Rickie Touch (119), Lakewood’s Nathan Batres (140) and Millikan’s Jake Wallace (135), Jaime Reyes (145) and 215-pound Sam Taylor were all eliminated on Friday. 

Gurule and Napohaku both battled back from early losses to set up Saturday’s golden opportunity.  Gurule (40-7) lost his first match and then won the next three and will face Downey Calvary Chapel’s Bradford Gerl with a trip to Bakersfield on the line.  Gerl (40-7) won his first two matches before losing his quarterfinal match and the Grizzlies senior is coming off a state appearance last year.

Napohaku (48-5) was pinned after a first-round bye, but the Lancers captain won two clutch matches and will face Arroyo Grande’s U.C. Raul, who won his first two matches, before losing in the quarterfinal round.

Pena (50-4) got his 101st career pin in the first round and then was pinned by Canyon Springs’ Bradley Johnson.

But the Rams captain didn’t allow it to alter his mission, and after two more wins later on Friday, is just a win over Coachella Valley’s Sergio Salinas from advancing to state.