Merced’s Medina, Buhach’s Johnson headed back to state

Last year, he was called Romeo Ontiveros because that’s the name he enrolled to start the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Wrestling Championships.

He won the Masters title in 2014 and, one year later, he’s Romeo Medina – same Merced High School senior, same 152-pound star, same destination next week.

Bakersfield.

“My name is hyphenated,” he said. “Medina is OK for short.”

Don’t sweat his identity. He’s still goal-driven, and today he pursues a second consecutive Masters title.

Medina won his third consecutive match Friday, a 13-4 major decision over Justin Medeiros of Lodi, to guarantee a berth in today’s semifinals. It also guaranteed his second consecutive trip to the CIF State Championships.

“One thing at a time,” he cautioned. “It’s important to get two straight section titles. One of my goals is to make it happen tomorrow.”

Medina passed his first-day test during a taut 5-3 second-round win over stubborn Tyler Kay of Benicia. A takedown with about five seconds left was all that separated the two.

“Caught me off-guard,” Medina said. “He was tough.”

Medina hasn’t lost since the Central California Conference final, a response that has not surprised coach Clayton Schneider.

“The kid is always training. He does all you ask him to do,” Schneider said. “It doesn’t matter in these matches whether it’s one point or 10 points. You move on.”

Like Medina, Buhach Colony senior Jay Johnson qualified for state for the second consecutive year. Johnson twice was extended but survived – 3-0 in the second round over Alex LeBaron of El Dorado and 2-1 over Dylan Crane of Folsom in the quarterfinals. Johnson’s reversal against Crane proved to be just enough.

More than 400 wrestlers, from schools big and small and public and private, gathered Friday at Stockton Arena. The rest of Merced County’s wrestlers will have to fight their way into the State Meet today. After today’s final matches, only 84 – the top six in each of the 14 weight classes – will continue to state.

Today’s semifinals begin at 10:15 a.m. The first-, third- and fifth-place matches are scheduled for 3 p.m.

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 10:53 PM with the headline "Merced’s Medina, Buhach’s Johnson headed back to state."