Merced County wrestlers compete in state tournament. How they’ve fared so far
Los Banos High wrestler Angelina Borelli has reached the quarterfinals at the CIF State Wrestling Championships at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.
Borelli, California’s top seed at 125 pounds and ranked third nationally, cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament Thursday. Borelli pinned April Gao of St. Francis (Mountain View) in the opening round, then pinned Sussette Bell of Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga) in their Round of 16 match.
Borelli will face eighth-seeded Mia Hooper of Northview (Covina) in the quarterfinals Friday. The quarterfinal round is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Merced High junior Maya Rodriguez was knocked out of the 100-pound tournament in her first match. Rodriguez lost 3-0 to Kaila Robles-Rials of Presentation High in San Jose.
Rodriguez won the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters championship the previous week.
Golden Valley’s Neveah Rodriguez was pinned by Alethia Tolentino of Coastal Academy in Oceanside in their 105-pound first-round match.
Pacheco’s Melaya Soto lost 7-2 to Alexis Rotenberry of Northgate (Walnut Creek) in their first-round match at 170 pounds.
Los Banos’ Luke Borelli (215 pounds) won his first-round match, pinning Bryan Romero of Oakland High. Borelli was pinned by Kaden Curry of St. John Bosco (Bellflower) in the second round.
Los Banos teammate Michael Coelho (144 pounds) lost his opening match, falling to second-seeded Chris Arreola of Clovis North, 15-0.
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 1:58 PM.
