For people out there who think California gets overlooked nationally, this is an interesting field to help make their case.

There’s not very many with past Super 32 success. In fact, only Nick Sahakian and Jesse Grajeda (both from St John Bosco) have placed previously. Sahakian is my most intriguing as he’s up at heavyweight and gets the top seed. I think he has a great chance to reach the finals but it’s set up for him to meet CA state champion, Daniel Herrera, in the semis (Herrera now in Iowa).

Grajeda is a freshman, one of the best in the state of CA and a live dog in the hunt but his weight might be the toughest of all of them, especially the top 3. We’re talking world champions, multiple Super 32 champions from last year. It’s a minefield out here.

After them, I’m looking at Paul Kelly from Poway and Joe Toscano from Buchanan as party crashers. Now, Kelly is seeded to place. And he’s going to get plenty of chances to stake his claim nationally.

Toscano is up a few weight classes. He’s been entering events at 150 and winning. He’s one of the quintessential overlooked CA kids when people talk about that. He’s settling into 138 here and I think could ultimately finish higher than Kelly. Perhaps they meet up. If the 16 seed holds up, he’ll get the top seed, Landon Robideau early. That’s a huge test.

One of the deepest weights in the state is 150 and we see some of that here. Estrada and Parco both have a chance to finish on the podium. 

If you want a way off the radar dark horse, Brokton Borelli is that guy. 

I’ll have a more in depth CA preview where I’ll get more into some of these others and their chances, etc.