Top storylines for NCS and CCS championships

CCS AND NCS FINALS: WHEN AND WHERE

The North Coast Section will hold its boys and girls championships on Friday and Saturday. The boys meet will be held at James Logan High School, the girls at Albany High.

The Central Coast Section Masters Meet for the boys and girls will be held on Saturday at Watsonville High School.

The all-day events start at 8 a.m.

NCS BOYS

All eyes will be on De La Salle, which is set up to capture championships in multiple weight classes as the Concord powerhouse seeks a seventh consecutive team crown. De La Salle goes into this weekend’s NCS championships with five No. 1-seeded wrestlers. TJ Arvizu, a 2023 NCS champion and two-time East Bay Athletic League champion, will be among the contenders at 152 pounds. The No. 1 seed at 122 pounds, Manny Martir, is also highly accomplished wrestler for the Spartans. He is aiming for a second section crown. … Granada, another top team in the EBAL, is ranked No. 32 in the state, according to Cal Grappler. Jack Baker, at 108 pounds, is on a collision course to face fellow top-ranked wrestler Connor Jeong of Castro Valley. … Alameda sent four wrestlers to NCS: Tarek Kaci (146 pounds), Jake Guthmore (152), Jacob Song (159) and Sebastian Sanchez (157). It’s quite the leap for a program that didn’t have a program just two years ago. Song enters Friday’s opening round as a No. 1 seed at 159 pounds. … David Calkins Jr. from Liberty will be a favorite to win gold at 192 pounds. Cal Grappler has Calkins ranked as the seventh-best wrestler in the state and the best in the greater Bay Area. … De La Salle sent the most wrestlers to NCS with 14, followed by Granada (13), Las Lomas (13), Ukiah (13), Amador Valley (12), Del Norte (12), Liberty (12), Napa (12) and Windsor (12).

NCS GIRLS

One of the divisions that could be tightly contested is at 135 pounds. Monte Vista’s Maci Stemmons, who boasts a record of 33-3, could face stiff competition from Maria Carrillo’s Noelle Alexander. She is 26-5 and also a favorite to win in the division. Other contenders at 135 include James Logan’s Evelyn Bernardo (28-13), Hayward’s Emilia Gaytan (20-5) and Amador Valley’s Dakota Ionescu Catrina (23-12). … Two EBAL rivals could see each other in the 100-pound championship. Lauren Nguyen (31-9) from Granada and Graciela Caro from Amador Valley (36-8) might meet in the final. James Logan’s Kylia Mease (32-8) could also be in the mix for a gold medal as well. … Pittsburg senior Jax Saeed has had an impressive season to this point. She comes into NCS having won 11 of her last 12 matches. She competes at 235 pounds.

CCS BOYS

The CCS Masters brackets won’t be released until Friday morning. But there are some obvious favorites. Let’s start with the boys. … Gilroy has continued to dominate the CCS — the Mustangs have won 20 consecutive section team championships — and this year is no different. Cal Grappler ranks Gilroy third in the state. Led by head coach and former two-time UFC champion Daniel Cormier, Gilroy has a wrestler ranked inside the top 10 in the state in eight weight classes. Junior Isaiah Cortez is 51-1 and most recently won the Blossom Valley Athletic League title. Cody Merrill, at 285 pounds, is the favorite to win his division. Merrill, an Oklahoma State commit, took first place in the CCS Southern Regional meet last weekend and hasn’t lost a match since October 2021. … Standing in the way of many Gilroy wrestlers will be competitors from Los Gatos. Head coach Greg Varela, Gilroy’s former head coach, had led Los Gatos to a No. 13 state ranking on Cal Grappler. Ethan Parco is the team’s best wrestler. Parco won the CCS Northern Regional title last weekend and should get a favorable seed heading into Saturday. …West Catholic Athletic League powerhouse St. Francis should also be a serious contender this weekend. Bryce Luna, at 132 pounds, is 33-8 and most recently made it to the final four at the California Invitational tournament.