Northview’s Manigault Wins Title

BAKERSFIELD — For four years, Shad Manigault has wrestled in the shadows of his more accomplished teammates at Covina Northview, but Saturday he reached a pinnacle none of the others ever have: Manigault won a state title.

Manigault, a senior, was trailing, 2-0, against Barrett Abel of El Dorado Hills Union Mine in the 140-pound final at Rabobank Arena when he caught Able in a cradle and pinned him 32 seconds into the second period.

“I just wrestled as hard as I could,” said Manigault, nearly speechless after his victory. “I saw the leg, grabbed it and that was it.”

He is the first state champion from Northview since Chris Lopez won at 171 pounds in 2000, and joined heavyweight champion Sione Fua of Encino Crespi as the only Southern Section wrestlers to win titles, despite 10 section wrestlers advancing to the finals.

Clovis Buchanan won the team championship with 134 points -- 7.5 points better than runner-up Poway. Northview, with 83 points, was tops among Southland schools in fifth place. Temecula Valley was seventh with 62 and Santa Ana Calvary Chapel was 11th with 52.5.

Manigault’s speechlessness may have been a by-product of not having to deal much with the media, which has tended to focus its attention on Caleb Flores and Larry Medina when it comes to Northview wrestling.

Flores, a four-time state medalist, finished second Saturday, losing a 5-4 decision to Filip Novachkov of Sunnyvale Fremont in the 119-pound final and adding to a collection that includes a sixth in 2003, third in 2004 and seventh in 2005.

Medina was fifth Saturday and was sixth last year.

Manigault, ranked No. 2 in the state at his weight class this year, qualified for the state championship the last two years, but was 1-2 as a sophomore and 2-2 as a junior. This year, he recorded a pin in double overtime in the semifinals in addition to his finals pin.

Fua, Crespi’s first state qualifier, became its first state champion when he outlasted Romney Fuga of Huntington Beach Edison for a 2-1 victory. Fua, who has signed a football scholarship with Stanford, won when Fuga, who is headed to Brigham Young on a football scholarship, locked his hands in double overtime and gave Fua a penalty point.