Seven Inland boys wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinal round in their respective weight classes on Thursday, the first day of the CIF State Championships at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield. North’s Coby Merrill is the defending state champion at 285 pounds and the No. 1 seed in that division this year. Merrill breezed into the quarters by pinning Matthew Milner of San Luis Obispo (27 seconds) and Soloman Zumbardo of San Mateo Serra (38 seconds). Merrill will square off against Etiwanda’s Carlos Sutton in Friday’s quarterfinal match. Sutton is the No. 8 seed in the 285-pound bracket. He pinned Ezra Cremo of Vacaville (3:20) in a pigtail match and then pinned Diego Ensaldo of Porterville Monache (1:09). Sutton pulled out a 4-1 decision over No. 9-seeded Nathaniel Espericueta of Frontier, scoring the winning points on a takedown midway through the sudden-victory overtime period. Chino’s Zachary Samano is seeded No. 8 in the 120-pound bracket and is seeking a third podium finish. He pinned Kaden Owens of Palo Cedro Foothill (0:47) in a pigtail match and then pinned Logan Hara of Folsom (5:02). Samano scored a 16-4 major decision over No. 9-seeded Emilio Escobar of El Cajon Granite Hills to reach the quarterfinals. Samano will face top-seeded Rocklin Zinkin of Clovis Buchanan on Friday. Redlands East Valley’s Marco Costa is the No. 10 seed at 132 pounds. He opened the day by pinning Micah Nance of Oakland Castlemont (0:40). Costa then pulled out a 2-1 decision over No. 7-seeded Gabriel Pacheco of El Central Central. That match went to the ultimate tiebreaker. Costa scored first in regulation and had the choice of position for the final tiebreaker. Costa chose the bottom position and prevailed with an escape. He will face No. 2-seeded Slater Hicks of Valencia in the quarterfinals. Centennial’s Rocco Godinez is seeded 10th in the 144-pound bracket and opened by pinning Jacob Livermore of Brentwood Liberty (5:47). Godinez was trailing No. 7-seeded James Ruiz of Esperanza 10-5 in the second-round match, but Godinez was able to get Ruiz on his back in the third period and lock in a pin (4:47). Godinez will face No. 2-seeded Chris Arreola of Clovis North in the quarterfinals. Lakeside’s Jesus Guzman is the No. 6 seed at 165 pounds. He advanced to the quarterfinals with decisions over Damian Mannion of Clovis East (8-1) and No. 11-seeded Bradley Espinoza of Brea Olinda. Guzman takes on No. 3-seeded James Curoso of Clovis in Friday’s quarterfinal match. Michael Baeza is the No. 8-seeded wrestler in the 215-pound bracket. He registered a 12-0 major decision over Caleb Ocampo of Exeter in a pigtail match and then pinned JJ Martinez of La Mesa Helix (1:50). Baeza pulled out a 2-1 overtime win over No. 9-seeded Jordan Schwarm of Ukiah. That match went to the second tiebreaker period. Baeza scored an escape within 30 seconds and then rode out Schwarm for 30 seconds to previal. Baeza will face top-seeded Wes Burford of Oakdale in the quarterfinals. Related Articles 14 Inland girls wrestlers have reached the quarterfinals at CIF State Championships Roosevelt girls bring nine match unbeaten streak into CIF-SS Division 1 soccer final Eight Inland high school basketball teams to play for CIF Southern Section titles Sierra Canyon girls basketball team holds off Etiwanda to reach Open Division title game Ontario Christian girls basketball team pulls away from Sage Hill in Open Division semifinal ...read more read less