Two Chester wrestlers head to state championship
Chester High wrestling took three wrestlers to the North Section Masters Tournament in Redding on Feb. 21 and 22 where the Volcanoes placed 14th as a team.
Chester High School has two seniors who qualified for the State Tournament in Bakersfield on March 3 and 4. The first is Callum Kremer who placed second in the 134-pound weight class. “He lost a really close match in the finals 4-2,” said head wrestling coach Clay Montgomery. “Callum is a four-time Masters Finalist, one-time Masters Champion and three-time state qualifier.”
The second qualifying Chester wrestler is Bonner Montgomery who took top honors and won the 140-pound weight class.
“Bonner is a three-time Masters placer, placing third as a sophomore and a two-time Masters Champion and State qualifier,” said coach and dad Montgomery. “To put these accomplishments into perspective, there are over 24,000 male high school wrestlers in the state of California, which is one of the few states in the nation that has only one state tournament, not broken down by division or school size.”
Of another wrestler, Montgomery said, “Parker Montgomery went 0-2 drawing the number 1 seed in his first match losing by a pin, and then lost a close 1-point match to put him out of the tournament.”
To qualify for the state tournament means that a wrestler is in the top 40 wrestlers in that weight class in the whole state of California.
“Quite an accomplishment for these two young men to make it there not only once, but multiple times,” said coach Montgomery. “I am so proud of them both and look forward to watching them compete at the state tournament compete with the very best the state has to offer.”
