Walnut senior Ronnie Ramirez was dealt a shocking loss in the quarterfinals of the CIF State Wrestling Championships in Bakersfield this past weekend, ending his bid for a third straight state title.

The meet had a much better outcome for Los Altos freshman Epenesa Elison and Glendora senior Samantha Sachs, as they each finished at the top of the podium as girls state champions.

Northview’s girls team nearly won the title, finishing second (77 points) behind champion Clovis East (84.5 points).

Elison was the star of the girls meet. She completed a perfect 26-0 season by pinning Kaiya Maggini of Del Oro in 3:17 to win the title at 115 pounds.

Elison was so dominant she was named the Champion of Champions for the girls portion of the meet, an honor that goes to the most dominant wrestler.

It didn’t surprise Los Altos coach William Escobedo.

Elison is ranked No. 1 in the country at 115 pounds and is on the United States 17-and-under national team. She is hoping to be part of Team USA’s 2028 Olympic squad in Los Angeles, when she will be finishing her senior year at Los Altos.

“She’s fun to watch and in all honestly, we haven’t even seen her full potential yet,” Escobedo said of Elison. “She will do a lot of freestyle over the summer. She’s got a full schedule ahead of her and she wants to be an Olympic champion some day.

“But it’s going to be fun watching her here at Los Altos over the next few years and I will help out with whatever I can.”

Elison competed in only two tournaments this season before starting her journey at the Hacienda League meet. She she won the league title before going on to win in the CIF-SS individual finals and in the Masters Meet.

She won the Reno tournament of champions and the Queen of the Hills tournament in Corona, where she also faced Maggini in the finals.

She wasn’t able to pin Maggini at the Queen of the Hills, but it was a different story Saturday.

“She went to the finals with a mission,” Escobedo said. “She wanted to pin her and was committed to getting it done. It was just a great meet for her, which is why she was named the outstanding wrestler.”

Sachs, an Iowa commit, also capped a perfect season by winning the 130-pound title at the state meet. She had been pinned in the state finals a year ago.

Sachs pinned Ruby Julien-Newsom of Torrey Pines in 64 seconds in the final to finish the season 48-0. In the semifinals, Sachs won by a technical fall decision, 18-3, over Savannah Talmadge of Clayton Valley.

Sachs was the 2024 Fargo national champion and the University of Iowa lists her as the No. 11 pound-for-pound recruit in the nation regardless of class.

Sachs won four of her five matches at the state meet by pins.

Ramirez was looking for a remarkable third straight state championship and was the top seed at 126 pounds. His loss Friday night in the quarterfinals sent shockwaves through the arena.

Ramirez was comfortably ahead of Paris Ruiz of Buchanan 6-2 in the third period when Ruiz got a pin over Ramirez with just over a minute remaining in the match. The loss ended Ramirez’s hope of a three-peat.

Ramirez, in his fourth straight trip to the state meet, went on to earn a third-place medal, beating Siraj Sidhu of Del Oro 19-3.

“I was watching Epenesa wrestle at the same time Ronnie’s (quarterfinal) match was going on, and when that happened (Ramirez pinned) it was one of the loudest roars I’ve ever heard there,” Escobedo said. “I felt for Ronnie, I thought for sure he would go on and win.”

Walnut’s Christian Garcia was the area’s only boys wrestler to reach the semifinals. He lost 4-2 to Edwin Sierra of Poway. Garcia ended up finishing fourth after losing the third-place match to St. John Bosco’s Sean Wilcox, 8-2.

Three others area girls wrestlers had shots at state titles but lost in the finals.

Northview’s Delari Juarez finished second at 145 pounds. Juarez had not allowed a point on her way to the finals, winning all her matches by shutouts. But she lost to Olivia Davis of Esperanza, 8-3, in the championship match.

Gabrielino’s Juliana Marquez but lost a 5-4 decision in the finals to Evelyn Vargas of Merced at 190 pounds. Marquez advanced to the finals with a 7-4 victory over Golda Demby of Hollister.

San Dimas’ Charlete Smith finished second at 235 pounds. Smith lost to Trinity Tipton of Camarillo, 8-6, in the title match. Smith advanced to the finals by pulling out a 1-0 victory over Olivia Ruacho of Central in the semifinals.

San Marino’s Leah Lopez lost in the semifinals at 100 pounds and wound up finishing fifth.

Arroyo’s Destiny Huitron reached the quarterfinals of the 100-pound division. She wound up finishing seventh.

Walnut’s Eliana Garcia reached the quarterfinals at 113 pounds. Garcia wound up finishing sixth.

In boys wrestling, Northview’s Elijah Butler earned a seventh-place finish at 113 pounds.