Shearer and Guibor topped a list of seven Branham placers at the league meet, and four of them will now advance to the Central Coast Section tournament coming up Feb. 25­26 at Overfelt.

Shearer, a senior, finished second at 191 pounds after a final-round loss to Julian Carbajal of Mt. Pleasant. Shearer had won three consecutive matches to reach the finals, defeating Jonathan Sanchez of James Lick with a 40-second pin, DeMarco Villalona of Oak Grove with a 52-second pin, and Daniel Choi of Piedmont Hills with a third pin in 1:08.

Guibor, also a senior, lost his final match by a 14-9 decision to Jim Shea of Westmont to wind up second at 162 pounds. After receiving a bye in the first round, Guibor pinned Nick Pretty of Lincoln in 1:28 and dropped Ryan Hong of Leland by pin in 1:22.

Tom Swale, a sophomore, finished fifth at 173 pounds for the Bruins. Swale was defeated in the first round of the tournament, but drew a bye in the consolation bracket and then defeated Patrick Yanez of Lincoln 14-12 before losing to David Corey of Oak Grove. Swale then defeated Andrew Balcazar of Mt. Pleasant for fifth place.

Senior Dan Shehan finished in a tie for sixth place at 217 pounds with Raul Figueroa of Independence. Shehan won his first-round match against David Semedo of Silver Creek with a 7-4 decision and recorded a pair of first-round pins but lost twice along the way.

Doug Shehan, a junior, finished seventh at 154 pounds for Branham, pinning Peter Silva of Mt. Pleasant in his last bout.

Sophomore Mike Durham finished seventh at 105s for Branham after defeating Marcus Lewis of Mt. Pleasant 20-2.

Willie Harper, a sophomore, ended up eighth in the 121-pound weight class for the Bruins.

Only the top six placers at the league tournament advance to CCS.

Pioneer had four placers at the BVAL finals, three of them finishing high enough to advance to the section meet.

Junior 132-pounder Tuan Nguyen was third for the Mustangs, beating Chris Sutton of Westmont and Nelson Ha of Piedmont Hills. Nguyen's only loss came to Eugene Martinez of Willow Glen with a pin after 5:51 after winning his first-round match against Sutton 10-5.

Brian Watts, a 121-pound junior, took home a fifth-place finish for the Mustangs. Watts beat Luis Morin of James Lick to clinch fifth after losing to Tony Christenberry of Westmont. Watts came back with a vengeance after a first-round loss to Johnny Raquino of Santa Teresa to win two matches in the consolation bracket against Willie Harper of Branham and Josh Zepeda of Evergreen.

Nick Kelsey, a sophomore at 147s, also finished fifth in his weight class. Kelsey bested Brian Herz of Leland in the fifth-place match after losing to Jim Landrum of Independence and Daniel Guiterrez of James Lick. Kelsey bested Herz earlier in the day in the second round of the tournament after a first-round win over Lious Ma of Piedmont Hills.

Sophomore Jason DeArmon at 191s was eighth after losing to Melis Barota of Leland. DeArmon also lost to Dustin Damonte of Del Mar after beating Daniel Choi in the consolations. DeArmon lost to Julian Carbajal of Mt. Pleasant after his first-round win against Brady Miramontes of Leigh.

For Leland, only Herz finished high enough to get a CCS berth. He finished sixth at 147 pounds after the loss to Kelsey. Herz began his consolation brackets with two wins, over Brandon Hernandez of Silver Creek and Ray Caulderon of Del Mar. His first loss came to Kelsey again in the second round of the tournament after besting Robert Smith of Mt. Pleasant in his first match.

Junior Jon Friedman finished seventh for Leland at 277 pounds. Friedman defeated Jose Vargas of Willow Glen by pin after only 42 seconds. Friedman lost his first match of the consolations to Ramsey Habib of Westmont. His first loss of the day came against Tommy James of Independence after a first-round win against Javier Mejia of Mt. Pleasant.

Junior Melis Barota was seventh at 191s. Barota beat DeArmon in his last match after losing to DeMarco Villalona of Oak Grove. Barota bested Kevin Cueto of Westmont in his first round in the consolations after losing to Jonathan Sanchez of James Lick in the winner's bracket. Barota's first-round win was against Dustin Damonte of Del Mar.