Ask anyone who knows Liberty High sophomore David Klingsheim and they'll tell you that he doesn't like to lose. The 112-pounder went undefeated throughout league action this season, winning Bay Valley Athletic League and North Coast Section titles in recent weeks. Klingsheim's dominance earned him a spot at last weekend's CIF State Wrestling Championship, and although he says he didn't perform as well as he would have liked, his performance could hardly be considered a disappointment.

Klingsheim went 5-2 at the two-day state meet held at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena to earn the fifth-place medal in his division. He bettered his own performance from last year by three places and was the only Lion to come home from the event with hardware.

"I didn't wrestle as well as I could have," Klingsheim said. "I had a couple of flat matches. I know I could have done a lot better."

Klinghseim went 2-1 on the first day of the meet, falling 7-2 in the quarterfinals to Nektoe Demison of Bakersfield. Klingsheim beat Demison earlier this season at the Reno Tournament of Champions, after which he lost two matches in subsequent tournaments.

"I was mostly on offense and he was mostly on defense, countering," Klingsheim said of his latest clash with

Photo courtesy of deltaonsitephoto.com

Liberty senior Mike Bodkin, right, went 3-2 at last weekend's state meet and was one of two Lions to advance to the second day of the tournament.

Demison at the state meet. "I wasn't finishing my shots. I wasn't on top of it. I made three or four mistakes and they were pretty costly."

On day two of the event, Klingsheim went 3-1, falling 9-3 to Connor Morgan of Del Oro High School in Loomis in the consolation semifinals. Having lost to Morgan at the prestigious Five

Counties meet earlier this year, Klingsheim was hoping for a different outcome.

"I knew I could beat that guy," he said. "He's a big guy. He cut a lot of weight before state. I was more cautious in that match."

The loss sent Klingsheim into fifth-place match against Henry Yorba of Poway. Tied 1-1 heading into overtime, Klingsheim turned on the heat, earning the takedown for the 3-1 win.

"I know David would like to have done better but I'm real proud of him," Liberty coach Greg Chappel said. "He was disappointed but that's part of what I like about him. He wants to win

so badly."

Liberty also saw a tremendous performance from senior Mike Bodkin, who went 3-2 in the 130-pound division. After losing his first match, Bodkin won three straight matches to advance to the second day of the event. But against Bobby Scofield of Dana Hills High School, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the state, Bodkin fell 11-4 and was eliminated.

"I was really happy to see Mike end his high school career on a good note," Chappel said. "He throttled those three kids on Friday night. I wish he could have met up with Scofield that night. It could have turned out differently."

Junior Roger Hutchison went 1-2 at the tournament but didn't advance to day two. Chappel noted that although sophomore David Rios went 0-2 in the 140-pound division, he competed well.

"He lost to two really good kids," Chappel said. "I thought he wrestled as tough as he could have. He was in both of his matches."

Freshman Paul Gomez also went 0-2 in the 103-pound division.

This weekend Chappel takes 15 kids to the frosh/soph state meet, a USA Wrestling sanctioned event in San Jose. Klingsheim, who won the event last year, will compete once again and has big plans for the off-season.

"I hope to get in about 60 matches over the summer," he said. "Last

summer I was only home for three days. I like to keep really busy."