The crucible of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Wrestling Championships is unforgiving. For decades, it has served as the ultimate proving ground for the state’s premier grapplers, where margins of error are measured in millimeters and split seconds. But the story of the Los Angeles City Section at this prestigious tournament is one of delayed beginnings, geographic anomalies, and an arduous, hard-fought ascent from the periphery of the sport to the very center of the state podium.

A Belated Entrance and Geographic Quirks

Unlike its counterparts across the state, which began competing at the CIF State Wrestling Championships upon its inception in 1973, the Los Angeles City Section was not sanctioned to compete until 1974. That year marked a watershed moment in the section’s athletic history. As the CIF formally entrenched its statewide tournament, the City Section took its first decisive step onto the grand stage, sending its individual sectional champions to face the very best of California. Ever since that inaugural 1974 expedition, the champion at every weight class has proudly carried the City Section banner into the state bracket.

The logistical makeup of the City Section is famously intertwined—and sometimes oddly juxtaposed—with the sprawling Southern Section. Nowhere was this geographic quirk more glaring than in the saga of Bell High School in the 1990s. Because it belonged to the Los Angeles Unified School District, Bell High was mandated to compete within the Los Angeles City Section. Yet, while nearly all of its City Section wrestling peers were situated miles away deep in the San Fernando Valley, Bell High stood as a lone outpost in its immediate area. Bizarrely, the school was geographically isolated from its own section, sitting just three miles from Bell Gardens High, five miles from Downey High, and eight miles from Santa Fe High—all of which competed under the umbrella of the neighboring Southern Section.

The Early Pioneers and a Solitary Path

For decades, simply qualifying out of the City Section was an achievement, but standing on the state podium was a monumental rarity. The early years saw only a handful of transcendent athletes break through the intense statewide depth to bring home hardware:

1978: The ice was broken when Tony Cooper of Gardena High captured 6th place at 154 pounds, forever immortalizing himself as the first LA City Section wrestler to place at the state tournament.

1981 & 1986: Ben Zuniga of Franklin High (6th at 105 pounds) and Jonas Robledo of San Fernando High (6th at 98 pounds) proved that the lighter weight classes held distinct promise for the section.

1989 & 2001: Greg McMurray of El Camino Real High claimed 5th at 112 pounds, and over a decade later, Willie German of San Fernando High earned 7th at 171 pounds, keeping the section’s fading state hopes alive at the turn of the millennium.

2003: Vlad Kochiev of Birmingham High foreshadowed his program’s future dominance by battling to a 7th-place finish at 130 pounds.

2005: Another significant milestone for the Los Angeles City Section came from San Fernando’s Raphael Reynolds. Battling through a tough bracket, Reynolds delivered an outstanding performance to capture a fourth-place finish at 160 pounds on the state podium.

The 2010s Awakening and the Qualifier Rollercoaster

The landscape shifted dramatically in the 2010s, ushering in an era of unprecedented success and recognition. The momentum began in 2011, when Miguel Gallegos of San Fernando High fought his way to 5th place at 135 pounds. That same year, El Camino Real’s Ali Naser captured 7th at 125 pounds, establishing himself as the first wrestler from the section to have placed at the state tournament on two occasions (he would return in 2013 to claim 4th at 132 pounds).

But 2013 was not just another year; it was an absolute revelation. That winter, Sergio Mendez of San Fernando High took 5th at 113 pounds, and Sohrab Mohavedi of Granada Hills claimed 3rd at 182 pounds. Most importantly, San Fernando High’s Johnny Parada achieved the ultimate dream, winning the state championship at 126 pounds to become the very first state champion from the Los Angeles City Section. Parada would return in 2014 to take 5th at 126 pounds, becoming the section’s second two-time state medalist, alongside Birmingham High’s Daniel Pena, who took 7th at 220 pounds.

This surge in dominance bore administrative fruit. Thanks to the stellar performances in 2014 and the sheer volume of place winners, the section was granted a second state qualifier per weight class starting in 2015. For three glorious seasons (2015–2017), the City Section sent two representatives per bracket.

Unfortunately, a dip in state-level performance led to the revocation of this second slot, and the section returned to sending a single champion per weight class from 2017 onward. However, individual brilliance continued to shine brightly. Breaking through this bottleneck was Jonovan Smith of Birmingham High, who captured 7th at 170 pounds in 2018. Smith returned with a vengeance in 2019, making a spectacular run to the finals and finishing 2nd at 182 pounds—cementing his status as a two-time placer and one of the most elite competitors in section history.

The Torchbearers: San Fernando and El Camino Real

Long before Birmingham High ascended as the undisputed modern powerhouse of the Los Angeles City Section, the true pioneers and standard-bearers of the sport were San Fernando High and El Camino Real High. For decades, these two rival programs carried the banner for the section, cultivating elite talent that could withstand the rigors of statewide competition. Their pedigree and developmental success extended far beyond the high school mat. To this day, San Fernando High and El Camino Real High remain the only two programs in the history of the Los Angeles City Section to produce athletes who went on to compete at the collegiate NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships—a profound testament to the foundational coaching and wrestling culture built at both schools.

The Birmingham Dynasty (2024–2026)

If the 2010s provided the breakthrough, the mid-2020s belonged entirely to the dynastic rise of Birmingham High School, a program that systematically rewrote the record books and took the torch from the early pioneers.

At the center of this storm was Henry Asilikyan. In 2024, Asilikyan captured the state title at 106 pounds, becoming only the second state champion in section history. He refused to stop there. In 2025, Asilikyan moved up to 113 pounds and conquered the state once again, achieving immortality as the first LA City Section wrestler to win back-to-back state championships.

That same year proved to be a watershed moment for the school as a whole. Alongside Asilikyan’s gold, his teammate Slava Shahbazyan took 4th at 165 pounds, and Greg Torosian battled to a 7th-place finish at 150 pounds. For the first time, a Los Angeles City Section school had three place winners in one year. Propelled by this historic trio, Birmingham High secured a 10th-place team finish—the first time a City Section school had ever cracked the top 10 as a collective unit.

The Birmingham juggernaut continued its unyielding reign into 2026:

Henry Asilikyan cemented his legendary status by placing 3rd at 120 pounds, making him the first wrestler in the section to ever place on three separate occasions at the state tournament.

Arno Vardanyan (3rd at 132 lbs), Greg Torosian (5th at 150 lbs), and Roman Arakelyan (4th at 157 lbs) relentlessly added to Birmingham’s medal haul.

Slava Shahbazyan reached the absolute pinnacle, winning the state title at 165 pounds and becoming just the third wrestler in LA City Section history to be crowned a state champion.

Timeline of Section “Firsts”

Year	Milestone	Details
1978	First State Placer	Tony Cooper of Gardena High breaks the drought by placing 6th at 154 lbs.
2011	First Two-Time Placer	Ali Naser of El Camino Real achieves dual-placement status with a 7th-place finish at 125 lbs (and later 4th in 2013).
2013	First State Champion	Johnny Parada of San Fernando High wins the 126-lb title, bringing the first gold medal to the City Section.
2013	First Time with Two Place Winners from One School	San Fernando High produces two state medalists in the same tournament: Johnny Parada (1st) and Sergio Mendez (5th).
2025	First Back-to-Back State Champion	Henry Asilikyan of Birmingham High wins the 113-lb title, following his 2024 victory at 106 lbs.
2025	First Time with Three Place Winners from One School	Birmingham High achieves a new section milestone with Asilikyan (1st), Shahbazyan (4th), and Torosian (7th).
2025	First Top-10 Team Finish	Birmingham High secures a 10th-place team finish, breaking a historic barrier for the section.
2026	First Three-Time Placer	Henry Asilikyan of Birmingham High captures 3rd at 120 lbs, making section history with his third podium appearance.
2026	First Time with Four Place Winners from One School	Birmingham High sets a new section standard by placing four wrestlers on the state podium in a single season (Asilikyan, Vardanyan, Torosian, and Shahbazyan).