It can be lonely at the top.

Eight local high school grapplers have advanced to this weekend's CIF State Championships at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

The only problem is, with the competition being whittled down each week, the wrestlers— Agoura's John Combs (152 pounds); Camarillo's Jonathan Urango (160) and Matt Hickman (140); Moorpark's Saul Garcia (125); Royal's Sergio Cortez (152), Mike Dumelle (145) and Edward Ruiz (119); and Thousand Oaks' Behdod Katebian (119)—are running out of people to practice against.

So, on Tuesday at Camarillo High, the majority of the guys practiced against each other.

Weird as this may sound during the regular season, coaches such as Camarillo's Ron Wilson say it's not unusual for league foes to work out against each other at this point in the season.

"All of league goes out the window now," Wilson said.

"We just want to support Ventura County. At the state championships, all the coaches won't sit together, but we'll make sure to stop and root for any team in our area."

Agoura head coach Dennis Ritterbush agreed.

"The reason all the coaches from the Marmonte and Pacific View leagues get along so well is that we're all nice guys, and there's no animosity between us," Ritterbush said.

"You put eight or nine guys in our area in the state championships, we're going to root for each of them. Now, if they're facing each other, that's a different story."

It wasn't unusual to see Marmonte rivals Cortez and Combs face off against each other in practice this week.

"You have to understand, the wrestlers in this community get closer as time goes by," Combs said. "It's very cordial with a lot of messing around.

"Cortez and I throw a lot of (stuff) back at each other throughout the year, but the fact remains that we both respect each other. Cortez is a fine wrestler, and competing against him is only going to make me better."

Combs said he's thankful for his success on the mat.

"Two years ago, I didn't have one league win," Combs said. "I looked at that and said to myself, 'Damn, I'm the worst wrestler on the team. Screw that, I want to be the best wrestler on the team.'"

As far as rags-to-riches stories go, no one can top Garcia.

According to MHS head coach Tony Knight, Garcia has become the first wrestler in the school's history to make the state meet.