CIF STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS:

BAKERSFIELD — Everyone around the entry area to the mats looked spent. Wrestlers slowly cleared out, just having wrapped up their final matches.

A crew began preparing for Saturday night’s festivities at the CIF State Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. Workers folded chairs, lifted tables, removed signs, and swept the floor.

Newport Harbor High senior Josh George on the other hand stood on his hands.

“One, two, three, four …” a wrestler sitting down on the ground, so tired that he didn’t even want to rip the tape off his shoes, counted the number of handstand pushups George did.

He reached 15. George, no longer able to continue, got back on his feet and smiled at Coach Dominic Bulone.

“Where does he get the energy?” said Bulone, trying to postpone the inevitable.

The two-day ride through state, eight matches in all, just ended.

The furthest any wrestler Bulone has coached in his nine years at Newport Harbor finished in eighth place. George (49-8) was already in celebration mode, the 140-pounder flexing his muscles.

Bulone shook his head. What a long and crazy weekend for George and him.

Soon Bulone figured it would carry on at the hotel Bulone and George stayed at. The night before George wrestled on Friday, he jumped into the hotel’s outdoor pool. Bulone said it was cold to be just outside with clothes on.

But this time it was Bulone’s time to get wet on a chilly night.

“I made the deal with Josh if he medals here I’m going to jump in the pool,” Bulone said. “So I’m jumping in.”

George said he was, too.

George is getting used to making a splash. He did at the state championships, where he went 5-3 and Bulone said George is the third wrestler in Newport Harbor school history to place.

The road to doing so proved to be grueling, more so than Rigo Pinon’s sixth-place showing in 1998 as a 119-pounder and Jason Deere’s seventh-place showing in 1996 as a heavyweight.

George had to win five straight times in the consolation round after losing his opening-round match. In the way were formidable opponents, a finalist, a third-place finisher and a seventh-place finisher. But one more loss and it’s over, no possible way to place. George stayed poised in achieving his goal of placing.

“I now know I can do what I dream of,” George said. “I feel pretty darn good. I know I can wrestle at this level.”

George had to in his first match Saturday. It was another do-or-die situation. He battled Scotts Valley senior Dane Stevens, who placed second at the prestigious Five Counties Invitational at Fountain Valley High in January.

An impressive feat by Stevens, considering that George’s undefeated record ended at 28-0 by going 1-2 and being eliminated on the first day at Five Counties, a state-caliber event. Only the best in the state and some nationally ranked wrestlers get invites.

Saturday morning’s invitation was for a special place later that night, the awards ceremony.

The match to get there came down to the wire. Stevens rode George for practically the first minute and a half of the third and final period, trying to break a 4-4 tie. After the two went out of bounds, 30 seconds remained.

This is where George pulled off his favorite move, the Grandby, to score a reversal 10 seconds later. For the next 20 seconds, George held on for a 6-4 victory.

“As far as time management, that’s as good as it gets,” Bulone said.

Things could’ve gotten sweeter for George. An opportunity to place higher than eighth was there for the taking. A victory guaranteed at least sixth place and another win he’d have a shot for third.

But in George’s next match, he ran into St. John Bosco senior Mike Martinez, someone who knew how to wrestle George. Both are from the Southern Section and have seen each other, but never competing against one another.

Martinez built a 6-2 lead in the first period by taking George down and immediately releasing him, never allowing George to work from the bottom. Martinez went on to win, 21-9, sending George to the match determining seventh and eighth place.

“I’ve been surprised that more people haven’t done that to [George] because if they watched his matches, his weakness is the takedown,” Bulone said. “I hate to admit it. His takedowns, at this level, are probably a little below average. He just has to be more defensive in a situation like that, look for good opportunities, take good shots, and keep it close.”

At the end, George admitted it was hard to keep going. He was exhausted.

In his eighth match in two days, he lost to Bakersfield senior Jonah Cruz, 12-4, giving Cruz seventh and George eighth.

“I just sat there the whole time. It’s literally what happened,” George said. “I wasn’t too worried. Next year will be much better. You see that this year we had our first [Sunset League] victory [in two years].

“I think there will be a [Newport Harbor] team [here in Bakersfield] next year.”

George won’t be around. Hopefully he said he gets a chance to wrestle for Cal State Fullerton. But one teammate George has inspired is junior heavyweight Cameron Rausch.

Rausch was there in Bakersfield with George, jumping in the pool with him at the hotel, trying to stop him from jumping on the bed at 5:30 a.m., exchanging pillow fight blows with him late in the night, rooting him on throughout, watching the action, just getting a feel of what it’s like to be at the state championships.

Rausch called George a “weird kid” but George showed Rausch the possibilities.

“It gives me kind of hope that I can do it next year,” said Rausch, who missed out on the state championships by going 0-2 at the section individual meet.

But take out the “kind of” because Rausch already made a promise to Bulone.

“Josh, he’ll be the highest place winner that I’ve had at state, and Cameron goes, ‘Until next year,’ ” Bulone said with a smile because that means Rausch is ready to put in the hard work necessary to turn into a state-caliber wrestler.

Rausch just had to take one look at George after his final match. Can a heavyweight stand on his hands?

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.