There was no way in Jordan Sepeda's mind that he was missing this weekend's Tim Brown Memorial Wrestling Tournament.

After rehabbing from a devastating knee injury suffered 10 months ago, the Natomas High School junior and resident alpha dog returned to action a week ago, wrestling just his fourth and fifth matches of the season Friday in the 182-pound division.

"I just wanted to see where I'm at," said Sepeda of entering the 16th annual wrestling summit at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium. "To let people know I haven't fallen off the block."

His reputation had already preceded him as Sepeda (5-0), ranked fourth in the state at 182, was awarded the top seed. After a bye in the first round, Sepeda dispatched Tracy's Kendrick Bergmann 6-0 in the second round. He followed that by pinning Del Campo's Scott Johnson 34 seconds into the second period of the third round to earn a quarterfinals berth.

Though he admitted to being a little apprehensive after so much time away from the mat, Sepeda said he's ready to make a run at his first title of the season as action picks up today at 9 a.m., with the finals set for 4 p.m.

"That layoff would have hurt any other wrestler a lot more," Natomas coach Don Martinez said. "Not Jordan – I'm just trying to get him back to where he was mentally toward the end of last year."

A varsity standout since he was a freshman, Sepeda last year had hoped to become the Nighthawks' first-ever sophomore state placer. He came within one match of achieving that goal, but in the quarterfinals of the CIF State Championships – a match that, had he won, would have assured him of a placing – he tore his right ACL. He gutted out the rest of the match but fell 6-2.

The image of coming within four points of that benchmark is seared in his memory. "I hate it," Sepeda said. "But that's been my motivation to break through."

The knee was surgically repaired last May, and an arduous process of physical therapy followed. The injury was doubly troublesome because it hinders his speed – Sepeda's key attribute.

"(Physically) I'm where I thought I would be," Sepeda said. "But I can't stop working, gotta keep going."

Sepeda staged an incredible rally just to reach the CIF meet last year.

After placing sixth at the Tim Brown at 189 – the weight class which was reconstituted to 182, where he wrestles now – he won the state-qualifying Sac-Joaquin Section Masters, beating three competitors to whom he had previously lost.

Martinez said last year's performance represents the baseline for both his and his pupil's expectations for the next two years.

As for the ceiling, "we expect nothing less than a state title. That would put him up there with the best in the history of our program," Martinez said.

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