Naranjo finishes team-high sixth; Gurich reaches quarterfinals;
11 wrestlers battle nation’s best
RENO, Nev. – Being the best in the Central Coast Section is something the Mustang matmen take much pride in, hoping to defend their title this season, but it is not all the thriving Gilroy High program wants to attain.
That’s why head coach Armando Gonzalez brought 11 of his top wrestlers to the Reno Tournament Of Champions (RTOC), a national competition tagged the ‘Toughest Tournament In The USA’ held at the Livestock Events Center.
“Being top ranked in our section isn’t enough so we wanted to come out here and look at some of the best schools in the country and then help motivate our kids and give them some higher goals,” said Gonzalez, after his last wrestler finished up the team’s action in the Dec. 19-20 tournament. “We want to raise the bar every year and this is what we did this year and it was a great experience.”
Eighty-two of the nation’s top high school wrestling programs made up the 64-man brackets for each of the 14 weight classes. Each division was filled with state and national champions, making every match as tough as the next.
“We felt that we had a pretty good senior class. We felt we had a couple of guys who are this caliber wrestlers,” said assistant coach Chris Delgado, a 1993 GHS graduate who went on to wrestle at San Francisco State. “They should be here. They put in their time. They put in a lot of work during the summer. They should come to wrestle the best.”
The best took a bite out of the garlic grapplers, as only freshman 103-pounder Nicolo Naranjo (sixth) and senior 112-pounder Johnny Gurich (seventh) fought through the toughest field in the nation to place. Senior 171-pounder Mark Zabala was the only other of his teammates to make it to the second day of action.
“We had two placers. We were just seconds away from having four placers and our team wrestled pretty well,” said Gonzalez. “Overall, I think our team wrestled well. We could have done better, but that could be me always looking for better, higher results. I’m pleased with our team and we have a couple of weeks to really build on this performance and get ready for our Hollister match. … and the Mid-Cals.”
Senior 160-pounder Miguel Maldonado, who won two matches and lost two, enjoyed every minute of the national tournament regardless of the outcome.
“We didn’t go as far as I’d thought we would in the tournament, but all the wrestlers on our team had the heart to wrestle. They wanted to win so bad,” Maldonado said. “I know all the first-year wrestlers who are here all they want to do is wrestle. They want to weigh in. They want to make that weight. They want to have the challenge of making their weight and the challenge of winning their match. It’s so awesome.”
Naranjo, in his first varsity season after winning three county titles at South Valley Jr. High, finished in a team-high sixth place, while Gurich hung on in the rugged championship bracket longer than any other Mustang before losing in the quarterfinals.
“I was just hoping to get to the second day and I made it farther than I thought I would. It definitely is the toughest tournament I’ve wrestled in,” said Naranjo, who went 7-3 in 10 matches over two days. “I know I’m going to be pretty sore tomorrow.”
Gurich, a fierce competitor who placed fourth in the state finals as a junior last year, was not completely satisfied with his seventh-place finish, wanting even more out of himself against the nation’s top grapplers.
“I don’t think I did (reach my goal). You definitely have to live up to your seed if not above that. I was seeded fifth so I was a little disappointed in that, but tough guys here, got caught with a couple of funky stuff, but that’s just how it goes some days,” Gurich said. “Definitely, this is the toughest high school tournament I’ve wrestled in.”
Zabala had a different take on the national tournament, using it as a measure of what he needs to improve on to make his state championship run this season.
“It’s not anything that really counts for me. That’s with state. Right now, I’m just going out there and seeing what I can do for right now. Now I know what I have to work on,” said Zabala, who was 10 seconds away from placing. “It’s definitely a positive attribute to our wrestling team. We all got to see what we can do against the best wrestlers out there.”
Win or lose, Gonzalez was glad that he brought his wrestlers to Reno, representing the Gilroy Unified School District in a tournament that involved schools from all over California, Arkansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Virginia, West Virginia, and Colorado.
“There were a couple of kids I probably shouldn’t have brought because they are not at the national level, but I brought them because they work so hard in practice. This is an experience they needed to come out here and see for themselves,” Gonzalez said. “We are a small family and this is kinda a reward for the kids who are working hard.”
Naranjo had to work hard in every match, as he was not seeded and forced to start against the top wrestlers in the 103-pound weight class. After a 15-0 technical fall win over Las Costa Canyon High’s Nick Wilcox in his first match, Naranjo was pinned by Bakersfield’s Joe Cisneros to drop into the consolation bracket.
“He’s another one of those freshman phenoms to come into my program,” said Gonzalez of Naranjo, a Gilroy Hawks club wrestler. “You don’t expect that little guy to come in here and place top six, which is what he did. We’re really impressed with him and the competition of opponents that he was able to beat throughout the weekend. I’m sure Nico is going to be ranked in state now.”
The freshman terror went right back to work on Friday, pinning James Stover, of Westmoore High (Okla.), taking a 11-1 major decision over Vacaville’s Anton Deleon, and then pinning Valhalia’s Keith Juengst to advance to Saturday’s second day.
Naranjo returned for another long day in similar fashion, winning a 6-0 decision over Conner Robinson, of Edmond North High (Okla.), pinning Chris Corona, of Easton North Nigh (Penn.), and defeating Turlock’s Ty Costa, 4-2, before losing to Temecula’s David Navarrete to move into the fifth-sixth place bout. His tournament run ended later that night with a tight 6-4 loss to Casey Smith, of Wasatch High (Utah).
“We surprised a lot of people with Armando (Gonzalez) and Adin (Duenas) last year as freshmen, but Nico’s carrying that torch even farther,” Coach Gonzalez said. “He’s got a bright future ahead of him. He did a lot of good things for himself in state rankings and things like that.”
Gurich took a different route to the medal round, winning three straight matches on Friday for an early advancement to the second day. Gurich opened with an 8-2 nod over Barrett Able, of Union Mine High (Calif.) followed by a 9-2 victory over Valhalia High’s Jarrod Maguire and then a 6-0 decision over De La Salle’s Rudy Ramirez.
“That guy is pretty tough. He’s a returning state-qualifier at 12s last year. I wrestled with him over the summer in Oklahoma so I knew how he’s doing. … I turned him a couple of times so I think I wore him down and that’s how I got him,” said Gurich, after beating Ramirez. “Every match here is your toughest match of the season. Everybody here is great. They are always close. It’s just whoever is in better shape.”
Gurich, who needed to use an asthma inhaler between bouts because he felt short of breathe in the Reno climate, was undefeated in day-one but he still had to stick around until all his teammates finished up.
“I would have liked to wrestle a little more to get a little more into the wrestling mode and also lose some weight while wrestling because I probably weigh over,” Gurich said. “I’ve just got to go strap on the sweats and start running around waiting for everyone else to stop wrestling. … Then go back to the hotel, cleanup, see where I’m at. If I’m good, watch a little TV, go to bed. If not, go out and run some more. I’m probably not going to leave here until I make weight.”
The veteran grappler’s Saturday morning started with his quarterfinal match against Bakersfield’s Brett Land. The match was scoreless in the second period when Gurich was turned on his back by Land for a pin, bumping him into the consolation bracket.
“Me and him have been wrestling ever since we were little kids. We’ve always been about the same weight. We just battle,” Gurich said. “It’s between me and him and this guy Paul Ruiz from Firebaugh. We always go back and forth, back and forth. It seems like now I always beat Paul; Paul always beats him; and he always beats me. It’s a mental thing now.”
Following his first loss, Gurich rebounded with a 3-0 decision over Temecula Valley’s Steven Saric to guarantee him a medal.
“I knew it was do-or-die to place and everything. I really wanted to get a win since that guy is from California,” Gurich said. “He just wasn’t doing much and I haven’t been shooting a lot so I figured hit a little single and the worse I could do is back out and nothing happens or you can get the takedown. He fought pretty well, but I got a couple of takedowns so it feels pretty good.”
In the seventh round of consolation, Gurich ran into another tough opponent, getting pinned by Hughson High’s Corey Borges, who placed fifth in California last year.
“We felt Johnny was good enough to be a finalist and we still do,” Gonzalez said. “A lot of wrestling is luck, luck of the draw, and just good fortunate calls from the officials. Johnny suffered a bad call and a little bad luck. Other than that, Johnny can compete with the top kids in the nation.”
In his seventh-eighth place match, Gurich finished up with an impressive 4-1 decision over Randel Aleman, of Cimarron Memorial High (Nev.). The key for Gurich was a rare standing reversal he earned by keeping his feet inside the circle to take a 2-0 lead in the second period.
“I didn’t think I was going to get anything. I thought maybe one,” Gurich said. “I’ve wrestled that guy before a couple years ago in Reno. I thought he was going to come out real aggressive, but I just stopped him.”
At 171 pounds, Zabala won three of his first four matches to reach the second day of competition, pinning Foothill’s Jake Baldwin before losing to Clovis East’s Kyle Griffin and then flattening Daniel Barraza, of Reed High, in the first period.
“He tried to shoot in and he left his head open so I just ran a head and arm,” Zabala said. “I’ve worked way to hard not to make it (to the second day).”
But in his return to the action on Saturday, Zabala lost a tight 4-3 decision to Carson High’s Joe Roman, who he had beaten last week in the Coast Classic at Scotts Valley High.
“We thought he should be a placer, but he lost with 10 seconds left in the match to medal and his other loss was on a fluky fall where he got caught,” said Gonzalez of Zabala. “I think Mark is going to bounce back fine and show everybody what he’s made of. He just had a bad call on a fluky position and just a really tough last-second defeat to a kid he beat already.”
After a disappointing showing in the Coast Classic, Maldonado won back the confidence of his coaches with a 2-2 record in the Reno Tournament Of Champions. Maldonado’s wins included a 4-1 decision over Daniel Hodges, of Pomona High, and a 17-1 technical fall over Paris Bayardo, of Palo Verde High.
“Last week I was broken down (at the Coast Classics). I didn’t show what I could do. I was mentally not there. Coming into this, my coach said nothing for you to have pressure on just wrestle like you can,” Maldonado said. “I’m satisfied with the wrestling, but I’m not satisfied with how far I went in the tournament, but I thought I wrestled great. I’ve never felt this good wrestling.”
And the Gilroy High coaches took notice, too.
“He really turned it around and had a great tournament,” Gonzalez said. “He really came through and wrestled well. He was a bright spot for us and he’s going to continue to build off this with his confidence.”
At 119s, sophomore Adin Duenas was hit with a tough draw, losing to the top seed, Easton’s Seth Clasulli, in his first match. Duenas, who qualified for last year’s state meet as a freshman, then won his only match with a 16-0 technical fall over Edmond North’s Nick Rice before bowing out with a 13-5 loss to Bryan Osuna, of Calvary Chapel High (Calif.).
“Adin Duenas is a very talented sophomore and can place in just about every tournament he goes into. He had a bad draw. He hit the No. 1 seed, who’s right now winning in the finals, and he hit the third-place wrestler in consolations,” Gonzalez said. “Those were his two losses and he won one inbetween there, but it’s really tough when you hit a couple of guys like that.”
At 125s, junior Joseph Serrano won his first match by pinning Ridgefield High’s Wade Firestone in 1:16. The first-year varsity grappler then lost his next two matches to get eliminated.
“He actually wrestled well. It’s the first time we’ve brought him to a tournament like this and he lost to the No. 1 seed from Eastern Pennsylvania and he won a match, but Joseph showed us something,” Gonzalez said. “He had a close loss and he showed us that he’s going to win a lot of matches for us in our section and in our league. It’s not a surprise, but it’s nice for him to show up and show us how good he could be.”
In the 130-pound weight class, sophomore Armando Gonzalez, who won a CCS weight class title as a freshman, opened with two straight victories over Temecula’s Ted Bristol, 13-4, and then Poway’s Abe Gross, 3-2. But his run ended when he ran into last year’s RTOC runner-up Andrew Hochstrasser and got pinned.
“He had an equally terrible draw as Adin. … His third match he wrestled last year’s runner-up and this year’s finalist and he was overwhelmed,” said Gonzalez of his son. “In his last match he wrestled an Eastern Pennsylvania kid. That program is one of the best in the nation. He had a very tough overtime loss that could have gone either way and had he won that match I think he would have definitely placed because that guy went on and had easier matches after his and placed.”
Rounding out the Gilroy line-up were: freshman 140-pounder Austin Gabrud (1-2 record); senior 152-pounder Callen Romesberg (1-2); senior 189-pounder Eric Lara (2-2); and senior 215-pounder Jose Albarran (0-2).
“We got here with a little bit of a bug this week, so a lot of the boys were not feeling well and wrestled through their illnesses and at this level of competition if you’re feeling a little bit sick, sometimes that is the difference and we had a couple of kids who were really close to medaling and that could have been the difference,” Gonzalez said. “We’re fortunate and we feel confident that they are going to continue to get better and do well as the year progresses.”
