The Mustang matmen are a team built on unity, discipline, and
hard work.
GILROY – The Mustang matmen are a team built on unity, discipline, and hard work.
Head coach Armondo Gonzalez would have it no other way.
The preseason favorites in the Central Coast Section have already lived up to their top billing. And it comes as no fluke and with no luck. They are just that good.
Every day they are in the wrestling room – working to get in tip-top shape and fine-tune their skills on the mat. In the window of the room are three trophies – two tournament championships and one second-place.
The Mustangs recent journey to the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nevada brought them even closer. They left in a 15-passenger van last Thursday, spent two days wrestling their hearts out, and then returned home on Sunday.
“It was fun. This year’s a lot different. We’re more like a family. We’re all really, really close,” junior Chad Haygood said. “This year is a lot different than other years because we have a lot more support. When we’re down there on the mat, our whole team is there cheering.”
The whole trip was another bonding experience – which can only benefit the Mustangs on their quest for a CCS Championship.
“It’s fun,” said senior Danny San Juan, a first-year wrestler at Gilroy High. “At the gas station, we all got out of the car and started having snow ball fights. Even inside the car, we’d throw pretzels or bug each other while someone is sleeping.”
The close-knit bunch achieved glory in Reno when Gilroy was crowned the Sierra Nevada Classic Champions – something that was not even on their minds going in.
“It was weird because at first our coach said it would be nice to get in the top 20. That’s what we were saying on the way up there. Then we started wrestling and we were in 16th so they were like hopefully we’ll get top 10, top 15. That’d be great,” Haygood said. “Then all of a sudden they announced it on the big screen and we were in sixth. So then we were like we can get top five easily.
Before the placing rounds we were in second place so then right after that we knew. It was not until late in the tournament ’til we knew we had a chance because we weren’t really paying attention.”
The Mustang matmen’s full concentration was on their next match – not the team standings and not their own ranking. There were wrestlers representing nearly 90 high school programs covering six states. But nothing seemed to bother them.
“I didn’t really pay attention to who I wrestled too much,” Haygood said. “We try to have the attitude like it doesn’t matter who you wrestle. That was our whole mentality this weekend.”
San Juan was Gilroy’s only weight class champion at the Sierra Nevada Classic – but, as a team, they were all champions.
“They just went really deep into a tough tournament and that’s how the points are scored. It was great,” Coach Gonzalez said. “It was a very good tournament. When you have 90 teams there and they’re all wrestling, when you get down to the top eight it becomes very good.
“At that point it becomes an elite tournament and at that point is when we really had to dig down and win some very tough matches,” he added, “and our kids were able to do it. It’s tremendous for them.”
The determined garlic grapplers will have their first league dual meet Jan. 8 at home against neighboring Live Oak before they compete in the Jan. 11 Cupertino Tournament, where the Mustangs are ranked third behind Vacaville and Turlock.
“We’ll just see how that pans out and after that we’re getting ready for the MidCals,” said Coach Gonzalez, whose squad will host its annual tournament Jan. 24-25 at Gilroy High. “We are still learning. We are a young team. We only have four seniors on this squad. We have 10 returners so we’re still learning and we’re not sure just how good we are yet.”
That’s scary.
“But as we continue to compete in these tournaments we’re starting to see what these kids are made of,” the coach added. “Last weekend’s tournament was a really, really good test and a good showing for the mental toughness and the discipline and the drive that these kids possess.”
