Garlic grapplers come back to beat Hollister in 40-30
thriller
GILROY – The Garlic City Rumble lived up to its top billing on Wednesday night as the reigning section champion Mustang matmen and arch rival Hollister bumped heads at Gilroy High School.
The upset-minded Haybalers built a commanding 24-6 lead after winning five of the first seven matches with the night beginning in the middle at 145s. But the turn from heavyweight to the lightest 103 weight class brought out the heart of the garlic lineup and string of six straight wins.
Senior Chad Haygood, returning from a collarbone injury just last weekend, sealed the 40-30 dual-meet victory by pinning Hollister’s Evan Rodriguez with 44 seconds left and only one other bout remaining.
“I’ve been training for this all year. My coaches said if you’re going to win one match this year it’s going to be against Hollister,” said Haygood, who head-tossed Rodriguez to the mat for the six-point pin. “After I went to the upper-body, I knew I could throw him easy. That’s what I’m good at and that was his weakness.”
Preying on the opponent’s weakness was the key to match, as both Haybaler head coach Matt Olejnik and Mustang head coach Armando Gonzalez tweaked their lineups for the best possible advantage.
“They did some great moves, moving guys up and pulling guys in the lineup, which really looked like they had something for us and they made it close. That’s as close as it’s going to get,” said Gonzalez, who upped his career record versus Olejnik’s Haybalers to 3-2.
“Matt Olejnik did a great job. Of all the coaches that I’ve had to coach against or battle against, I’ll have to say that he is definitely the best coach,” Gonzalez added. “He’s smart. He’s crafty. He’s a motivator and I have a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished. He gave his team the best chance they could of to win.”
But some pivotal matches went Gilroy’s way, giving them the edge in the end of a thrilling night of wrestling.
“It was a chess match, and we had one less piece,” Olejnik said. “I thought we would have won the 152 match which would have given us a six-point swing. I thought we had a chance at 135s as well. Usually there is a surprise somewhere.”
A key bout early on (the second of 14 total) was in the 152-pound class between Mustang senior Miguel Maldonado and Haybaler senior Alex Diaz. After taking a 4-1 lead in the first period with a pair of takedowns, Maldonado scored a final takedown in the third period for a 6-1 win.
“I was hoping he would (pick the neutral position to start the third). I felt stronger on my feet,” said Maldonado, who had to cut weight leading up the match. ” I feel kinda winded.”
Two other critical bouts both resulted in Gilroy losses, but by not getting pinned both junior Callen Romesberg and senior Jose Albarron helped the team out.
Romesberg started the match, taking on Haybaler senior Octavio Lucatero, who slid up from 140s. Romesberg put up a valiant effort against one the best in the section, losing 7-3.
At 215s, Albarron also gave Hollister senior Matt De La Rosa a battle, falling by a slim 4-1 margin.
“Miguel Maldonado winning at 152 was a huge win we needed. Jose Albarron not getting pinned at 215s, losing by a close score, was what we wanted, too,” Gonzalez said. “We had given Lucatero six on our pre-match strategy, but he wrestled Callen and only got them three. We also thought De La Rosa would give six against Jose and he only got three. Those two right there, we gained six on our matchup.”
Even with losing at 160s, 171s, 215s, and forfeiting heavyweight, the Mustangs got a win up to with senior Mark Zabala at 189s. But Zabala, who lost close to six pounds to make weight, got robbed by the clock of a pin in the first period and settled for a 17-4 majority decision.
“He was trying to survive. That pissed me off, but that’s just part of it,” said Zabala, who wrestles at 171s but was bumped up. “No biggie, I’ve done it before. Part of being a team is making a sacrifice and dealing with it.”
Zabala buried Hollister’s Kyle Horn and put him on his back nearing the end of the first period, but could not finish it before the buzzer.
“We needed that pin so I was a little disappointed, but you’ve got to give credit to his opponent because the kid was scrappy. He was tough. He stalled well. He fought Mark off,” Gonzalez said. “Plus, Mark cut a lot of weight to get down and he was feeling a little bad.”
A Haybaler forfeit win at heavyweight was quickly countered by a Mustang forfeit win at 103s as Hollister’s Tito Flores and Gilroy’s Nicolo Naranjo stepped out only to have their arms raised.
Freshman Rudy Maldonado followed Naranjo’s forfeit win and set the Mustangs on their way with an impressive 18-2 technical fall of Haybaler freshman Bob Glashan – who fought off his back several times.
“Me and my friend, Nico (Naranjo), we’ve been looking forward to this ever since our first dual meet,” Maldonado said. “We knew we were going to beat them here on our home turf.”
Senior John Gurich was not affected by the move up to 119s as he pinned Hollister sophomore Chris Mora with 34 seconds left in the second period to give Gilroy its first pin of the match.
“Definitely, we came out slow. Definitely was in their favor to start at 45s. … If we started a little lower, it would have been more to our advantage,” Gurich said. “It’s great going out my senior year in front of the home crowd.”
Sophomore Adin Duenas made short work of Haybaler Andrew Sandoval, pinning him 41 seconds in to give the Mustangs the lead for good.
“Once we started at 45s, we lost our first couple of matches and we knew we had to all get pins in the lower weights and I got it,” Duenas said.
Sophomore Armando Gonzalez furthered the Gilroy cause by dissecting Hollister senior Jose Uribe for a 19-3 technical fall.
“My coaches wanted a pin. I almost had it on one of those arm bars,” Gonzalez said. “Our heavyweights didn’t do as good as we thought. Thankfully, we have good lightweights..”
After Haygood clinched it, the Gilroy sideline erupted, knowing the pressure was off. Freshman Austin Gabrud finished things off with a spirited 12-2 loss to Haybaler senior Adam Sinseri.
“This was a chess match,” Mustang coach Mike Koester said. “All of their lower weights were basically put out there just to survive. Our upper weights, they were put out there with the thing of just survive.”
Up next, the Mustangs will compete in the Five Counties Invitational at Fountain Valley High School. They return to T-CAL action Jan. 21 against North Salinas at 7 p.m.
“We look like we’re right on track to win section again,” Gonzalez said. “Now that this match is over I can relax and enjoy myself and go ahead and face all of our other opponents and get our kids ready for state. This match was huge and it’s been on my mind for the last three weeks.”
