GHS wrestlers travel to L.A. and once again go toe-to-toe with
state’s best
Judging by the list of top-flight wrestling programs brought together in one venue, this weekend’s Five Counties Invitational in Los Angeles had all the appearances of a state tournament preview.
All of California’s best were there.
Bakersfield, Poway, Ponderosa, Buchanan … and Gilroy.
The Mustangs cemented their place among the state’s finest by posting 75.5 points and finishing 11th out of 80 teams. A top-10 finish eluded them only because Central Catholic’s Louis Bland was handed the 152-pound division when his opponent from Santa Monica defaulted in the final.
“We’re as good as most of the best teams in the state,” GHS head coach Armando Gonzalez said. “The Ponderosas, the Bakersfields, the Poways … we’ve competed and gone toe-to-toe with these guys all year long.”
Unlike many of the powerhouse programs, Gilroy sent just seven wrestlers – and three of them placed.
At 103 pounds, Nicolo Naranjo finished third after entering the tournament as the fifth seed. The sophomore lost 8-5 to top-ranked Justin Durham of Ponderosa before bouncing back and handily beating the No. 3 and 4 seeds.
In the stacked 130-pound weight class, Gilroy’s Adin Dueñas finished a solid eighth. The junior won his first three matches before falling in the quarters to Buchanan’s Josh Betancur, who later advanced to the title contest.
Third-seeded Armando Gonzalez (135 lbs.) also made it to his championship match. The head coach’s son didn’t have enough to defeat state No. 1 Joe Soto of Porterville, but did prevail over second-seeded Tony Webber in the semis.
It was the rubber match between Gonzalez and the Bakersfield wrestler, who won their last meeting at the Doc Buchanan.
The senior Gonzalez said the pair’s rivalry offers yet another example of his team taking on only the best during its rigorous trek toward the state competition in March.
“When you compete on this level, you have to prepare for the state championships,” the sixth-year coach said. “We’re seeing these same guys week in and week out and that’s only going to help us.”
Of the four GHS wrestlers who didn’t place – Rudy Maldonaldo (119), Joseph Serrano (125), Austin Gubrud (140) and Hunter Collins (160) – every one of them won at least one match.
“I feel we have a really good shot at finishing top 10 at state, and that was our goal before the season,” Gonzalez said of his Mustangs, currently ranked 11th in California.
“We’re really wrestling to our potential right now and competing against the best every week. I think it bodes well for our end-of-the-year run.”
For the first time all season, Gilroy actually gets to compete at home this Wednesday. The ‘Stangs take on TCAL opponent Salinas, the best of a host of TCAL teams from that city.
JVs rack up victories
The junior varsity Mustangs entered the final round of this weekend’s Los Gatos Wildcatz Invitational with seven wrestlers in title matches, but trailing the host team by a sizable 30-point margin.
Remarkably, all seven GHS finalists took top honors and Gilroy ended up tying Los Gatos for the overall tournament title. The first-place finishers were Travis Sakamoto (121), Chris Krough (127), Ethan Ogle (132), Ismael Gutierrez (142), Seth Whitney (191), Jeremy Sabla (217) and Chas Guerrero (HW).
Other placers included 137-pound Tim Caspary (4th), 147-pound Justin Blankenship (6th) and heavyweight Richard Pichardo (6th).
