The Gilroy Hawks finished off their season in the California
Freestyle State Championships on May 12-13 at the San Jose
Convention Center and took a team record of 17 medals.
The Gilroy Hawks finished off their season in the California Freestyle State Championships on May 12-13 at the San Jose Convention Center and took a team record of 17 medals.
“It is probably the best as whole that we have done,” said coach Greg Varela. “We’ve had more individual champions, but never this many total medalists. I am very proud of how they all did.”
Ten of the 17 placers were 13 or under. Gilroy had 22 kids as young as 7 and up to 17 competing in the tournament.
“The future looks really bright us,” Varela said. “They started in September and kept going in March with no time off. We really pushed them hard and then turned it up at the end of year to get them ready for the tournament. They finally get two weeks off after nine months of a grind.”
The wrestlers trained with Danny Locson, who trains professional athletes such as 49ers Jeff Ulbrich. He was featured on Fox Sports for his work with athletes.
“He really puts them through a rigorous boot camp,” Varela said. “But they don’t complain. They showed what they were really made of. They really showed maturity to set an example for the little guys. You can coach until you are blue in the face, but when they see the high school guys doing it it means even more.”
Jasmine Yanez, the only female on the team, won the state championship in the 105-pound 13-14 age bracket. Earlier this year, she placed eighth in the nation.
“The other wrestlers don’t pull any punches with her,” Varela said. “She holds her own and everyone on the team respects her.”
With the success of the young Hawks, Gilroy wrestling shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
“It is sign of what (Gilroy High) coach (Armando Gonzales) has done. His thumbprint is definitely on this team,” Varela said. “It all goes back to him. He teaches them how to win and lose with respect. Everyone handled themselves like adults.”
For more information and photos, see www.gilroywrestling.com.
Bantam Division age 7-8 years old
75 ++ pounds–Juan Lopez – 1st place won by decision 5-0, 6-0
75 pounds–Miles Kendrick – second place in his first complete season of wrestling. Kendrick made it to the finals.
50 pounds–Dallas Gutierrez – 7th place
“Dallas asked me if he could train two practices a day, one with the middle school and high schoolers and one with the kids his own age,” said coach Greg Varela. “It takes a special kid to commit to that level of training on his own at such a young age, and the hard work paid off for him.”
Novice Division 11-12 year olds
75 pounds–Isaiah Locsin – third place
“He is the leader of his teammates and leads by example,” Varela said. “His only loss was to the champion whom he was beating the entire match until he made one mistake that cost him the match.”
80 pounds–Paul Fox – fifth place
Fox finished with a 6-l record with his only loss coming from the champion. Because of the point system in freestyle wrestling, the highest he could place after his loss was fifth place.
85 pounds–Nickolas Villereal – third place
Villereal lost his first match of the tournament to the eventual state champion and then went on to win seven straight matches to earn third place, and in the process won the Santa Clara Valley Wrestling Association Grand Champion Award for his weight and age group.
Schoolboy Division ages 11-12 years old
80 pounds–Lief Dominguez – 4th place
“Last year Lief failed to win one match at the state tournament and dedicated the past twelve months to intense training that included training camps in Virginia, weight lifting and endless hours of drilling his moves,” Varela said. “And it paid off with his only two losses to the champion and the third-place finisher.”
100 pounds – Aaron
Gonzalez – fifth place
Last year, Gonzalez was one match from placing at state. As he was walking off the wrestling mat, he asked head coach Armando Gonzalez what he could do to for this year because he really wanted to medal at state.
“Armando gave him the same answer he always gives all young men,” Varela said. “‘There is no secret to success. It’s hard work. Show up for practice everyday.’ We couldn’t kick Aaron out of the wrestling room if we tried.”
100 pounds–Willie Fox – second place
Before Willie and brother Paul moved to Gilroy, they spent three years taking the bus from Castroville and getting dropped off at Platinum Theaters. They used to run down Tenth Street to Gilroy High to participate in the last half of the young kids practice then stay for the middle school/high school practice. Their dad picked them up after practice at 7pm, and they still maintained GPAs of at least 3.5. “We always tease them that when they have kids the can honestly say that the had to walk five miles in the snow uphill both ways just go to practice,” Varela said.
School Girl Division
100 pounds–Jasmine Yanez – first place
Yanez is an All-American who placed 7th at the Nationals. She is a multiple girls state champion whose father taught her martial arts before she began wrestling.
“Please don’t call her a girl wrestler because as her teammates will tell you she is a girl kicking butt in a man’s sport,” Varela said. “There are no other girls on her team so she trains with the boys. At first, we were concerned with the blood running down her nose at practice. But we soon learned when she told us ‘Coach it’s just blood’ that Jasmine is no girl wrestler. She is one of us.”
Cadet Division 15-16 year olds
119 pounds–Jesse Delgado – second place
Delgado competed at Gilroy High this year in the 103-pound division, placing third in the state and becoming Gilroy High’s highest ever placing freshman. “He could have entered this tournament at the 112-pound division,” Varela said. “But Jessie wanted to challenge himself by wrestling bigger and stronger opponents than what he was been used to.” Delgado’s next challenge will be competing against the best in the country at the USA Wrestling National Championships this summer in Fargo, North Dakota.
145 pounds–Vincent Aboytes – fifth place
“Vince is an up-and-coming star who earned valuable experience this year as well as competing on the varsity high school team as a freshman,” Varela said. “Vince is one of the hardest working kids on the team and it showed as he placed fifth in this tournament and will be going to summer training camps this summer all over the country.”
285 pounds–Luis Barragon – fifth place
“Luis fell victim to the Freestyle scoring system which decides metal rounds between wrestlers with the same win loss total by comparing points scored on common opponents,” Varela said. Barragon beet the eventual state champion, but his one loss dropped him all the way down to the fifth and sixth place match, which he won to finish the tournament with a 6-1 record.
Junior Fila Division 17-20 year old
121 pounds–Nico Naranjo – fourth place
“Nico wrestled very well,” Varela said. “impressing his new coaches from West Valley Community College, where he will be competing at next year with hopes of rejoining his old teammates Armando Gonzalez Jr. and Adin Duenas at Cal State Fullerton.”
132.5 pounds–Martin Gonzalez -fifth place
“Martin had to get a medical waiver from his doctor in order to compete in this age division because he is so young, only a sophomore in high school, and competing with young men in their second year of college,” Varela said. “Martin really surprised everyone with his will to win against much bigger and stronger opponents. We were happy he was allowed to compete but were amazed by how Martin seems to step up a notch for the big tournaments.”
211.5 pounds–Jesse Rogers – third place
Rodgers placed second at the CCS championships this past year. He traveled with Hunter Collins to Stanford College to train with their college club team.
185 pounds–Hunter Collins – second place
“Hunter is the captain of this team and is opening doors for all the Gilroy High wrestlers who come after him,” Varela said. “College coaches from West Point Military Academy, Stanford, Cornell, Penn, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and many more are just a few schools contacting Armando about his future plans.” Collins will be competing this summer in the USA Wrestling National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota, where last year he was the runner-up.
