Gilroy
– Six was Gilroy’s lucky number Friday at the Mid-Cals. That’s
six as in how many wrestlers advanced to the semifinals and six as
in how many are still alive in the consolation round.
Gilroy – Six was Gilroy’s lucky number Friday at the Mid-Cals.
That’s six as in how many wrestlers advanced to the semifinals and six as in how many are still alive in the consolation round.
It adds up to first place after the first day of the tournament at Gilroy High School. The Mustangs have 131 points but are closely followed by Elk Grove at 126. Buhach Colony is third at 112.50 with Foothill (Palo Cedro) fourth at 101.
“We wrestled tough,” GHS coach Armando Gonzalez said. “We advanced 12 of 14 in a very good tournament. We had 10 going into Day 2 of the Doc Buchanan. So I’m happy about where we are.”
The Mustangs were especially tough in the lower weights as Jesse Delgado, 103; Rodney Balajadia, 112; Martin Gonzalez, 119; and Rudy Maldonado, 125, all were unbeaten after the first day. So, too, were 171-pounder Hunter Collins, who took a total of 3:23 to pin three opponents, and 189-pounder Andres Barragan, who didn’t allow a point.
“I think the team wrestled really well,” said Collins, “even those who lost. We expected everyone to do their best and some of the guys did well against really good wrestlers.”
Delgado lived up to his No. 1 seed with first-period pins over Jon Tran of Andrew Hill in 1:22 and Joe Redmond of Sobrato in 25 seconds. Awaiting him in the semifinals is Central Coast Section No. 2-seeded Al Quengo of Overfelt, who Delgado pinned last week in the Overfelt Tournament.
Balajadia followed the performance of fellow freshman Delgado with wins over Mitch Lozano of Central, Kevin Avila of Liberty and Shameer Erfanian of Cupertino to earn a semifinal berth with No. 1 seed Sophan Mey of Elk Grove. Mey won by two major decisions and a fall to advance.
Martin Gonzalez was dominant, winning by two technical falls before he pinned Elk Grove’s Mason Mullendore 10 seconds before the end of the first period.
“I was expecting to be in the semifinals,” Gonzalez said. “Being a No. 1 seed, I expect to be in the finals. I know enough to take it one match at a time. If I make the finals, I expect to see Andre Gonzalez (of Silver Creek), who I have split overtime decisions with this season.”
First up for Martin Gonzalez is Grant Kadokura of Monta Vista, who is fourth ranked in CCS.
Maldonado started quickly with a first-period pin before winning two close decisions. In his 8-7 win over Michael Rodriguez of Independence, Maldonado got off to a 6-0 start. Maldonado matches up in the semifinals with No. 2-seeded Josh Sandhaus of Buhach Colony.
At 130, where Gilroy’s Chris Krough lost in the first round to Dominic Kastl, the St. Francis wrestler upset No. 1 seed Peter Hoang of Silver Creek, 3-2.
None of Collins’ opponents lasted longer than 1:16.
“I’m happy with the way I wrestled,” said Collins, now 23-1 on the season. “It’s a lot of fun wrestling in a home tournament. It was a good chance to test my boundaries with some of the guys to see what I am capable of.”
Collins next faces St. Francis freshman Drew Meulman, who the Gilroy junior pinned last week at the Overfelt Tournament.
Barragan had a second-period pin and a third-period fall before winning 8-0 by major decision over Blake Davis of Anderson.
“I would like to have gotten another pin, but at least I didn’t give up any points,” Barragan said.
Next up for the second-seeded Barragan is a semifinal matchup against Drew Toney of St. Francis, the CCS No. 3-ranked wrestler.
Four Mustang wrestlers — Vincent Aboytes, 135; Travis Sakamoto, 140; Austin Gubrud, 145; and Jesse Rogers, 215 — made it to the quarterfinals before losing. Aboytes lost 6-0 to No. 1 seed David Watts of El Diamante. Rogers, wrestling despite illness, had two pins and led his quarterfinal match 5-0 before falling 8-6 to Dyllan Snavely of Eldorado.
Wrestling resumes at 9:30am today. Championship bouts are scheduled to start at 5pm.
