GILROY – Family, friends and fans packed the gym at South Valley
Middle School all in anticipation of the Santa Clara County East
Sectional Regional Championships.
GILROY – Family, friends and fans packed the gym at South Valley Middle School all in anticipation of the Santa Clara County East Sectional Regional Championships.
The event was scheduled to kick off at 3:30 but there was no sign of a start until 45 minutes after the fact.
A buzz began to rise from the bleachers, and the longer the start of the competition was delayed, the hum grew louder.
There was a noticeable build up of anxiousness. Then it happened.
As the first matches got under way, the place erupted. The cheering, the coaching, the yelling, things got serious in a hurry. Like organized chaos — it was quite a site.
“It is a very passionate sport,” said South Valley head coach Armando Garcia. “You don’t realize it unless you have been a part of it or around it all the time.”
Gilroy was strongly represented as Brownell, Solorsano and South Valley, combined, had 27 wrestlers in Tuesday’s meet, vying for spots in Thursday’s County finals, with South Valley sending a school record 14 kids into the Regionals, Garcia said.
In all, there were 17 schools and 19 weight-class titles up for grabs.
On the mat, the intensity levels increased with each passing round. Though they range in ages from 12 to14, the dreams of each of the boys and girls shined through in the emotions they expressed in both winning and losing.
There were tears in defeat, and smiles from ear to ear in victory. The passion was raw and powerful. The dedication and commitment demonstrated by kids at such a young age was evident.
Off to the left on mat three, a coach lowered his head and gave it a quick shake after his wrestler went down in defeat, but that frustration didn’t last but a few seconds as he consoled the teenager and calmly encouraged him, and gave him a few pointers for “next time.”
Visible through a big sigh of relief, blood colored the inside of an athletes’ mouth as she walked over to her coach after securing a spot in the finals.
“Did you bite your tongue?” he asked.
She just nodded, without a word, and went on her way.
Everything went according to plan for the three local middle schools, each with wrestlers advancing through the first round and beyond.
“As long as it’s someone from Gilroy is winning, then everything is good,” said Brownell coach Andres Barragan.
Fifteen of the 19 championship matches featured at least one of the Gilroy middle schools, and even more astounding, six of those pitted local wrestlers against each other.
“It shows the growth of our wrestling community,” Garcia said.
Nine South Valley wrestlers took home championships and 13 in all qualified for Thursday’s County meet.
“We came together this season and had a very mature team,” Garcia said. “I don’t focus too much on wins. I look for the kids to give their full effort. They did that and completed what they wanted.”
Brownell had two wrestlers win titles in their weight class who will wrestle in the County finals.Solorsano had one wrestler finish first, but will send five in total to County as the top two from each class get to move on.
RESULTS
Championship 1st and 2nd
70 Kevin Deans-Merson, Valley Christian Fall Jordan Celestino,
Solorsano, :23
75 Jesse Vasquez, South Valley Fall Martina Valdez, Ocala, :43
80 Mario Kastl, South Valley Fall Terrance Pleasant, Quimby, :39
85 Isaiah Palomino, Ocala Dec Jonathan Robles, Murphy, 4-3
90 Jimmie Lopez, South Valley Fall J.T. Miller, Murphy, :51
95 Raul Meza, Solorsano M-Dec Immanuel Salcedo, South Valley, 15-4
100 Clay Miller, Murphy Fall Arin Valdez, Ocala, 3:42
105 Alex Felix-Garcia, South Valley Fall Austin Reichert, Solorsano, 2:43
110 Matthew Penyacsek, South Valley Fall Victor Daza, Solorsano, 1:21
115 Ralphy Rateez, South Valley Fall Enrique Escalante, Chaboya, :43
120 Victor Olmos, South Valley Fall Leon Carbone, Solorsano, :45
125 Daniel Barboza, Brownell Dec Isaac Hernandez, South Valley, 6-5
135 Nico Villarreal, South Valley Fall Jaz Mendoza, Ocala, :52
145 Lupe Jimenez, South Valley Dec Julian Carbajal, Brownell, 4-0
155 Danny Rodriguez, South Valley Fall Brandon Del Rosario, Bernal, :37
165 Ephran Esquivel, Mathson Dec Bryan Petriscu, Chaboya, 8-4
175 Joseth Verdigal, Brownell Fall Jake Creamer, Bernal, :50
205 AJ Troxel, Willow Glen Fall Nash Palafox, Murphy, 2:43
235 Pedro Caldera, Ocala Dec Navi Pannu, South Valley, 7-2
3rd and 4th
70 Moses Mata, Quimby T-Fall CJ Arelio, Sierramont, 17-2
75 Aaron Ramirez, Quimby Fall Ryan Mittlestead, Herman, :27
80 Max Agustin, Solorsano Dec Andrew Madrigal, Willow Glen, 7-4
85 Anthony Lopez, South Valley Fall Vincent Borceguin, Quimby, 1:27
90 Paul Gallegos, Quimby Fall C.Johnson, Sierramont, :45
95 Tony Arduengo, Sylvandale Fall E. Lozano, Ocala, 1:33
100 Loo, Brownell Dec Hanna Gratny, Bret Harte, 5-0
105 Miguel Castillo, Quimby Fall E. Varga, Sierramont, :21
110 J. Romero, Ocala M-Dec Josh Sambrano, Quimby, 11-0
115 R. Romero, Ocala T-Fall Mario Srouji, Bret Harte, 19-4
120 Tom Ngo, Quimby Dflt C.Do , Chaboya
125 Gavin Lopez, Quimby Fall Jayson Jimenez, Sylvandale, 1:39
135 A. Agular , Mathson Dec Castro, Solorsano, 2-1
145 Frank Nguyen, Quimby Dec P. Liberman, Chaboya, 9-2
155 Crystal Soto , Ocala M-Dec Pedro Sanchez, Mathson, 11-3
165 Delgado, Brownell M-Dec Gilbert Llanas, Sylvandale, 14-4
175 M. Martinez, Mathson Fall Barry Weikert, Quimby, :39
205 Williams, Brownell Dec Ruben Cruz , Ocala, 5-2
235 Tran, Herman Fall Kyle Banks, Quimby, 1:53
