Willie Fox, Jesse Delgado, Martin Gonzalez, Vincent Aboytes and
Luis Barragan all remain in contention to earn individual
titles
GILROY
Day one is done at Mid Cals, and the Gilroy Mustangs are only 10.5 points out of first place.
Willie Fox (114 pounds), Jesse Delgado (121), Martin Gonzalez (127), Vincent Aboytes (147) and Luis Barragan (287) all remain in contention to earn titles, while the Mustangs, which competed with 12 wrestlers, have four others still alive in the consolation bracket.
“We’re doing a lot better than I thought we would, and we’re right up there in the running, which is great,” Gilroy head coach Armando Gonzalez said. “We should get all five of our guys in the finals. That’s big points.”
Gilroy, which has won Mid Cals three years running, compiled 148.5 points on the first day, and trails first-place St. Francis (159 points) by 10.5.
Selma, ranked third in California, is in second place with 153.5 points.
Heading into day two of the 67-team tournament, Gonzalez said St. Francis has four in the semifinals, while Selma has approximately six or seven wrestlers still in contention.
“They’re gonna probably take it over tomorrow,” Gonzalez said of Selma. “It looks like we’ll probably come in third, which is what we thought.
“Hopefully we’ll be there in the top three … We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
A victory in the finals means four additional points to the respective team, and Gonzalez thinks there is a chance his Mustangs could possibly overtake St. Francis, which is ranked No. 2 in the Central Coast Section behind Gilroy.
“We may overtake St. Francis, but Selma will win a few of there (matches), so we may not overtake them,” Gonzalez said.
Leapfrogging St. Francis will start with Delgado, who will open Saturday against St. Francis’ Jorge Barajas in the 121-pound semifinal. Although that is the only semifinal match that pits the top two teams in the CCS against one another, there is a very strong chance it could happen twice more in the championship round.
And Mustang victories over St. Francis in the finals would provide GHS with crucial points.
“We’re gonna be in the hunt,” Gonzalez added.
In the consolation bracket, Jasmine Yanez (105 pounds), Rodney Balajadia (132), Benjamin Torricier (154) and Fabian Loredo (217) will all continue to battle their way up to a possible third-place finish on Saturday.
Day two of Mid Cals will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and continue throughout the day at Gilroy High.
DAY ONE, MID CALS
INDIVIDUAL
105 – Jasmine Yanez, 3-1; Next: Winner of Jonathan Lanthier, Archbishop Riordan/Jeff Chu, Saratoga.
114 – Willie Fox, 4-0; Next: Johnnie Nguyen, Saratoga.
121 – Jesse Delgado, 4-0; Next: Jorge Barajas, St. Francis.
127 – Martin Gonzalez, 4-0; Next: Sonny Perez, Hoover.
132 – Rodney Balajadia, 3-1; Next: Winner of Alex Williams, Piedmont Hills/Jack Sakai, Palo Alto.
137 – Mikey Lucero, 2-2; Next: Done.
142 – Adam Rosso, 1-2; Next: Done.
147 – Vincent Aboytes, 4-0; Next: Josh Ramirez, San Benito.
154 – Benjamin Torricier, 3-1; Next: Mago Ramos, Hoover.
162 – Felix Gonzalez, 2-2; Next: Done.
173 – N/A.
191 – N/A.
217 – Fabian Loredo, 4-1; Next: Scott Brasil, Mount Pleasant.
287 – Luis Barragan, 4-0; Next: Chris Tozer, Valley Christian.
TEAM (67 TEAMS)
1 – St. Francis, 159
2 – Selma, 153.5
3 – Gilroy, 148.5
4 – San Benito, 120.0
5 – Centennial, 119.5
6 – Kingsburg, 101.5
7 – Spanish Springs, 101.5
8 – Turlock, 98.5
9 – Palo Alto, 95.0
10 – Monterey, 92.0
11 – Dos Palos, 89.5
12 – Overfelt, 85.0
13 – Prospect, 84.5
14 – Serra, 82.5
15 – Oak Grove, 81.0
