Jesse Delgado continued his quest for a state title by making up
for a shocking performance at last year’s Five Counties Wrestling
Tournament.
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Jesse Delgado continued his quest for a state title by making up for a shocking performance at last year’s Five Counties Wrestling Tournament.
Ruled to have pinned himself in an opening-round match at last season’s event, the top-ranked 119-pounder in the state returned to Huntington Beach this past weekend to win his second Five Counties championship in just three years of high school wrestling. No other Gilroy High wrestler has ever won the event other than Delgado, who won this season’s final match 10-1 over San Jacinto’s Chad Thornock.
“The kid he wrestled had pinned everybody,” GHS assistant coach Mike Koester said. “[Jesse] pretty much rolled through him.”
A dramatic 2-1 win over Selma’s A.J. Valles made the title possible.
Martin Gonzalez (125 pounds) and Luis Barragan (285) were the two other Mustangs to make it to the finals.
Gonzalez won a double-overtime semifinal match against Lemoore’s Brandon Rocha 4-3 before losing to Liberty of Brentwood’s David Klingsheim 11-5 in the final. It was the second straight week the pair have met in the final match of a tournament, with Klingsheim winning the Doc Buchanan Invitational title in overtime 6-4 on Jan. 10 in Clovis.
Despite the difference in final score, this weekend’s match was almost as close, Koester said.
“Most of [Klingsheim’s] points came from one move,” he said. “Going into the third (round), it was tied 3-3.”
Barragan won his first three matches by pin before beating Kyle Papendorf of Buchanan 1-0 in the semifinals. Papendorf, ranked No. 7 in the state, was a spot higher than Barragan in the rankings going into the match.
Entering the second period of a scoreless finals match against Jose Lopez of John Glenn, Barragan’s opponent chose bottom and almost paid the price.
“Barragan almost turned him, but the kid just hooked his elbow and rolled through,” Koester said, resulting in a fall in 4:32.
Second place wasn’t too shabby, though, for a wrestler who predicted he would make it to the finals the day before his first match.
“Luis had a great tournament,” Koester said. “He was rolling Friday.”
Other GHS wrestlers to have strong showings included Willie Fox (1-2 record), Vincent Aboytes (4-2) and Benjamin Torricier (2-2). Fox, a freshman, lost both of his matches to state qualifiers, while Aboytes was one win away from placing.
As a team, Gilroy finished in sixth place, five spots higher than a year ago. That eventually led to a school-best second-place finish at state, which has coaches optimistic about what’s to come.
“Everything that we’re doing is preparing us for March,” Koester said.
Five Counties Wrestling Tournament Results
112 pounds – Willie Fox (1-2 record)
Won 10-2, John Fife (Vacaville)
Lost 8-3, Diego Quintana (Selma)
Lost 5-4, Stevie Espindola (Bishop Amat)
119 – Jesse Delgado (5-0)
Won 7-0, Jesse Taylor (Poway)
Won 15-0, Justin Villareal (Bishop Amat)
Won 14-6, Richard Rios (Santa Fe)
Won 2-1, A.J. Valles (Selma)
Won 10-1, Chad Thornock (San Jacinto)
125 – Martin Gonzalez (5-1)
Won Fall :20, Rob Buckhannon (Palo Verde, Nevada)
Won 12-5, Spencer Hill (Buchanan)
Won 11-3, Blake Kastl (Saint Francis)
Won Fall 1:34, Michael Vargas (Buena Park)
Won 4-3 Double OT, Brandon Rocha (Lemoore)
Lost 11-5, David Klingsheim (Liberty of Brentwood)
130 – Rodney Balajadia (1-1)
Won 11-1, Sean Pitoniak (Fountain Valley)
Lost Fall 3:28, Nic Tiano (Santiago Corona)
140 – Adam Rosso (0-1)
Lost 15-2, Jhaell Gomez (Santa Ana)
145 – Vincent Aboytes (4-2)
Won 12-5, Eric Green (Temecula Valley)
Won 12-2, Todd Graff (Steele Canyon)
Lost Fall 3:02, Matthew Melendrez (California High)
Won 11-4, Brogan Ashian (Cimarron Memorial, Nevada)
Won 15-0, Vince Waldhauser (Oakridge)
Lost Fall 3:23, Denzel Hawkins (Centennial)
160 – Benjamin Torricier (2-2)
Won 6-1 Josh Kitzmiller (Valhalla)
Lost Fall 1:39, Stephen West (Buchanan)
Won 13-3, Brad Turrell (Carlsbad)
Lost 5-0, Will Heinel (Collingswood, New Jersey)
275 – Luis Barragan (4-1)
Won Fall :57, Yuri Miranda (Clovis West)
Won Fall 1:01, Nader Abdullatif (Elanor Roosevelt)
Won Fall 2:43, Russel Csonka (Murrieta Valley)
Won 1-0, Kyle Papendorf (Buchanan)
Lost Fall 4:32, Jose Lopez (John Glenn)
