Gilroy wins fourth straight league wrestling title; aim for same
at CCS tourney
Gilroy – Another tournament, another title.
In the final tune-up before the Central Coast Section Championships, Gilroy stayed on course Saturday, cruising to its fourth consecutive league title.
Twelve of 13 Gilroy wrestlers advanced to title matches of the Tri-County Athletic League Championships, with nine of them earning individual titles.
“A lot of guys helped themselves out,” said Gilroy assistant coach Greg Varela.
In particular, Rudy Maldonado (125 pounds), Chris Krough (130) and Luis Chavez. All three won titles against tough competition, which will help them in the seedings for the Feb. 24-25 CCS championships.
Maldonado beat Sobrato’s Moses Guillardo 5-1. Before the meet, Maldonado was ranked third in CCS while Guillardo, a section champ at Bellarmine two years ago, was ranked second.
Varela said Maldonado’s key win will help him get a higher seed at the CCS meet and give him a better shot at the 125-pound title.
“He would have had to wrestle the No. 1 seed in the semis (of CCS),” Varela said. “Now, because he beat (Guillardo), he’ll be No. 2 and should make it to the finals.”
Krough, the CCS’ fifth-ranked 130-pound wrestler, took care of business against San Benito’s Luis Barocio in the final, also helping his chances at CCS.
In the most exciting title match, Chavez, the second-ranked heavyweight in CCS downed third-ranked Genaro Redmond of Sobrato. With five seconds remaining in the match and the score tied at one, Chavez scored on a takedown for the win.
“That was a big match,” Varela said. “They had wrestled each other before and it was really close.”
Winning easy title victories were Martin Gonzalez (103 pounds), Nico Naranjo (112), Adin Dueñas (135), Armando Gonzalez (140), Hunter Collins (171) and Andres Barragan (189).
Austin Gubrud (152 pounds), Julian Gomez (160) and Daniel Gamez (215) took second in their divisions.
“I’m pretty happy with their performance,” said Gilroy head coach Armando Gonzalez. “Everybody wrestled to their potential.”
Although it’s no surprise that Gilroy’s top wrestlers have been dominating CCS competition, it’s having some of the second-tier wrestlers like Maldonado and Krough step up that will help Gilroy score even better in the postseason,
“I think them stepping up is going to help us out a lot in CCS,” Naranjo said.
Said freshman Martin Gonzalez, who will be competing in his first postseason as a high school wrestler, “Everyone feels good. Going into CCS, we get a two-week break which gives us a ton of rest to just work really hard and get our weight down. I think we should walk away from (CCS) easily, even without our 119-pounder.”
The missing 119-pounder would be sophomore Tim Ibañez, who as been declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.
Varela expressed genuine disappointment that Ibañez, who had steadily worked his way up to a No. 2 CCS ranking, wouldn’t be able to compete the rest of the way.
“He got ranked in state and honestly, he could have been top four,” Varela said. “He was doing so well. But it’s a good lesson to learn young. He’s just a sophomore.”
Gilroy Results at TCAL Championships
103 pounds
Martin Gonzalez, 1st place
112 pounds
Nico Naranjo, 1st place
125 pounds
Rudy Maldonado, 1st place
130 pounds
Chris Krough, 1st place
135 pounds
Adin Dueñas, 1st place
140 pounds
Armando Gonzalez, 1st place
145 pounds
Ethan Ogle, 3rd place
152 pounds
Austin Gubrud, 2nd place
160 pounds
Julian Gomez, 2nd place
171 pounds
Hunter Collins, 1st place
189 pounds
Andres Barragan, 1st place
215 pounds
Daniel Gamez, 2nd place
Heavyweight
Luis Chavez, 1st place
