Well-rounded performance helps Mustangs finish 2nd
Two years ago when Gilroy competed at the Zinkin Classic in Fresno, wrestling coach Armando Gonzalez looked at the future and saw Hunter Collins.
Collins is still around but he represents the present. The future as Gonzalez saw it was in another freshman who is off to an even better start to his career than Collins.
Jesse Delgado is a ninth grader who wrestles like an upperclassman, as he showed by winning the 103-pound title Saturday by beating a senior. Delgado and Collins were the Mustangs’ two individual champions.
But there were enough quality bouts from other Gilroy wrestlers to lift the Mustangs to a second-place finish behind runaway winner and host Buchanan, whose 275.5 points were more than 100 ahead of everyone else in the field. Seven of 12 GHS wrestlers placed as the Mustangs had 169 points.
“Overall, our team wrestled great,” Gonzalez said. “We all showed we could compete. I am excited about what we can do in our section.”
Gonzalez was thrilled that one of the schools GHS finished ahead of was third-place Clovis, coached by Steve Tirapelle. A 23rd-year coach who has been at Clovis for nine years, Gonzalez considers Tirapelle a mentor. The two talk often and share wrestling philosophies and insights.
The second-place finish came despite the absence of three key wrestlers — Nicolo Naranjo, Chris Krough and Andres Barragan.
Martin Gonzalez was second at 119, Austin Gubrud was fourth at 145, Ethan Ogle was fourth at 160, Jesse Rodgers was fifth at 215 and Rudy Maldonado was eighth at 125.
Gonzalez lost in the final 8-0 to Marcus Orona of Santa Fe. Gubrud lost only to the first and third-place wrestlers in his weight class. Ogle and Rodgers overcame first-round losses.
Collins, of course, is proven on the mat. He was dominant in his last two matches, beating wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section (Todd Noel of Righetti) and No. 1 in the Northern Section (Jon Morris of Anderson) in the final. Collins defeated Noel 18-2 and Morris 12-0.
Despite Delgado’s success as a three-time USA Wrestling national titlist, he still ranked as an unknown against high school wrestlers. That’s not the case any more after dispatching Chris Done of Buchanan 7-5 in the final.
“I felt pretty good,” Delgado said. “I just focus on the matches.”
Ogle and Rodgers were impressive after losing their first-round matches.
“I was pretty much tired of losing,” said Ogle, who pinned his next five opponents to score plenty of points for the Mustangs. “Last year was not a great year. It was all in my head. I hate losing more than anything else. So after that first match, I was wrestling for my dignity.”
Rodgers felt badly after his first-round match because “I wrestled sloppy. I knew I had to come back strong.”
Rodgers is confident about the season.
“I know we’re going to be good,” the 215-pounder said. “We did well overall as a team, and I think we’re going to well in the other tournaments as well.”
Next up is the Tournament of Champions. Delgado, Naranjo, Gonzalez, Maldonado, Vincent Aboytes (135), Gubrud, Fabian Laredo (152), Ogle, Collins and Rodgers are expected to represent GHS Wednesday and Thursday in Reno, Nev.
JV: The Gilroy junior varsity competed the Coast Classic varsity tournament. Tim Caspary was the only one of six GHS wrestlers who placed, finishing fifth at 145 pounds.
Top 10 Teams
Buchanan 275.5; Gilroy 169; Clovis 163.5; Clovis East 141; Righetti 140.5; Anderson 137; Atascadero 131; Natomas 89.5; Folsom 80.5; tie, Centennial and Fremont (Sunnyvale) 79.
