Gilroy High wrestlers Martin Gonzalez and Jesse Delgado both won
individual state titles Saturday to help the Mustangs place sixth
as a team.
By Zach Ewing
Special to The Dispatch
BAKERSFIELD – Just in case Gilroy High senior Martin Gonzalez didn’t have enough fun winning one CIF state wrestling championship, he decided to do it again.
And what do you know? The second time, Saturday night at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, was better.
Better because Gonzalez had to overcome so much: The pressure of being a state champion, the intense training, the injury to both of his knees that kept him out half the season.
Better because he had been here before, wrestled Lemoore’s Brandon Rocha for the title before, and he was able to soak it up more this time.
And better most of all because Gonzalez could share it with teammate Jesse Delgado, who won his first state title at 112 pounds with a 6-5 decision over Moreno Valley-Canyon Springs’ Estevan Cabanas.
“If you win it, what’s better than to have someone win it with you?” Gonzalez said. “That’s my partner; we wrestled every day together.”
For all the improvements over last year, Gonzalez’s finals match ended up very similar to 2008. He wrestled a defensive match with Rocha that was tied 1-1 late and ended with a takedown in the last minute. This time Gonzalez was able to spin around on one of Rocha’s shots and hang on for a 3-2 win.
“Exact same match, pretty much,” Gonzalez said.
A few minutes before, Delgado, a junior, added a gold medal to the two bronze medals he acquire by taking third in each of the past two seasons. He took a quick 4-0 lead on Cabanas, then hung on after his opponent closed to within a point on a couple of takedowns and a stalling point.
“It hasn’t even settled in yet,” Delgado said. “My dad wouldn’t even take me to this tournament when I was little. I had to earn it. It’s state. I just won state.”
And it was twice as nice because he had someone to share it with.
“It’s much sweeter,” said Armando Gonzalez, Martin’s dad and the Gilroy coach who will be taking on a lesser role next season. “To keep Martin as focused and hungry as he was the year before, it’s tough. But having Jesse Delgado win it after taking third two years in a row is just as sweet for me.”
Gilroy finished in sixth place as a team with 72 points, the third-highest finish in school history. The Mustangs took second place at state last season and fourth in 2006.
Poway won the team championship with 140 points. Clovis-Buchanan and Selma tied for second with 125.5 and Clovis placed fourth with 124.
Gonzalez had to gut his way through two tough matches Friday to make his way to the 125-pound semifinals. A 17-8 decision over Clovis’ Clinton McAlester put Gonzalez in position to become the first two-time state champion in GHS history. Last season, Gonzalez and Hunter Collins became just the second and third state champions from Gilroy. Kordell Bakers was the first in 1987.
“Of course it was tough,” Gonzalez said. “State’s always tough.”
Gonzalez beat David Ferry of Modesto-Central Catholic in the quarterfinals, getting an early takedown on a sweeping single-leg shot and hanging on for a 3-1 win. Earlier, in the round of 16, he was deadlocked with Selma’s Nick Pena 1-1 late in the third period. Gonzalez finally spun Pena around for a takedown when the two were locked up on their knees with 40 seconds left. He held on for a 3-2 victory.
“(Pena) played his edge and stalled out a little bit,” Gonzalez said. “He almost beat me that way, but the one shot he took, I got the takedown.”
Delgado had an advantage in his quarterfinal match, as he was pitted against a familiar opponent. He beat Barstow’s Sean Silva 10-2 even though Silva was trying to play defense against Delgado’s quick shots.
“I knew that guy was going to try to slow me down,” Delgado said. “He knew I had a good shot; I knew he had that good defense.”
Delgado the won his semifinal match over Clovis North’s Vince Rodriguez 2-0.
Gilroy’s three other wrestlers at state were unable to advance to the second day but did contribute to the team’s final point total.
Freshman Willie Fox rebounded from an opening-round loss to Lemoore’s Alex Perez to win his next two matches before finishing at 2-2. Junior Rodney Balajadia lost both of his matches, while senior heavyweight Luis Barragan went 1-2.
