Not all of Gilroy’s best wrestlers were at the Doc Buchanan
Invitational this past weekend at Clovis. Even some of the
Mustangs’ better wrestlers who were there didn’t wrestle their
best.
Gilroy – Not all of Gilroy’s best wrestlers were at the Doc Buchanan Invitational this past weekend at Clovis. Even some of the Mustangs’ better wrestlers who were there didn’t wrestle their best.
And yet Gilroy was still able to place second behind Buchanan in what GHS coach Armando Gonzalez calls “the second or third best tournament we compete in.”
The host Bears compiled 247.5 points with the Mustangs next at 187.5. Ten Gilroy wrestlers made the trip and eight placed.
“It was the best showing we ever had there,” Gonzalez said. “The performance established us as one of the top 3, 4 teams in the state. This is a great tournament with three or four ranked wrestlers at every weight class. We had eight placers and the most we had before that was four.”
Freshman Jesse Delgado continued to impress, winning his weight class at 103. Junior Hunter Collins suffered his first loss of the season and finished second at 171. Martin Gonzalez, 119, and Andres Barragan, 189, finished third. Rudy Maldonado, 125, and Austin Gubrud, 152, finished fourth. Ethan Ogle, 160, and Jesse Rogers, 215, placed sixth.
Barragan expressed disappointment in finishing third in his first tournament, but he did get four pins. And he expressed his admiration for Delgado.
“He’s a stud, an awesome wrestler,” Barragan said. “He goes in and does what he has to do every weekend. That’s why he’s ranked first in the state.”
“He’s been very consistent,” Coach Gonzalez said of Delgado. “He’s been riding people a lot harder. I know that people see that as dull, but it’s going to help him. He’s adaptable enough to do what we ask and is wrestling at a high level.”
As for Collins, none of the coaches were disappointed.
“It means nothing at this point,” Gonzalez said. “He had three losses at this time last year and he has only one now. It takes the bulls-eye off his back.”
Collins was decisioned 9-4 by Justin Danz of Ponderosa. Danz is ranked third in the state, one place behind Collins. Danz turned over Collins in the first period and compiled a 5-0 lead to assume command.
Coach Gonzalez felt his son, Martin, had his best tournament of the season. His only loss was in double overtime to the tournament champion. One of his wins came against Frank Lomas of Bakersfield, who is ranked third in the state and pinned the 119-pound sophomore at the Reno Tournament of Champions.
Gubrud and Maldonado “wrestled to their rankings in weights that were stacked,” Gonzalez noted.
As for Rogers, Gonzalez said “he’s been Mr. Consistency. He continues to place wherever he wrestles.”
The Mustangs total points were 34 more than last year, and came despite having Nicolo Naranjo and other varsity performers at a tournament in Cupertino.
“I thought we did really well as a team,” Barragan said. “We stepped up, wrestled well and listened to the coaches. Still, we have a long way to go, a lot of work to do.”
Cupertino tourney At the Cupertino Memorial Wrestling Tournament, Gilroy sent eight grapplers and five placed. Three finished first. The Mustangs finished fifth overall. Los Gatos was first.
For GHS, Rodney Balajadia, 112; Naranjo, 119; and Travis Sakamoto, 140, all went 4-0 to win their weight classes. Tim Caspary, 145, went 3-2 and finished fourth. Fabian Laredo, 160, lost his first match and battled back to finish 3-1 to win the consolation championship.
Up next Gilroy is home at 6:30pm Wednesday for a Tri-County Athletic League duel meet against North Salinas. The Mustangs are in Los Angeles this weekend for the Five-Counties meet.
