Saturday’s wild Tri-County Athletic League Championships in
Salinas required a series of recalculations to figure out where
points could have been gained or lost for Palma, San Benito and
Gilroy’s wrestling teams.
The three wrestling powerhouses – which currently occupy three
of the top four team rankings in the Central Coast Section –
finished the year-end qualifying tournament in a near-logjam at the
top.
But while Gilroy already earned the league title with its
perfect 6-0 dual meet record, and San Benito (5-1) managed to stave
off Palma (4-2) for runner-up in the league, it was actually the
third-place Chieftains who emerged as the TCAL tournament’s victor
with 224.5 points.
SALINAS – Saturday’s wild Tri-County Athletic League Championships in Salinas required a series of recalculations to figure out where points could have been gained or lost for Palma, San Benito and Gilroy’s wrestling teams.
The three wrestling powerhouses – which currently occupy three of the top four team rankings in the Central Coast Section – finished the year-end qualifying tournament in a near-logjam at the top.
But while Gilroy already earned the league title with its perfect 6-0 dual meet record, and San Benito (5-1) managed to stave off Palma (4-2) for runner-up in the league, it was actually the third-place Chieftains who emerged as the TCAL tournament’s victor with 224.5 points.
Gilroy, which had won the TCAL Championships each year since the league’s inception in 2002, finished in a not-so-distant second for the first time with 224 points, a mere half-point out of first.
And San Benito, which went from tied for first place with Palma on Saturday to third place in the tournament on Monday after an error in the results was discovered, compiled 220 points.
“This is TCALs,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said. “It’s a good measuring-stick because we’re the toughest league in the section. You do well here, you’ll be competitive at section.”
Trying to figure out which team will be more competitive at the section tournament remains almost impossible to tell after Saturday’s too-close finish. All three teams will send their fair share of wrestlers to the Central Coast Section Championships, where all three teams have a strong chance of earning section supremacy.
“Isn’t that amazing?” Gilroy High head coach Armando Gonzalez said of the close finish. “Our league is one of the smallest in the section, yet we’re such a tough league we bring home a large percentage of medals”
And Saturday’s finish, with three teams separated by four points, certainly bodes well towards the league’s tough image.
San Benito and Palma will each send wrestlers from all 14 weight classes to the CCS Championships, scheduled to begin Friday at Independence High School in San Jose.
Gilroy qualified 13 wrestlers, but no worries; the Mustangs have six seeded wrestlers, which ties them for the most seeded wrestlers in the tournament with St. Francis and, of course, Palma.
San Benito has four seeded wrestlers.
“But the section tournament,” Gonzalez noted,” is a much tougher, tougher tournament.”
Although Gilroy was unable to win the TCAL Championships for the first time, Gonzalez wasn’t at all disappointed with how his team performed.
“To be honest, we really didn’t know what we had at the beginning of the season,” Gonzalez said. “Half of the wrestlers were experienced, half of them were inexperienced.
“It was a very exciting season and I’m happy with the performance of this team.”
With seven teams in the TCAL, and the top six wrestlers in each weight class advancing to CCS, many teams simply had their wrestlers make weight and win just enough matches in order to qualify within the top six.
With that said, Gilroy still boasted four league champions, including Vincent Aboytes at 152 pounds.
Last week Aboytes pulled an overtime upset over San Benito’s Enrique Lucatero at 160 pounds, then dropped a weight class at TCALs and still managed to take first at 152’s.
In fact, Aboytes cruised to the title when he downed Palma’s Mike Sarmiento by a 13-1 major decision, only allowing a single escape point in the closing seconds of the third period.
Meanwhile, 112-pounder Jesse Delgado beat Palma’s Jarron Ramirez by an 18-1 technical fall in the finals, while 125-pounder Martin Gonzalez pinned Alisal’s Arturo Morado (4:10) and heavyweight Luis Barragan topped Chieftain Evan Swenson by fall (4:31) to claim their respective divisions.
Gilroy’s 13 also includes Jasmine Yanez (2nd, 103 pounds), Willie Fox (2nd, 119), Rodney Balajadia (4th, 130), Mike Lucero (4th, 135), Adam Rosso (4th, 140), Felix Gonzalez (4th, 145), Benjamin Torricier (2nd, 160), Michael Penyacsek (2nd, 171) and Alfredo Mireles (4th, 215).
Gonzalez feels St. Francis, though, which will bring 13 wrestlers as well, is the team to beat.
“It’s gonna be very close, very competitive,” Gonzalez said. “It’s gonna be a heckuva race.”
TCAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM
1, Palma, 224.5; 2, Gilroy, 224.0; 3, San Benito, 220.0; 4, Alisal, 145.0; 5, Salinas, 122.5; 6, Everett Alvarez, 41.5; 7, North Salinas, 34.0.
TCAL INDIVIDUALS
105 – K. Salcedo, SB; 2, J. Yanez, GIL; 3, J. Alonzo, ALI; 4, A. Farias, SAL; 5, N. Busby, PALM; 6, A. Fragosco, NS. 112 – 1, J. Delgado, GIL; 2, J. Ramirez, PALM; 3, N. Espinoza, SB; 4, L. Combs, NS; 5, N. Renteria, SAL. 119 – 1, J. Davila, SB; 2, W. Fox, GIL; 3, N. Napolitano, NS; 4, C. Moreno, ALI; 5, C. Gabbert, SAL; 6, S. Eastman, PALM. 125 – 1, M. Gonzalez, GIL; 2, A. Morado, ALI; 3, E. Niizawa, EA; 4, M. Stevens, SB; 5, A. Galapon-Olivas, SAL; 6, J. Gonzalez, PALM. 130 – 1. KC Silacci, PALM; 2, A. Mendez, ALI; 3, Z. Rodriguez, SB; 4, R. Balajadia, GIL; 5, J. Serrano, SAL. 135 – 1, R. Sarmiento, PALM; 2, D. Cerda, SAL; 3, G. Coelho, SB; 4, M. Lucero, GIL; 5, E. Tapia, ALI. 140 – 1, J. Basco, PALM; 2, S. Borba, SB; 3, M. Mendoza, EA; 4, A. Rosso, GIL; 5, D. Guzman, SAL; 6, E. Meza, ALI. 145 – 1, J. Ramirez, SB; 2, S. McVannel, SAL; 3, C. Gollnick, PALM; 4, F. Gonzalez, GIL; 5, J. Antonio; NS; 6, H. Bueno, ALI. 152 – 1, V. Aboytes, GIL; 2, M. Sarmiento, PALM; 3, J. Raine, SB; 4, J. Servin, ALI. 160 – 1, E. Lucatero, SB; 2, B. Torricier, GIL; 3, J. Haro, ALI; 4, A. Martinez, PALM. 171 – 1, D. Santos, PALM; 2, M. Penyacsek, GIL; 3, C. Coronado, ALI; 4, A. Hernandez, SB; 5, N. Castillo, SAL. 189 – 1, Z. Jimenez, PALM; 2, A. Martinez, SAL; 3, I. Fausto, EA; 4, B. Mott, SB; 5, J. Esparza, ALI; 6, S. Nakamura, NS. 215 – 1, H. Baird, PALM; 2, A. Ruvalcalba, ALI; 3, M. Garcia, SB; 4, A. Mireles, GIL; 5, A. Reyes, SAL. 285 – 1, L. Barragan, GIL; 2, E. Swenson, PALM; 3, T. Avila, ALI; 4, C. Steele, SAL; 5, A. Davis, SB.
CENTRAL COAST SECTION SEEDINGS
105
1, Michael Lim, El Camino; 2, Kaeleb Obien, Independence; 3, Paul Rodriguez, Oak Grove,; 4, Alex Le, Seaside, 5, Kenny Salcedo, San Benito; 6, Abel Rascon, Watsonville; ALT, Andres Vargas, Santa Teresa.
114
1, Jesse Delgado, Gilroy; 2, Jarron Ramirez, Palma; 3, Nathan Nguyen, Saratoga; 4, Jordan Yamat, Silver Creek; 5, Jack Hogan, Los Gatos; 6, Johnnie Nguyen, Andrew Hill; ALT, Brian Ha, El Camino.
121
1, Jorge Barajas, St. Francis; 2, Junior Davila, San Benito; 3, Willie Fox, Gilroy; 4, Jeshua Aveno, Santa Teresa; 5, Richard Thompson, Andrew Hill; 6, Josh Go, Overfelt; ALT, Kyle Wade, Aptos.
127
1, Martin Gonzalez, Gilroy; 2, Blake Kastl, St. Francis, 3, Scott Chessin, Los Gatos; 4, Nick Mazza, Riordan; 5, Anthonie Linares, Oak Grove; 6, Tin Pham, Santa Teresa; ALT, Jordan Servito, Lynbrook.
132
1, Al Quenga, Overfelt; 2, Rodney Balajadia, Gilroy; 3, Albert Gaxiola, Mitty; 4, Brandon Lozado, Terra Nova; 5, Jesse Vera, Soledad; 6, Ethan Ruby, Bellarmine; ALT, Sam Hopkins, St. Francis.
137
1, Nick Cano, St. Francis; 2, Shohei Takagi, Prospect; 3, David Laone, Bellarmine; 4, Omri Rahmill, Los Gatos; 5, Marcus Gebhardt, San Mateo; 6, Stefan Weidemann, Gunn; ALT, Dominic Raffin, Willow Glen.
142
1, Cody Rodebaugh, San Lorenzo Valley; 2, Evan Crockett, Silver Creek; 3, Joe Basco, Palma; 4, Chase McDowell, Bellarmine; 5, Steven Fernandez, Live Oak; 6, Manny Mendoza, Alveraz; ALT, Dylan Gorman, Gunn.
147
1, Josh Ramirez, San Benito; 2, Bassel Lutfi, Scotts Valley; 3, Adam Pikington, Bellarmine; 4, Duncan Tormey, Los Altos; 5, Sean McVannel, Salinas; 6, Ray Jacob Jimenez, James Lick; ALT, Nick Guiterraz, Burlingame.
154
1, Jasper Loren, Saratoga; 2, Vincent Aboytes, Gilroy; 3, Michael Ciccarelli, King City; 4, John Maschio, Monterey; 5, Ismael Sanchez, Silver Creek; 6, Mike Sarmiento, Palma; ALT, Sebastian Chene, Leigh.
162
1, Dominic Kastl, St. Francis; 2, Tyler Edwards, Monterey; 3, Patrick Sheehan, Palo Alto; 4, Enrique Lucatero, San Benito; 5, Matt Thalin, The King’s Academy; 6, Enrique Calderon, Los Altos. ALT, Eric Ochoa, King City.
173
1, Omar Al-Helew, Santa Teresa; 2, Logan Kellogg, San Lorezo Valley; 3, Jason Lucchetti, Terra Nova; 4, Jordan Rivera, Prospect; 5, Zack Blumenfeld, Gunn; 6, Jameson Jackson, St. Francis, ALT, Rob Riedler, King City.
191
1, Zach Jimenez, Palma; 2, William Eleazer, Aragon; 3, Ivan Fernandez, Monterey; 4, Alan Yen, Saratoga; 5, Jarvis Subia, Oak Grove; 6, Peipe James, Valley Christian; ALT, Tony Oreglia, Bellarmine.
217
1, Drew Meulman, St. Francis; 2, Hunter Baird, Palma; 3, Rustin Mayorga, El Camino; 4, Jacob Carlos, Burlingame; 5, Juniel Morales, Oak Grove; 6, George Dunlap, Soquel; ALT, Jose Sancen, Soledad.
287
1, Richard Segovia, Silver Creek; 2, Luis Barragan, Gilroy; 3, Evan Swenson, Palma; 4, Chris Tozer, Valley Christian; 5, Max Lohr, Pacific Grove; 6, Brian Newell, Sequoia; ALT, Chris Karabats, Fremont.
