Gilroy High’s wrestling team dominated the first day of the Reno
Tournament of Champions.
Reno
Gilroy High’s wrestling team dominated the first day of the Reno Tournament of Champions.
The nine Mustangs taken to the event won 17 of their first 18 matches, putting all but one GHS wrestler a win away from moving on to the second day. Four wrestlers were able to win that final match Wednesday, positioning themselves one more victory away from placing in the top eight as well as keeping title hopes alive. Two other Mustangs advanced to the consolation bracket.
“We had a good start, but we were bound to hit some walls,” GHS coach Armando Gonzalez.
The four wrestlers that broke through all barriers to get to the quarterfinals were Jesse Delgado, Martin Gonzalez, Hunter Collins and Jesse Rogers. If all four win their first match this morning, it would be the highest number of placers Gilroy has ever had at this particular tournament, which draws some of the best talent from across the nation.
Tim Caspary and Travis Sokomoto each won two out of three matches Wednesday, which puts both of them in contention for as a high as a third-place finish from the consolation bracket.
“(Caspary) didn’t place at the Coast Classic (last weekend) and we weren’t going to bring him, but he’s been working hard and paid his dues so we decided to bring him and he’s doing well,” Gonzalez said.
After winning his first two matches, Sokomoto was tied in his final match of the day with 30 seconds left. Unfortunately for the Gilroy grappler, his opponent was able to score points through an escape with just second remaining.
Caspary and Sokomoto can still medal if they win their first two matches today.
Rodney Balajadia, Vincent Aboytes and Luis Barragan all had good showings in day one, but will not be competing today.
“(Barragan) was winning 8-0 (in his final match), but got caught in the end,” Gonzalez said. “But that’s how it goes sometimes.”
The coach added that had the team brought more wrestlers to the event, such as Ethan Ogle and Tim Ibanez, the Mustangs would have been able to score even more points as a team.
