It’s Official: Mustangs’ earn ‘Dynasty’ status
San Jose – Forty years ago in the small auxiliary gym at Overfelt High School, Oscar Gonzalez had a vision of building what might some day become a wrestling dynasty.
On Saturday night, at the very site where it had all began, his son and grandson solidified Gilroy in the history books as an undisputed wrestling empire.
Not only did the Mustangs win their fourth consecutive CCS team title, a feat only matched once before by Oceana from 1983-86, but they set a new CCS record for total points in a match, 274 1/2, breaking Independence’s 10-year-old record of 269 1/2 points.
And the icing on the cake? Gonzalez’ grandson, Armando, became only the third wrestler in CCS history to win four section titles in four years, clinching the crowning achievement with a 4-1 victory over Joey Wilson at 140 pounds.
“I couldn’t have dreamt or scripted a better place to win my fourth straight CCS title than in this place,” said Armando, a senior that will wrestle at Fresno State next year. “My grandfather built a wrestling legacy here in this community 25 to 30 years ago and now I come here and win my fourth consecutive CCS title. It’s a dream come true.”
Armando’s grandfather only saw him win his first-ever CCS title back as a freshman before succumbing to Nash Disease in October of 2004 – but that’s not exactly how Gonzalez sees it.
“I know he saw today’s match,” he said, holding back tears. “He sees them all. He hasn’t missed a match since he’s passed.”
Armando’s father, who has been at the helm of the Gilroy wrestling program for 10 years and has coached his son since he was 5 years old, was also caught up in the emotions of the Saturday’s shining moment.
“It was great to win it here. I grew up there (Overfelt) in the back room,” said the elder Gonzalez. “It all started for me here in the late ’60s and to come back here and have Dave Chead, who started the program with my dad, and Chead’s son Danny, an NCAA champion, here in attendance for Saturday’s match – it’s just a culmination of it all.”
The Mustangs not only won the team title, but in addition to Gonzalez, four other Gilroy wrestlers, Nicolo Naranjo, Adin Dueñas, Hunter Collins and Andre Barragan captured individual CCS titles. Four others qualified for this weekend’s state tournament in Bakersfield: Armando’s younger brother Martin Gonazalez placed second at 103 pounds, Rudy Maldonado at 125 pounds placed third, Chris Krough at 130 pounds placed third and Daniel Gamez at 215 pounds placed third.
While every one of Gilroy’s individual title holders was basking in the thrill of victory, one common, unprovoked thread permeated each of their post-meet comments – the unwavering loyalty they have for their head coach.
“Coach Mando has been my coach since like five. He’s been there every step of the way and he’s taught me so much,” said 112-pound champion Naranjo. “None of us would be here right now if it wasn’t for him. None of us. And that’s a fact.”
Departing senior Dueñas, also headed to Fresno State, and the champion at 135 pounds admitted, “It’s awesome. I really didn’t think we were going to break the record but we did and Coach Mando he deserves it for everything he’s done here. Now it’s on to the state’s and then the national’s.”
And then there was Collins, the sophomore champion at 171 pounds, who will carry the torch next year in Gonzalez and Dueñas’ absence.
“More than anything I wanted this record for Coach Mando. He’s done so much for us. I can’t even begin to describe it all. He deserves this more than anyone I know,” said Collins, whose pin against Christopher Rey officially broke the Independence points record. “I can’t even explain what an opportunity it is that we have here being part of this program. We’re just so blessed to have Coach Mando and he’s trained all of us since we were young. He expects the best we can give from us. And look, we’re four-time CCS champs. It just proves that when you strive for much and work hard it can happen.”
As for his departing brethren, the senior leadership that has been an integral part of this squad,Collins gave them there just do as well.
“I’ve learned a lot from Adin and Armando about being a great leader. I think that leaders come in pairs, two halves,” Collins explained. “Armando brings out the emotion, he’s good at that. Adin’s work ethic is just crazy. He’s always the hardest one out there running sprints. There’s never one leader.”
The biggest surprise of the night was Barragan’s victory at 189 pounds. Last year Barragan was defeated by Palo Alto’s John Hall and came up one point short of placing for state’s. This year Barragan got his revenge, defeating Hall 4-3 in double overtime to win his first CCS title.
“He (Hall) beat me last year by one point to place,” Barragan recalled. “It’s the best feeling in the world being part of this team. It’s an awesome feeling to do it with your brothers and family all on the same team. That’s what we are, we’re brothers, family.
“I want to dedicate this championship right here to Armando (Gonzalez), Adin (Duenas), Luis (Chavez) and Daniel (Gamez), our seniors.”
While Gonzalez enjoyed the individual state titles of all his wrestlers, you could sense a special fondness that existed for Barragan’s victory.
“He was such a dark horse. He came out of nowhere to win this,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t tell you how hard he’s worked and how much he deserves this. He went from not placing last year to CCS champion that’s a huge jump.”
And now, with their history-making performance behind them, it’s time for the Gilroy wrestlers to set their sights on Bakersfield.
“All of us are as ready as we can be,” Collins said. “Now it’s just a matter of tightening the bolts and getting ready for state’s. This week is the time to fix anything that might be out of place.”
San Benito’s Ryan Dunn, who defeated Dustin Black 6-4 also won an individual CCS title at 215 pounds. The only other area wrestler to win a CCS title and advance to the state tournament was Sobrato’s Genaro Redman, who pinned Aptos’ Derek Millburn 4 minutes, 20 seconds into the heavyweight match and in the process earned the school its first-ever CCS title of any kind. Also qualifying from Sobrato was Moses Guillardo who placed at 125 pounds for this week’s state tournament.
Another wrestler making news on this historic day was Silver Creek junior Tina Linhsamout, who became the first-ever girl in CCS history to earn a medal. Her sixth place finish at 103 pounds qualified her for the state tournament.
But this day belonged to Gilroy, and Gonzalez gave the ultimate credit, where credit was due – to his Dad.
“We’re all thrilled. It feels great. To do it with these guys it’s even more special. It’s the best feeling ever. We all worked really hard for this and this is what happens when you work hard,” Gonzalez said. “I’m really happy for my Dad. This is so special in so many ways that I really can’t describe it.”
