Mustangs in 11th place after first day with 41 points, while
Poway controls the top spot with 89.5 points
By Zach Ewing
Special to The Dispatch
BAKERSFIELD
Gilroy’s Martin Gonzalez is a defending CIF state wrestling champion. He’s been to Rabobank Arena before, stood under the lights, worn the gold medal, and heard people he’d never met say his name.
But that doesn’t mean that doing it all again is going to be easy.
Gonzalez gutted his way through two tough matches Friday and made his way to the 125-pound state semifinals, which will be wrestled today at 9:30 a.m. If he beats Clovis’ Clinton McAlester, he’ll wrestle in another state championship at 7:15 p.m.
“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.”
Joining Gonzalez in the semifinals is teammate Jesse Delgado – third each of the past two years – at 112 pounds.
Delgado, a junior, had the advantage of wrestling a familiar opponent in his quarterfinal. 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 won. He scored on a quick single-leg takedown and never looked back. He’ll wrestle Clovis North’s Vince Rodriguez in the semifinals.
The news wasn’t quite so good for Gilroy as a team. The Mustangs, considered an outside contender for the team title, sit in 11th place headed into today’s action with 41 points. First-place Poway has 89.5, followed closely by Clovis-Buchanan with 85.5 and defending champion Clovis with 89.
Delgado and Gonzalez are the only Gilroy wrestlers alive.
