Mustangs finish second at Mid-Cals; Gurich wins weight class
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GILROY – There are basically two matches a year where the Mustang matmen really get a chance to perform at the highest level in front of their hometown crowd.
One was the classic Gilroy-Hollister dual meet, which only comes once every two years.
The other is the annual Mid-Cals Wrestling Tournament – where head coach Armando Gonzalez really gets the community involved from concessions to security to ticket-takers. And then there is the local fan base, which has grown with each stride for the defending section champions.
For seniors, it’s the last time.
“It is always a big one because it’s in front of your home crowd. It’s my last year, too,” senior Chad Haygood said. “You only have two good ones in front of the school that everyone comes to watch. That’s why we work so hard for it.”
For some underclassmen, it’s the first of many.
“Definitely, I was really looking forward to it,” freshman Nicolo Naranjo said “I’m a lot more comfortable here.”
For others, it’s a return to accomplish even more than the previous year.
“Last year, I lost in the quarters and ended up taking third place,” sophomore Adin Duenas said. “I was a little disappointed so hopefully this year will be my time.”
For a special few, it’s a chance to defend their titles.
“I’d say the hardest part of this tournament is going to be wrestling in front of the crowd, to me at least because when I’m wrestling, I like to put on a good show,” said senior John Gurich, a defending champ. “But just being in front of all these people, Coach (Bert) Mar, my ex-coach in junior high, just all these coaches that I know, friends of my dad’s, my friends, people I know from school, parents, kids from other schools. I just want to perform well.”
The garlic grapplers had a little bit of everything and then some this year, ultimately pushing for their first Mid-Cals team championship in more than a decade.
“I just want to at least place and actually get my team some points and get some credit in the team points,” junior Joseph Serrano said.
With seven wrestlers in the semifinals, the Mustangs led in the team standings after the first three rounds. But with only three advancing to the finals, Gilroy sat in second behind Central Section-powerhouse Madera – which went on to win the Mid-Cals team title for the second year in a row by tallying 208.5 points.
The Mustangs were strong all tournament, finishing with one champion, two runners-up, two thirds, two fourths, three guys with three wins and another with one win. The hosts took second-place honors with 185 team points ahead of Clovis East (third, 155.5), Elk Grove (fourth, 153), and Ponderosa (fifth, 148).
“This tournament has gotten a lot tougher through the years,” said Gurich, who earned his second straight title, winning 115s this year and 106s last year. “I definitely got to win again. There is no way you can lose in front of the home crowd. You’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do.”
For Gurich, that meant pulling out a last-second move, one he had never tried before, to secure a thrilling 3-2 victory in his championship over Madera’s Edgar Mercado.
“We work on it every day in practice, the fang gramby. I never did it and I finally did it,” Gurich said. “You can’t get in trouble, worse he gets back on top. A lot of guys don’t expect it, especially at the end of a match. I just got away.”
With the score tied and five seconds on the clock, Gurich got set on the bottom position and exploded to his feet. Mercado had a strong hold on both his ankles, but Gurich ripped his way out right before the final horn, getting a huge rise out of the packed-house crowd.
“Five seconds were left and I just said, ‘I’m too tired. I don’t want to go into overtime, so I just got one,” said Gurich, who had never faced Mercado before Saturday’s finals. “I knew he had a nice little single, so I was worrying about that, but not too much because I knew he couldn’t take me down,” said Gurich, as he sat next to his father John Sr., a wrestling official, in the side gym. “I knew it was going to be tough because he did well at Five Counties, took a sixth, and that tournament’s tough.”
Naranjo is about the toughest a freshman can come. After finishing off a brilliant junior high career at South Valley with a perfect 78-0 record and three county titles, Naranjo won four straight bouts in his first Mid-Cals and found himself in the finals up against fellow freshman Joey Fio, of Ponderosa.
In the first of 14 weight class championships, Naranjo put up a fight, but fell 6-2 to Fio, who scored a takedown in each period and allowed only two escape points.
“I was trying to get a shot off, but really couldn’t do that,” Naranjo said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy.”
Gonzalez had a tough road to the 128-pound championship, most notably beating Hanover’s Steven Juarez, a state-ranked wrestler, in the semifinals by a 5-2 score.
“He was really tough. I’m glad to beat him,” said Gonzalez, who advanced to the finals to face his second state-ranked wrestler, Houghston’s Billy Murphy. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to wrestle him tonight and we’ll see how that goes.”
Decided by a borderline takedown on the outside circle in the second period, Gonzalez dropped a 3-1 heartbreaker to Murphy. Both wrestlers scored escapes, Gonzalez in the second and Murphy in the third, but Murphy’s takedown in the second was the difference.
“My weight is a lot tougher this year than it was last year,” said Gonzalez, who finished second. “Both of those guys are ranked in the state. The guy I just beat (in the semis) was ranked in the state and so is the guy I have to wrestle in the finals.”
Senior Mark Zabala lost only one match in the semifinals of the 174-pound weight class, but battled back in the consolation bracket to take third place. Zabala won four bouts in a row and then squared off against Madera’s Brian Levay in the semifinals. With the combatants tied at 3-3 in the final seconds of the third period, Zabala got issued a second stall warning that gave Levay the win, 4-3.
Duenas finished fourth in his second Mid-Cals at 122s, starting strong with an impressive run into the semifinal round before dropping down to the consolation bracket. The sophomore stallion, who placed third at Mid-Cals last year, recorded a powerful pin in his quarterfinal match and wanted more.
“He didn’t want to go over, but after three times, I forced it and I got him to go over,” said Duenas after the quarterfinals. “I was kinda disappointed I got put to my back. It could have cost me the match. A mistake like that can’t be happening.”
Another mistake would later cost Duenas in his 7-4 semifinal loss to Clovis East’s Conrad Ragel. Duenas was ahead 4-2 in the second period when he put himself on his back and gave up back points. He rebounded from the loss and rallied back to the consolation finals.
Senior Miguel Maldonado, who went on to take third place at 155s, and junior Callan Romesberg, who finished in fourth place at 148s, also reached the semifinals for the Mustangs. Maldonado was within striking distance throughout his 6-2 semis loss to San Lorenzo Valley’s David Mitchell.
Romesberg could taste the finals, up 2-0 in the second period on Buchanon’s Coby Fielding. After falling behind by two in the third period, Romesberg scored a reversal to tie the match at 4-4. But when he let Fielding escape with 30 seconds left, Romesberg could not take him down, losing 5-4.
Haygood continued his stellar return from a collarbone injury, reaching the quarterfinals and finishing with a 3-2 record.
“Every match I feel a little better and better. It’s just getting back into it, every match getting more mat-time,” Haygood said. “I’m starting to feel better. My wind is getting better and my strength as I go along. It doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s just that I’m behind in the conditioning.”
Senior Jose Albarron, at 215s, and Serrano, at 133s, also finished with 3-2 records, while senior Erik Lara went 1-2 at 192s in his first Mid-Cals.
Up next, the garlic grapplers will head to Salinas High for a league dual meet on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
