With 9.9 seconds remaining in the second round of his Central
Coast Section finals match Saturday, Gilroy High wrestler Hunter
Collins cemented his place as one of the best wrestlers in Central
Coast Section history. He is undeniably now the best in Gilroy
history. There is no debate. The numbers don’t lie.
With 9.9 seconds remaining in the second round of his Central Coast Section finals match Saturday, Gilroy High wrestler Hunter Collins cemented his place as one of the best wrestlers in Central Coast Section history. He is undeniably now the best in Gilroy history.
There is no debate. The numbers don’t lie.
Collins pinned his opponent, then turned and stood in the spotlight – literally – soaking up the crowd’s applause as he raised his arms and threw up a four from each hand to signal how many times he had laid waste to his competition in the section’s postseason tournament. A four-time champion in the 171-pound division, Collins, also a five-time All-American, had just achieved a dream he never thought possible as a kid, but now views as a stepping stone to even greater accomplishments to come.
“I’d like people to know it’s not going to end here,” Collins said when asked about his high school legacy. “I’m going to go on and do better and bigger things. My dad and I talked about this all the time growing up and I never thought something like this would be possible. It just goes to show what you can achieve with hard work.”
The hard work, which helped Collins earn a full scholarship to the University of Michigan this fall, can’t be counted in minutes and hours, but rather in months and years. Over a decade of training has gone into making Collins the greatest wrestler in Gilroy history, matching the CCS titles mark set by former teammate Armando Gonzalez Jr., and setting up a hopeful bid to equal Gilroy High’s only state champion, a 138-pound Kordell Baker in 1987.
Gilroy coach Armando Gonzalez, father of the only other four-time CCS champ from Gilroy, said there was a common trait between Armando Jr. and Collins.
“It’s not a coincidence,” coach Gonzalez said. “Those two are truly two of our nation’s future leaders. I’m so lucky – with Armando, what he’s doing with his life, and what Hunter is going to be doing with his life.”
Collins will now look to cap off his high school career with a state title, the one accolade that has alluded him. Last season, Collins took third place after losing to Modesto Central Catholic’s Luis Bland in the semifinals. Collins took second in 2006 and 2005, losing to Bland in the finals both times.
This year, Collins will have a heavy task at hand, but his tournament will be Bland-free. Moving down to the 171-pound division after the team felt it was in Gilroy’s best interest to challenge for a team title at state, Collins will not face his familiar foe.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t potential pitfalls.
“All I know is seeds don’t mean anything,” said Collins, who is without a doubt the favorite in his weight class. “State is where the most people get upset.”
So now, as Collins’ career starts to wind down, those watching the Mustangs’ program have one eye on state while the other is looking ahead, wondering who will be the next dominant grappler from Gilroy.
Martin Gonzalez, also the coach’s son, is a clear leader on this year’s squad, and as a 119-pound junior, he will have a chance at a state tile this season and next.
His aspirations make him next in line to take over the throne.
“I’m going into state No. 2, just placing would be quite an accomplishment,” Martin said Saturday. “But getting to the finals would be a perfect season.”
Even younger, and possibly with more promise, is 112-pounder Jesse Delgado, who goes by the name “Little man.”
Taking third last season as a freshman by winning all of his matches after losing his first, Delgado “is already eclipsing some of the things Hunter did as a freshman,” coach Gonzalez said earlier this season.
“I don’t want to say anything until after next week,” coach Gonzalez said Saturday. “After [Delgado] wins next week, we can talk about him being the (next) best in Gilroy history.”
Don’t look now, but I think we’re already talking about it.
