Gilroy High wrestling ends dual meet schedule with 55-15 win
over Acorns
MORGAN HILL – Senior Jose Albarron, like most of his fellow garlic grapplers, had a lot more on his mind than Tuesday’s final league dual meet against Live Oak with the T-CAL Finals on Saturday in Salinas.
But Albarron, as well as his teammates, was still focused on defeating his Acorn opponent. Albarron finished off a night of near flawless wrestling with a second-period pin to secure Gilroy’s 55-15 victory.
“You can never overlook an opponent. Coach always told me the person who isn’t supposed to win is always the most dangerous because they have nothing to lose. So you have to go hard all the time,” said Albarron, who knows the road to an individual league title will hinge on beating Hollister’s Matt De La Rosa. “I’ve got to get ready for De La Rosa. He’s beat me twice already.”
The reigning T-CAL and CCS Champions will begin their post-season run with Saturday’s league finals at Salinas High, beginning at 10 a.m., and then the section finals Feb. 20-21 in San Jose.
“That’s the one,” Albarron said. “That’s the one that matters the most. We’ve got a CCS title and we want to take it to the next level and be one of the top teams at state.”
Sophomore Armando Gonzalez, at 130s, junior Callan Romesberg, at 152s, and Ismael Gutierrez, at 135s, all recorded pins in Gilroy’s victory over Live Oak. Freshman Rudy Maldonado and Randy Higashi cracked the starting line-up and picked up wins. The Mustangs forfeited heavyweight, Live Oak forfeited 119s, and both teams forfeited 103s.
Also picking up wins were: Chad Haygood, at 140s; Austin Gabrud, at 145s; Miguel Maldonado, at 160s; and Mark Zabala, at 171s.
“(Wrestling on Tuesday) gives us enough time to concentrate on the tournament, so we don’t have to take a break towards the end of the week. It keeps you strong,” Zabala said. “We’ve been traveling a lot more this season and getting new ideas from different people, and just trying to put together the best program we could.”
Gilroy was undefeated in five league dual meets this season, but the league champion is decided at the end-of-the-year tournament. The Mustangs won the Mission San Jose Tournament last weekend and placed second at both the Coast Classics in Scotts Valley and the Mid-Cals in Gilroy.
“There’s no pressure,” Zabala said. “We just have to go out there and wrestle to our ability. That’s what we work on.”
