Four champions, one runner-up, two fifths plus two outstanding
wrestler awards gives Gilroy tournament team title
SAN JOSE – Just when the Mustang matmen don’t look like they can be any better, the defending Central Coast Section champions come out and accomplish an even bigger feat.
Up against the top nine wrestling programs from the North Coast Section in the Mission San Jose Tournament, the garlic grapplers were at their very best – battling to the bitter end with James Logan for the team championship.
When all was said and done, the Mustangs finished with four individual champions, one runner-up, and two fifths as well as a pair of outstanding wrestler trophies and one coaches award. Although Gilroy and James Logan tied in the team standings with 179.5 points, the hometown boys brought home the trophy, edging the North Coast powers by virtue of tiebreaker points (most pins and superior decision).
“We thought we were going to have trouble because we knew Logan was at full strength and we knew that we were missing Adin (Duenas) at 119s, who was supposed to be a finalist in this tournament,” head coach Armando Gonzalez said. “If Adin had been there, we probably would have had 25 more points with him. We had five wrestlers who scored only one team point between them, so this tournament was really won by eight guys.”
At the end of Friday’s opening rounds, the Mustangs were in seventh place off the lead pace by 50 points. But they returned on Saturday with a vengeance, jumping up to third place after winning seven of eight quarterfinal matches. Once the semifinals were completed, Gilroy crept up even further, winning five of six bouts to take the lead.
Before the championship bouts, all the consolation rounds were run and Logan reclaimed the lead over Gilroy by 16 team points. The Mustangs had five finalists still to wrestle, while Logan had three of its own.
Freshman 103-pounder Nicolo Naranjo was the first to hit the mat in the finals, winning a decision for another weight class title and cutting the deficit to 12 team points.
“Nico was again consistent and solid and dominated all of his opponents all the way up to the finals, and even then dominated,” said Gonzalez of his freshman phenom.
In the 112-pound finals, senior John Gurich became Gilroy’s second champion by recording a key pin, which gave Gilroy four points for the win plus two bonus points for the fall.
“Johnny is really on track to be a state champion,” Gonzalez said. “Johnny is shooting more than ever and scoring more points than ever.”
Sophomore Armando Gonzalez continued the trend by winning Gilroy’s third weight class title, pinning his opponent to even the team score up with two more Mustangs due to wrestle and three from Logan.
“Mando wrestled just fantastic. Him and Johnny are really stepping it up a notch,” Coach Gonzalez said. “They really know about championship caliber wrestling.”
For his stellar performance over the weekend, Gonzalez was one of two Mustangs honored as an outstanding wrestler for the lower weight classes from 103 to 125.
“It was a bittersweet award because Johnny Gurich also wrestled one of the best tournaments of his life and I thought Johnny really had the most outstanding wrestler award in the bag,” said Gonzalez, who casted his coach’s vote for Gurich. “Johnny’s a senior and we really wanted him to go out with an MVP Award. I voted for Johnny and Mando understood because Johnny pinned a national champion in the finals (but) I’m happy that it was one of my boys anyway.”
Senior 135-pounder Chad Haygood, who missed the first half of the season with a nagging collarbone injury, battled his way into the finals and scored a takedown with in the last 10 seconds of the third period to push the bout into overtime.
“It was really exciting. All the home crowd was against us. Logan was all in the front row and we were behind them and Chad puts it into overtime,” Gonzalez said. “They come down to a really, really tough scramble and the guy catches Chad with a duck under and beats Chad, but Chad is wrestling great again, back on top.”
Meanwhile, Logan won the 152-pound championship to break the tie and go up by four on Gilroy.
The Mustangs’ final hope was in senior 171-pounder Mark Zabala – who went head-to-head with a Logan grappler ranked fifth in the state and who placed fourth in the Five Counties where Zabala did not place.
“Everything was stacked against us and Mark wrestles a great match and beats him 5-4 and ties the score up again for us,” Gonzalez said. “It was really exciting. We ended up the tournament tied with 179.5 for each team.”
Zabala was also honored with the most outstanding wrestler award for the upper weights from 171 to heavyweight, ultimately lifting the Mustangs ahead of Logan to win the tournament trophy.
“We ended up walking out of there with all the hardware and with all the trophies,” Gonzalez said. “(Zabala) has had an up-and-down year, kinda inconsistent, but we’ve been in some really tough competition. But the thing about Mark is he’s a veteran and he knows that what you do in January and February doesn’t matter. It’s what you do in March at the state championships.”
Coach Gonzalez and James Logan’s Eli Bagaoisan both walked away with the coaches awards for their teams’ thrilling performances throughout the two-day tournament.
“We had five head-to-head matches against Logan on the second day and won all five of them. That’s what kept us in the hunt. We really showed up and wrestled great,” Gonzalez said. “For Gilroy to continue to improve on our quest for another CCS title, this is exactly what we’re doing. We had a great Mid-Cal Tournament. We went to Mission San Jose and we had a great tournament there and now we’re gearing up for our last dual meet.”
Gilroy will travel to Morgan Hill on Wednesday at 5 p.m. to take on neighboring rival Live Oak before the league finals on Saturday at Salinas High and then the CCS Championships on Feb. 21-22.
“We’d like to have everyone come out and root for us,” Gonzalez said.
Junior Callan Romesberg, at 145s, and senior Miguel Maldonado, at 152, both finished in fifth place at Mission San Jose to round out the Gilroy placers.
“(Romesberg) has been consistently marching through the ranks. He’s knocking on the door right now to be a state placer,” Gonzalez said. “(Maldonado) started out having a slow season, but he’s slowly progressed and now at this point in the year he’s healthy, he’s strong.”
Senior 215-pounder Jose Albarron also accumulated valuable team points for the Mustangs, falling one win short of placing.
“(Albarron) had a great tournament, scored a lot of points. He wrestled great,” Gonzalez said. “He had some big matches. He won a lot matches. Jose’s going to win matches. He should be a league finalist.”
Coach Gonzalez added: “We’re really starting to peak for this post-season run.”
