Jesse Delgado made history while setting himself up to join some
elite company, but he’ll have to wait a year to make the latter
official.
The junior wrestler from Gilroy High won the 119-pound division
Saturday at the Doc Buchanan Invitational, marking the third
straight season he was able to take the crown at the annual event
held in Clovis. Only two other wrestlers, Nathan Morgan and Nick
Zinkin, have won the Invite all four years in the 32 years of the
tournament’s existence. Both went on to be college
All-Americans.
Delgado wasn’t the only GHS wrestler to see his stock as a
possible state medalist in the spring rise from the event, as six
out of nine Mustangs placed in the top eight.
CLOVIS – Jesse Delgado made history while setting himself up to join some elite company, but he’ll have to wait a year to make the latter official.
The junior wrestler from Gilroy High won the 119-pound division Saturday at the Doc Buchanan Invitational, marking the third straight season he was able to take the crown at the annual event held in Clovis. Only two other wrestlers, Nathan Morgan and Nick Zinkin, have won the Invite all four years in the 32 years of the tournament’s existence. Both went on to be college All-Americans.
Delgado wasn’t the only GHS wrestler to see his stock as a possible state medalist in the spring rise from the event, as six out of nine Mustangs placed in the top eight.
Senior Martin Gonzalez, last year’s state champ at 119 pounds, made it to the finals in the 125-pound division, losing 6-4 in overtime to David Klingsheim of Liberty of Brentwood. Klingsheim won a state title last season at 112 pounds, beating Delgado, who finished third, in the semifinals.
With the best finals matchups set aside to end the night, Gonzalez and Klingsheim were paired up for the final clash of the evening.
“They determined this to be the feature match, and it didn’t disappoint,” Gilroy assistant coach Mike Koester said.
Considering Gonzalez has only been wrestling a little over a week due to a preseason injury, the result, even in defeat, was promising. Gilroy coaches expect Klingsheim to battle Delgado for a state title at 119 pound at the end of the season.
Other Mustangs who placed at the event included Willie Fox taking fourth at 112 pounds, Rodney Balajadia taking seventh at 130 pounds, Vincent Aboytes earning seventh at 152 pounds, and Luis Barragan taking fourth at 285 pounds.
“The biggest surprise of the entire tournament was Willie Fox,” Koester said.
Upsetting Paul Gomez of Liberty, who was the fourth seed at the Invite and a North Coast Section champ last year, as well as No. 5 seed Ceasar Sanchez, a state qualifier last year from Porterville, Fox certainly earned his way into the semifinals. The freshman took care of both handily, defeating Gomez 10-2 and Sanchez 7-2.
Taking nine wrestlers total, Gilroy finished in fourth place (133 points) behind Temecula Valley (136), Clovis (225) and Buchanan (228.5).
Team Scores
1 – 228.5 Buchanan
2 – 225 Clovis
3 – 136 Temecula Valley
4 – 133 Gilroy
5 – 130 De La Salle
6 – 118.5 Clovis East
7 – 114 Ponderosa
8 – 104 Clovis West
9 – 93 Lemoore
10 – 91 Bakersfield
10 – 91 Liberty of Brentwood
Doc Buchanan Invitational Results
112 pounds – Willie Fox (4th place, 4-2 record)
WON Fall 4:59, Joel Rodas, Merced
WON Major 10-2, Paul Gomez (Liberty of Brentwood)
WON Dec 7-6, Ceasar Sanchez (Porterville)
LOST Fall 5:10, Vince Rodriquez (Clovis North)
WON Dec 2-0, Jake Damon (Temecula Valley)
LOST Major 19-6, Zach Zimmer (Clovis West)
119 – Jesse Delgado (CHAMPION, 5-0)
WON Fall :36, Micah Cruz (Bakersfield)
WON Dec 9-3, Adam Hendrickson (Healdsburg)
WON Dec 4-0, Jeff Forrester (De La Salle)
WON Dec 7-2, Lawrence Blanco (James Logan)
Won Dec 7-4, Chris Martinez (Clovis West)
125 Martin Gonzalez (2nd place, 4-1)
WON Fall :56, Joe Rodriquez (Elk Grove)
WON Fall 5:09, Herman Cortez (Madera South)
WON Major 10-2, Stephen Meridith (Buchanan)
WON Dec 10-5, Clinton McAlester (Clovis)
LOST Dec 6-4 OT, David Klingsheim (Liberty of Brentwood)
130 – Rodney Balajadia (7th place, 5-2)
LOST Dec 6-2, Luis Tamayo (Arvin)
WON Injury Default, Jordan Rabe (Righetti)
WON Major 14-6, Joe Trejo (Clovis West)
WON Injury Default, Shawn Porter (Elk Grove)
WON Dec 1-0, Anthony Neblina (Temecula Valley)
LOST Fall :30, Sonny Cervantes (Clovis)
WON Dec 6-4, Devin Poindexter (Clovis North)
140 – Adam Rosso (1-2)
LOST Fall :29, Austin Ballard (Centenial of Bakersfield)
WON Fall 1:59, Marcus White (Tulare Union)
LOST Fall :59, Evan Crockett (Silver Creek)
152 – Vincent Aboytes (7th place, 4-2)
WON Fall 1:08, Dan Heka (Castro Valley)
WON Dec 5-3, Tristan Raisch (Saint Francis)
LOST Fall 4:44, Cameren Kelley (Clovis)
WON Major 11-0, Tylar Clarke (Elk Grove)
LOST Dec 6-2, Martin Fabbian (Buchanan)
WON Dec 8-5, Dalton Endes (Centenial of Bakersfield)
160 – Benjamin Torricer (3-2)
WON Dec 4-3, Brennan Gonzalez (Liberty of Brentwood)
LOST Fall 2:41, Jonathan Urango (Camarillo)
WON Fall 3:51, Rico Galiaci (Bullard)
WON Dec 6-5, Allen Chan (James Logan)
LOST Fall 3:45, Luke Sheridan (De La Salle)
215 – Fabian Loredo (2-2)
LOST Fall :35, Holden Smith (Buchanan)
WON Dec 7-5, Michael Machado (Arvin)
WON Fall 2:50, Gustavo Garcia (Madera South)
LOST Fall 2:33, David Ali (Porterville)
285 – Luis Barragan (4th place, 4-2)
WON Fall 2:22, Jordan Long (Bullard)
WON Fall 1:36, Jorge Salazar (Sanger)
WON Fall 3:46, Rykeem Yates (Edison of Fresno)
LOST Fall 1:11, Byron Mancia (Sunnyside)
WON Fall 1:06, Luis Contreras (Madera)
LOST Dec 3-1, Kyle Papendorf (Buchanan)
