Willie Fox and Aaron Gonzalez just put the Central Coast Section
on notice.
The pair of freshmen were just two of Gilroy High wrestling’s
four champions at Saturday’s Peninsula Invitational held at Half
Moon Bay High School. As a team, Gilroy placed second, just three
points behind by Palma despite taking only seven wrestlers to the
Chieftains’ 10.
HALF MOON BAY – Willie Fox and Aaron Gonzalez just put the Central Coast Section on notice.
The pair of freshmen were just two of Gilroy High wrestling’s four champions at Saturday’s Peninsula Invitational held at Half Moon Bay High School. As a team, Gilroy placed second, just three points behind by Palma despite taking only seven wrestlers to the Chieftains’ 10.
The achievements of Fox and Gonzalez are hard to rate considering Saturday marked the debut for both as high school wrestlers, and both competed at a weight heavier than they’re expected to by the end of the season.
“[Fox] really impressed us, his coaches, and his teammates,” Gilroy assistant coach Greg Varela said. “We knew Willie was going to be good, but he’s really stepping up.”
Taking on Palma’s Jarron Ramirez in the 119-pound finals, Fox was leading 9-2 when Ramirez bit the GHS freshman to be disqualified. Ramirez, a senior, was ranked fourth in the Central Coast Section going into the match.
Aside from the championship, Fox ended up winning every match by eight points or more.
“Willie pretty much put it to [Ramirez],” GHS assistant coach Mike Koester said. “Willie was the star of the tournament.”
Gonzalez wasn’t far behind him.
Entering the tournament unseeded, the 112-pound Gonzalez beat Alvin Tran of George Washington 17-2 to win the title.
Rodney Balajadia won the 130-pound division over Eduardo Escobar of Gonzales and heavyweight Luis Barragan, last year’s CCS champion, continued his dominance over the division by beating Palma’s Evan Swanson 5-0. Swanson was ranked third in the section entering the tournament.
“[Barragan] was never in any danger of losing at any time,” Koester said, noting that he pinned every one of his opponents up until the finals.
Vincent Aboytes (152 pounds) also made the finals for Gilroy but fell short, 8-2, in his match with Cody Rodebaugh of San Lorenzo Valley. Both wrestlers are expected to move down a division by the end of the season, with Rodebaugh possibly going as low as 140.
Senior Ben Torcier and junior Adam Rosso went 2-2 and 1-2, respectively, over the course of the tournament.
Meanwhile, junior Jesse Delgado was competing on the other side of the country at Ironman, a prestigious national tournament held in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
Delgado won his first match over a wrestler form Ohio 12-2 but ended up being forced out of the tournament in his second match due to injury.
Finding himself in a head-and-arm hold, Koester said Delgado was being illegally choked across the neck. After being in this position for some time, Gilroy coaches notified the referee that Delgado wasn’t moving. Upon being released, Delgado went into convulsions. Delgado regained consciousness but wasn’t coherent, forcing him to go to the emergency room and forfeit his spot in the tournament. He was released shortly afterwards and is doing fine.
“It’s kind of unfortunate because he was looking really good,” Koester said. “It was an illegal hold but the referee didn’t see it that way.”
