Gilroy
– Thrice was nice for Hunter Collins. Once was barely enough for
Jesse Delgado. The big man and little man took different routes to
get the same desired results Saturday at the Mid-Cals at Gilroy
High School.
Gilroy – Thrice was nice for Hunter Collins. Once was barely enough for Jesse Delgado.
The big man and little man took different routes to get the same desired results Saturday at the Mid-Cals at Gilroy High School. Each took individual titles to help lift the Mustangs to the team title in a tournament that once again attracted some of the top names and teams in high school wrestling.
Collins was so dominant in claiming his third individual title that he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler in the heavier weights. Delgado, the top-ranked 105-pounder in the state, was as dominant until he got to the final and a bout with Cody Pack of Quincy. Delgado built a 3-0 lead and overcame two stalling penalty points to claim a 3-2 win over the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state.
Gilroy had nine wrestlers place and amassed 225.50 points to successfully defend its Mid-Cals title. Elk Grove, which crowned three individual champions, was second with 196.50 and Buhach Colony was third at 186.50. San Benito was second best among Central Coast Section schools, finishing sixth with 113 points.
Martin Gonzalez and Andres Barragan were runners-up for the Mustangs. Freshman Rodney Balajadia had a breakout tournament in finishing third at 115. Travis Sakamoto, Ethan Ogle and Jesse Rogers each finished fifth. And Rudy Maldonado placed sixth.
“I thought we did very well as a team,” Collins said. “One or two had letdowns. Other than that, everyone wrestled to their potential.”
After opening the tournament with three straight first-period falls, Collins ranked third in the state at 173 (weight limits went up two pounds in January) made it four straight pins when he decked Drew Meulman of St. Francis in 5:49. In the final, Collins won a 10-2 major decision over Jon Morris of Anderson, ranked fifth in the state.
“I use to get frustrated when I didn’t get pins,” said Collins, now 25-1 on the season. “Now I look at the big picture. I felt like I wrestled pretty well. I have things to work on but state’s still a while away.”
Delgado won by major decision over Al Quenga of Overfelt in the semifinals to set up the ballyhooed matchup between the No. 1 and 2 wrestlers in the state. Delgado started quickly with a takedown and an escape but it then became a tactical match with neither wrestler doing much. With Pack’s coach-father screaming for stalling points against Delgado, the referee gave two points to the Quincy lightweight who wasn’t doing much either.
“I could have been better,” Delgado said. “I felt like he was going to escape and I kept him from doing it. I got the win. I know I need to be a little more aggressive.”
“Sometimes you have to win ugly,” GHS coach Armando Gonzalez said. “That kid (Pack) didn’t do anything. He didn’t take any shots. Jesse rode him for four minutes, which is another form of domination.”
Martin Gonzalez was disappointed in his performance in the 122-pound final that he lost 6-3 to Andre Gonzalez of Silver Creek, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the lighter weights. The two split overtime decisions prior to Mid-Cals.
“Last time I beat him and started out faster,” Martin Gonzalez said. “I started slow and fell behind. You can’t fall behind a good wrestler like him and expect to catch up.”
Barragan’s 2-0 loss to John Hall of Palo Alto was better than a week ago when Hall, the CCS’s top-ranked wrestler and No. 3 in the state, pinned the Mustang 191-pound senior.
“He called me his demon last week,” Barragan said of Hall, whom he beat last year in the CCS final. “He’s used to throwing people around. I could have been better. I’ll catch him next time. I’ll be more offensive.”
Balajadia’s only loss came to Sophan Mey of Elk Grove, who pinned him in 3:33. The Gilroy freshman came back to decision Robert Lee of Buhach Colony 4-3 to get third place.
“Rodney wrestled great,” Armando Gonzalez said. “Travis Sakamoto had an excellent tournament as well. We had nine placers, which equaled what we did at the Doc Buchanan. I thought most of our guys stepped up and wrestled very well.”
