GILROY — Gilroy’s Santino Orozco and Christopher’s Navi Pannu were evenly matched for the heavyweight bout. When one made a move the other countered, leaving the match scoreless after the first period.
Pannu picked up a point for Christopher early in the second, but his lead didn’t last long. Orozco took down Pannu with expert precision for the first pin of the night.
The kicker? Orozco has barely been wrestling a month.
“It was intense and I looked around and I was like ‘I’ve never wrestled around this many people’,” the senior heavyweight said. “I don’t want to lose in front of my school. I don’t want to lose in front of my fans. I tried my hardest.”
Orozco joined the wrestling team after being cut from the soccer team and Gilroy coach Greg Varela couldn’t be happier. Varela said it’s been fun for him to watch Orozco’s improvement in such a short time frame and he knows the best is yet to come.
“It’s not like we had to make him tough, he’s a real tough kid,” Varela said. “Just to walk in and go ‘OK, I’m going to work hard and do this crazy sport and let people throw me around’ and to never see one match before, it’s fun. He does some stuff and he looks great and then all of a sudden he’ll get thrown on his back and we’re like ‘No!’, but he really has no idea what he’s doing.”
Orozco’s bout was one of only two that the Mustangs won by pin en route to a 59-17 win at Wednesday’s dual meet with Christopher at Gilroy High. The Cougars forfeited five matches — at 152, 170, 180, 220 and 120 lbs. — while Gilroy only forfeited the 138 lb. bout.
“When we go up against a team like Gilroy, they have a lot more years of experience and we’ve got a lot of younger guys,” Christopher coach Alecxis Lara said. “We’re doing everything right, it’s not something that we’re missing in training, we didn’t make mistakes. We just need more mat time and to keep doing the work that we’re doing and we’ll be fine.”
The evening’s premier match featured the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers in the Central Coast Section — Gilroy’s Paul Fox and Christopher’s Alex Garcia, respectively. The bout went all three rounds, with Fox jumping out to a 6-2 lead after 2nd period. Garcia’s hold on Fox that he displayed in the first was erased in the third where Fox picked up three takedowns to win by major decision 12-4.
“I knew he used to be a Palma wrestler, so I didn’t underestimate him,” Fox, who is undefeated on the year, said. “I knew he was pretty good, ranked (in) CCS and everything. I just wasn’t intimidated. I know he was bigger than me and everything, but I just wrestled my match. I just went out there — didn’t change my style or anything — wrestled hard and came out on top.”
The Mustangs held a decisive 40-0 lead after six bouts, but then Christopher’s star wrestlers took the mat.
Felipe Duenas got the Cougars on the board by easily handling Gavin Melendez in the 106 lb. bout. Duenas won by pin, although he admits it wasn’t as easy for him as he made it appear.
“My plan was to fight head-to-head, break him down and go straight for a sweep,” Duenas said. “I started struggling. He got a good spot on me, so I was struggling and I had to cut him back. I wasn’t really planning on going for a pin, but I just got lucky and caught it. I was holding him for as long as I can and just got the pin.”
Jimmie Lopez, on the other hand, was able to win by major decision, 17-0, over William Calderon in the 113 lb. bout. Lopez already led 5-0 after the first but opened the second round with a reversal and takedown, helping him build a 13-0 lead after the second.
“He was pretty quick, I have to say,” the No. 1 CCS ranked wrestler said. “It was kind of hard for me to do most of my moves on him because he stiffens up. It gets really hard; I put all my strength into that kind of stuff. It was a pretty match tough match.”
Lupe Jimenez picked up the other pin for Gilroy in the 145 lb. bout with Christopher’s Anthony Figueroa. Jimenez was able to pin his opponent in the first round.
“Lupe is a senior, he’s hungry, he does a lot of extra training — he works hard,” Varela said. “He had a tough kid, a really classic kid (Anthony) Figueroa. I’m proud of him, I’m happy with his performance. That’s kind of what you expect out of your seniors to be leaders and take charge like that.”
Victor Daza and Keanu Calimpong battled it out in the 126 lb. match, with Gilroy’s Daza winning by a slim 5-0 decision. Despite the outcome, Lara said it’s bouts like this one that ensure the future is bright for Cougar wrestling.
“Our little freshman, Keanu Calimpong, he wrestled really aggressive and he kept the match close,” Lara said. “We’re proud of the way they competed, but obviously there’s room for improvement.”
Christopher will host the Bert Mar Invitational at 8 a.m. Saturday and will be one of about 80 teams competing at the MidCal Wrestling Tournament at Gilroy High on Jan. 24 and 25.
Gilroy will compete against in and out of state wrestlers at the Temecula Invitational Friday and Saturday in Temecula.
106 — Felipe Duenas (CHS) wins by pin over Gavin Melendez (GHS).
113 — Jimmie Lopez (CHS) wins 17-0 over Will Calderon (GHS).
120 — Jesse Vasquez III (GHS) wins by forfeit from Christopher.
126 — Victor Daza (GHS) wins 5-0 over Keanu Calimpong (CHS).
132 — Victor Olmos (GHS) wins 9-1 over Raul Meza (CHS).
138 — Christopher wins due to Gilroy forfeit.
145 — Lupe Jimenez (GHS) wins by pin over Anthony Figueroa (CHS).
152 — Nikko Villarreal (GHS) wins by forfeit from Jacob Myers (CHS).
160 — Paul Fox (GHS) wins by major decision, 12-4, over Alex Garcia (CHS).
170 — Julian Carabajal wins by forfeit from Christopher.
180 — Matt Penyacsek wins by forfeit from Christopher.
220 — Mark Garcia wins by forfeit from Christopher.
Heavyweight — Santino Orozco (GHS) wins by pin over Navi Pannu.
