BAKERSFIELD—Gilroy High’s Alex Felix is proof that the future is bright for the Mustangs.
The 132-pound freshman finished third at the California Interscholastic Federation state tournament—the highest place out of the 13 local wrestlers who made the trip to state. He bested Pitman senior Angel Velasquez 4-2 in a tie breaker Saturday at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
And it was no easy feat.
The match was tied 2-2 with 12 seconds left in the sudden victory period when the freshman made his move. He slammed Velasquez to the mat, scoring a takedown and causing the arena to erupt in cheers and applause.
“It felt pretty good knowing that I did it not just for myself; it was kind of bigger than me,” Felix said. “(State) was a great learning experience. I’m (with) a great coaching staff and a team that loves me. It was for them.”
Felix drew first blood with an escape early in the second period and Velasquez evened the score just seconds into the third. Velasquez notched another escape in the second overtime period, but his lead would be short lived. Felix evened the score just eight seconds into the tie breaker period.
After losing by a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Jaden Enriquez of Mission Oaks in the semifinals, Felix had to claw his way back to get to the bronze medal match.
The young Mustang dominated his consolation semifinal bout, beating Lassen’s Kenny Jones 10-3. Felix had already scored three takedowns heading into the third period, but scored another early to widen his lead to 8-2. Jones attempted a somersault reversal, but the Mustang maintained top position until his opponent escaped with 22 seconds left. And Felix wasn’t done yet. With a second left, he notched one more takedown to seal his victory.
“I took a tough loss (in the semifinals) and I had to let it roll off my shoulders because you’re not going to live in the moment forever so you kind of have to move on,” Felix said. “Everyone qualified for (state), so no matter what person you have it’s going to be a tough match—you can’t take anyone lightly.”
While the Mustangs hoped to see the freshman in the finals, head coach Greg Varela said Felix will only improve from here. Win or lose, the Mustangs coach said Felix did his team proud.
“It’s a glimpse into his future,” Varela said. “When he came here, he was just on a mission from his first match…We expect a lot from him in the future.”
Out of the 13 local wrestlers to qualify for state, seniors Matt Penyacsek (195, Gilroy) and Alex Garcia (160, Christopher) were the only other two to reach the podium and both claimed fifth place finishes.
Penyacsek beat Wooan Young from Buchanan—his same opponent from the quarterfinals—4-0 in his final match of the day. While he was disappointed he didn’t reach the finals, Penyacsek said he was just happy to finish his prep career with a ‘W’.
He, along with his brother Mark Penyacsek (170), will continue wrestling with California State University Bakersfield next season. Matt said he will carry the lessons he learned with Gilroy to his next endeavor.
“I learned that anyone can be beat; just wrestle your hardest for six minutes straight,” he said. “And always go into the match with the right mindset.”
Matt landed in the consolations after suffering a gut wrenching 3-2 loss to Austin Flores of Clovis in the semifinals. Matt scored two escapes in the third period, but unfortunately fell short of the championship match.
Mark also made it to Day 2, but an illness got the best of him and he was inevitably eliminated following a 6-0 loss to Jed Smith of Mater Del in the consolation bracket.
That loss, Varela said, was the hardest to swallow.
“He almost collapsed during his last match; he like fainted,” Varela said. “That really broke my heart. A healthy Mark should beat that guy. That’s the nature of sport—it happens.”
Garcia took North View’s Ricky Padilla to an ultimate tie-breaker in the fifth-sixth place match. The duo was locked in a 2-2 tie, but the Cougars’ tenacity paid off with a 4-3 victory.
Garcia is the first and only wrestler in Christopher history to place at state, taking sixth last year. His coach Alecxis Lara said this win was huge for his senior as he’d previously lost to Padilla in overtime earlier in the season.
“He definitely deserved the win that he got,” Lara said. “It was going to come down to his weakest wrestling position, which is top, but it took a lot of courage for him to acknowledge that and dig deep and pull off the win.”
With his prep career behind him, Garcia said he’s grateful to have had his Cougar coaches to help him grow. The records and medals don’t matter to him, instead, he’ll remember the people who helped him reach his potential.
“I’ve made huge bounds,” Garcia said. “The only thing I regret is not finding my coach sooner.”
Garcia had a tall mountain to climb as he worked his way through the consolations to reach the podium. He opened Day 2 with 7-2 decisions over both Anthony Motalvo of Buchanan and Beau Colombini from Windsor before he ran into Clovis’ Dominick Kincaid in the consolation semifinals. Garcia lost that match by a narrow 1-0 decision.
Christopher senior Jacob Myers also made the trip to state, but was eliminated after a 2-2 performance in Day 1. Freshman Riley Siason went 1-2, his lone win coming off a 4-2 decision over Sutter’s Cole Shelton. Regardless of their records, Lara said he’s proud of both for doing what few did: qualifying for state.
On Day 1, Gilroy freshmen Nick Aguilar, 106, finished 2-2 and Joe Delgado went 1-2. Junior Noe Garcia (220) finished 3-2, while Jesse Vasquez (126) and Tony Andrade (182) both went 2-2 in the tournament. Gavin Melendez rounded out the Mustangs with a 1-2 record at 120.
“Some of the guys that were new to the state meet got their feet wet and got some good wins in,” Varela said. “We brought a lot of freshmen and they had to figure it out. You can only explain and prepare them so much for this tournament and when they get here ,they feel it. Nick (Aguilar), he’s such a warrior…for him to do as good as he did was excellent.”
Live Oak’s Adam Mito also made the trip to Bakersfield and was one match away from Saturday competition. He finished 3-2 in the tournament after being ousted by Rosario Sanchez from Sanger by a 2-0 decision.
