GILROY — Brains and brawn — that’s what the Gilroy wrestling team wants to be known for.
The Mustangs legacy holds true as three of their senior wrestlers have committed to Division I Universities. The 2012 126 lb. Central Coast Section champion and California Interscholastic State runner-up wrestler Paul Fox has a full ride to Stanford and will be joined by teammate Isaiah Locsin, who finished first in CCS and second in the state 120 lb. weight class last season with Live Oak. Two-time CCS champion and 2012 132 lb. CIF champion Nikko Villarreal will represent the Sun Devils at Arizona State University.
“I’m stoked, it was so exciting when I found out,” Locsin said. “It feels great to know that all that work paid off. It’s always been my dream to go to Stanford since I was little.”
Commitment to academics, Mustangs coach Greg Varela said, is one of the program’s core values. Having coached these wrestlers as Gilroy Hawks, he has always expressed how important good grades and the opportunity to go to college is. In fact, in addition to having three CCS champions last year, Gilroy was also the runner-up in the CCS Academic Championship — the award given to the team with the highest academic achievement.
“If you’re going to sacrifice this hard, let’s make the payoff last forever,” Varela said. “The wrestling part, the championships, that feeling of ‘we won’, you’ll always have that with you, but it (wrestling) comes and it goes. The degree that you get out of it, that’s what’s going to last forever. … Forget the championships — grades is how we’re going to gauge our success. We won’t have a successful career based on wins and loses, it’s on whether or not you go to college.”
Fox had offers from Navy and University of Pennsylvania, but like Locsin, Stanford was always his dream. Getting that letter of acceptance and knowing he wouldn’t have to worry about paying tuition at the prestigious university was more than he ever could have dreamed, he said — and wrestling made it all possible.
“Academics was definitely a big thing. I couldn’t let my grades slip at all — all throughout high school,” Fox said. “Good colleges don’t want you to get bad grades all throughout, so I had to maintain straight As all throughout high school. With wrestling, you can’t take breaks — I never took breaks all year round — or else you’re going to lose experience. I went to lots of tournaments and the coaches noticed me because they know I’m a hard worker and the wrestling and academics just really helped me out.”
While Fox and Locsin are happy to stay closer to home, the state champion Villlarreal will happily make the move to Tempe, Ariz. The weather, the coaching staff and the Sun Devils’ team were all major factors in his decision to attend ASU, despite multiple offers — a sense of independence may have influenced his decision, too.
“I’m kind of excited about going and doing stuff on my own,” Villarreal said. “I’m just excited for how new everything is and doing stuff on your own. The NCAA tournament too, I can’t wait for that.”
The 2013-14 season kicks off Dec. 12 at Chukchasi and all three wrestlers are ranked No. 1 in the CCS preseason poll.
All three wrestlers — Paul Fox, Nikko Villarreal and Isaiah Locsin — are ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section preseason polls.
