With a short-handed roster of wrestlers this past weekend at the
Clovis West Shootout, a tournament billed as one of the toughest
dual meets in the state, Gilroy High showed strength doesn’t always
come in numbers.
With a short-handed roster of wrestlers this past weekend at the Clovis West Shootout, a tournament billed as one of the toughest dual meets in the state, Gilroy High showed strength doesn’t always come in numbers.
Despite having just 10 GHS wrestlers in attendance, four short of the necessary amount to qualify for each weight class, the Mustangs were still one of the most successful teams at the meet. Five individuals went undefeated over seven matches to make the All-tournament team, garnering more than twice as many individual honors for Gilroy as any other team in the Shootout.
Jesse Delgado (Sophomore, 112 pounds), Martin Gonzalez (Junior, 119 lbs.), Vincent Aboytes (Soph., 140 lbs.), Hunter Collins (Sr., 189 lbs.) and Jesse Rogers (Sr., 215 lbs.) were all perfect in the season opener, with Tim Ibanez (Sr., 125 lbs.) just missing the All-tournament cut through a double-overtime loss to Selma’s Nick Pena.
“We were at a disadvantage as we only brought 10 wrestlers … which put us in a 24-point hole before we even started the matches,” GHS assistant coach Mike Koester said by email. “Despite this, we were still able to go 4-3 and take second place in the visitors side of the bracket.”
Delgado staked a claim to being one of the best in the state by dispatching Selma’s A.J. Valles 6-2. Valles entered the season ranked second in California after being a state finalist last season.
Collins and Rogers dominated each and every opponent they faced during the two-day event, with Collins making it through the tournament without allowing a single point scored against him.
“As a team we looked very good and we can’t wait till we are at full strength,” Koester said. “We were missing a few weights as they will be filled with Football players that just finished their successful season.”
Gonzalez beat Conner Morgan of Del Oro 2-1, which speaks well for the 119-pounder Gilroyan since Morgan took fourth in state last year, and was ranked second in the state this season.
Tim Ibanez beat sixth ranked Corey Johnson of Del Oro 6-4, and Tim Caspary (Sr., 152 lbs.) went 4-2, losing a close 10-9 decision to sixth ranked Andrew Balch of Buchanan High.
The varsity team’s next meet will be Friday and Saturday at the Coast Classic Tournament at Scotts Valley High.
The junior varsity team competed at the Overfelt Frosh/Soph tournament this weekend. Placers were as follows:
Sophomores
125 Mikey Lucero – 2nd
125 Nick Ahmadkhani – 4th
135 Martin Espinosa – 1st
145 Adam Rosso – 4th
Freshman
103 David Siha – 4th
112 Jasmine Yanez – 4th
145 Felix Gonzalez – 1st
189 Cesar Garcia – 2nd
189 Sofero Albarran – 4th
