Gilroy Feels Bitter-Sweet Following Meet
Reno – If everything went as expected at the Reno Tournament of Champions, it wouldn’t be known as the “toughest tournament in the U.S.A.”
As juniors at last year’s Reno TOC, Gilroy wrestler Armando Gonzalez received All-American honors for finishing third in the 135-pound bracket and teammate Adin Dueñas took eighth at 130.
So it was realistic for Gilroy head coach Armando Gonzalez to expect even more from his nationally-ranked Mustangs this year.
But when the two-day national tournament came to a close Tuesday, just one wrestler, sophomore Hunter Collins, found his way to the podium. Collins took fifth by default at 171 when his opponent, Chris McNiel from MacArthur (Lawton, Okla.), pulled out with an injury.
Collins, who just missed the top eight by one spot last year as a freshman, was one of the few bright spots for Gilroy, which went into the tournament with high hopes.
“It’s terrible,” admitted coach Armando Gonzalez. “We had the potential to have four or five placers.”
Collins went 3-0 on Monday and started Tuesday out with a 16-5 major decision over Brandon Baldwin of Foothill (Palo Cedro). The sophomore then needed to beat No. 1 seed Carson Brown of Wasatch (Utah) to get into the 171 championship match. Collins scored two points on escapes, but fell 5-2 in the close match. The sophomore found himself in a re-match with Chris Platt of Eagle Point (Ore.), whom he had beaten Monday 9-6. At stake was a trip to the third place match.
Platt earned the match’s first points, but Collins tied it up in the second and third periods. In the fifth period, Platt got away with the 4-3 win on an escape. The loss sent Collins to the fifth-place match.
“He was really coming after me. It was my own fault,” said Collins, who finished better than his 12th-place seeding. “I felt a lot more cautious when I wrestled him the second time. It’s what happens sometimes.”
During the two-day affair, which attracted the best wrestlers from all over the country, not all of the rest of the team’s misfortune could have been controlled. Especially not that of senior Armando Gonzalez.
After going 3-0 on Monday, Gonzalez, the No. 1 seed at 140 pounds, suffered a neck injury in his first match on Tuesday against Barrett Abel of Union Mine (Ca.). The senior attempted to do a move that involved flipping over in mid-air, but got caught and landed on the side of his head. Gonzalez finished out the match, but lost 11-4. Despite being unable to move his head around without pain afterward, the senior didn’t want to pull out of the tournament. But two periods into his next match, Gonzalez was visibly in pain and his father and coach ended the match early.
The elder Gonzalez was ready to take his son out of the tournament immediately after the match in which he was injured. But Fresno State-bound senior, who had already missed the Zinkin Classic because of a minor knee injury, didn’t want to give up.
“I tried to wrestle the next match,” said Armando Gonzalez, who finished 3-1. “I thought I was in a good match.”
But coach Gonzalez didn’t want to take any chances, especially with the season so young.
“(The beginning of this season) has been terrible,” the coach said. “For him, he’s never been injured (before this) in his whole career.”
Freshman Martin Gonzalez, who finished went 3-2 and finished ninth at 103 in his first Reno TOC, said it was hard for the team to watch his older brother have such bad luck.
“It was disturbing because once he lost, everyone got discouraged. He’s one of the captains,” Martin Gonzalez said. “It was like a cancer. Everyone kept losing after that.”
Senior Adin Dueñas, who had lost 3-2 in the quarterfinals early Tuesday, saw his tournament end in the following match, a 10-8 loss to Seth Vernon of Union (Okla.). Dueñas closed the gap with a reversal with 50 seconds left in the third period, but it wasn’t enough.
“I think I was in good shape,” said Dueñas, who finished 3-2. “I just have to learn what’s best for me, how much I need to eat, need to rest. I didn’t really feel good in the last match. I felt slow and sluggish.”
Junior Nico Naranjo (112 pounds) also watched his day get cut short. Naranjo, seeded fourth in his weight class, held a 6-0 lead in his consolation bracket match-up. But his opponent rallied for a comeback and defeated Naranjo 7-6. The junior went 3-2 overall at the tournament.
“It was a heartbreaker,” coach Armando Gonzalez said.
Despite the setbacks of the past two days, the coach promised his team would be ready for its next big tournament, the Doc Buchanan on Jan. 6-7.
“It doesn’t change any goals we have,” he said. “We just have to work harder and we’ll be better prepared.”
