One state wrestling title can’t be considered better than
another, which is why Martin Gonzalez and Hunter Collins are our
Co-Male Athletes of the Year. With Collins graduating it will be up
to Gonzalez to lead the team next season.
The Dispatch gave out awards according to class standing.
Three-sport athlete Kevin Grove won Senior of the Year, quarterback
Jamie Jensen won Junior of the Year, wrestler Jesse Delgado won
Sophomore of the Year and freshman soccer player Jorge Sanchez won
Freshman of the Year.
Also with this story, a video conversation with co-athletes of
the year, wrestlers Hunter Collins and Martin Gonzalez.
Athletes of the Year: Best friends, best in the state
Part of the reason Martin Gonzalez and Hunter Collins are such good friends is that they are so different away from the wrestling mat.
Part of what makes them so good on the mat, though, is that they are different there as well.
Factor in these juxtapositions and the odd-couple, which make up just the second and third individual state wrestling champs in Gilroy High wrestling’s history, are a perfectly unique pair for The Dispatch’s Co-Male Athletes of the Year. Simply put, one state title can’t take precedence over another, even if Gonzalez is a junior and Collins is a senior. Especially when you consider the achievements have been a life goal for both.
“I’ve trained for a state medal since I was little, like mostly everybody wants to do,” Collins said. The style each young man employed to do so this past season, however, was decidedly different.
“The difference between me and him is he is OK with having close matches,” Collins said. “I don’t like close matches.”
While Collins was dominating opponents at state, not allowing a single point to be scored on his way to the finals, Gonzalez was grinding out hard-fought matches, winning sometimes by just a single point scored with seconds remaining.
The differences don’t end there. Gonzalez often presents a strong, silent-type image away from wrestling, while Collins is the entertainer making the rounds.
“He’s just real fired up,” Gonzalez said. “He’s so big that no one will mess with him. But he’s not a bully. He’s just a clown.”
While the two play off one another with ease in conversation, such comfort away from their sport was only created from being immersed in wrestling at such a young age.
“We all started when we were little kids, and there were so many kids when we were small,” Gonzalez said.
As time passed, most of the kids went there different ways, but Gonzalez and Collins stayed in the system, progressing from the Gilroy Hawks youth club on up through the ranks.
“It wasn’t in high school when we became real close like family,” Collins said. “It was when we were like nine(-years old).”
Now that Collins is graduating and heading to the University of Michigan to wrestle, Gonzalez will be returning to the pressure cooker that is California state wrestling, which has no divisions when it comes to earning a state crown. Everyone in Gonzalez’ weight class will be training with him in mind.
“I think next year it’s going to be harder,” Gonzalez said. “Guys will be gunning for me, trying to beat me.”
“I’m going to have to work twice as hard to do it again.”
That’s something Gonzalez’ fellow Athlete of the year believes can happen.
“The way Gilroy works, [we] just push a little harder,” Collins said.
Wrestling sweeps with Team, Coach of the Year
As great as the Gilroy High football team was this past season – lighting up the scoreboards at record pace, tying the most victories in a single season with 10, winning the first league title outright in more than two decades, and playing in the school’s first-ever Central Coast Section championship – the team of the year award must go to wrestling, which surpassed even its own gaudy standards.
Winning a sixth straight CCS title, the Mustangs added to their legacy on the mat by placing second in the state while adding two individuals champions. The best finish before this past season was fourth in 2006.
With that in mind, The Dispatch’s Coach of the Year award goes to Armando Gonzalez and staff.
Senior: Grove can play in any game
It wouldn’t be difficult to say things come easy to Kevin Grove, but that would be an insult to the senior’s work ethic.
A non-stop motor and interest in doing each task to the best of his ability has allowed Grove to letter in three sports this year – football, soccer and baseball – as well as make All-league in the latter two, including a Tri-County Athletic League MVP award in soccer.
Throw in the fact that he maintains just under a 4.0 Grade-point average, and the UC Davis-bound baseball player is the total package.
A touchdown pass may bring the crowd to its feet, but no play boosted team morale more in a 38-22 victory over Valley Christian in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs than when Grove slotted a 44-yard field goal through the uprights. Down 7-0 at the time, Gilroy went on to score 24 unanswered points.
When soccer season rolled around, Grove traded in his shoulder pads for shin guards, and directed one of the best defenses in the Central Coast Section from the sweeper position. Despite often being the furthest player from the opposing team’s net, Grove finished the season with five assists and three goals.
Working with a hitting coach throughout both the football and soccer seasons, Grove transitioned to the diamond with ease. He was first or second in every hitting statistic for the team, most notably in RBI (35), multi-hit games (9) and home runs (4).
Grove said he plans to focus strictly on baseball at UC Davis. If he was this good at three different sports, it’s hard to imagine it won’t be easy for him to be great at one.
Junior: All eyes will be on Jensen
Of all the athletes who were selected for individual honors, Jamie Jensen shares his award most with his teammates.
You don’t rack up 4,323 yards passing and 41 touchdowns without having a little help from your friends.
Possessing a litany of threats at the receiving positions and an offensive line that kept his uniform spotless for the better part of each game, Jensen’s success was a by-product of a cohesive offensive unit. That’s not to say the junior wasn’t brilliant.
Setting Central Coast Section records of 486 yards passing and eight – eight! – touchdowns in a 57-27 win over San Benito in the Prune Bowl would be the most obvious example.
What allowed the signal-caller to be so consistent was a lack of mood swings that are so often felt in the emotional rollercoaster that is a football game. Whether it was a three-and-out series or an interception, Jensen was quick to bounce back with a drive that ended in a score. Facing every defense imaginable due to opponents trying to adjust to Gilroy’s hurry-up, shotgun spread formation, it was clear over the course of the season that Jensen was becoming more comfortable in his role, even beginning to relish each new challenge. Part of that is because each game was a new challenge, as Jensen had played in all of two varsity snaps before this year.
By the time the season was over, though, GHS had won its first outright league title in 21 years and played in its first-ever Central Coast Section title game.
With no disrespect to Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and four-time Pro Bowler Jeff Garcia, Jensen is already the most sought after quarterback prospect to ever play at Gilroy. Whether he can match Garcia’s success after high school is yet to be seen.
Sophomore: Delgado ends on top
Jesse Delgado may have been devastated after taking third place at the CIF State Wrestling Championships this spring, but as it turns out, he is the only Gilroy HIgh wrestler to have won his last match.
Competing at the National High School Coaches Association Sophomore Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., Delgado was crowned champion of the 112-pound division by beating Keith Surber of Illinois in the finals, 11-2. Co-Male Athletes of the Year Martin Gonzalez and Hunter Collins both won state titles, but had to settle for second at nationals. That’s not a knock against any of the three, but just another example that anything can happen on a given day.
Looking at the path of Gonzalez and Collins – who both broke through at state this year after coming close in the past – it seems Delgado should have a state title of his own in the next two years.
Delgado already owns two Central Coast Section titles, winning the 105-pound weight class as a freshman and the 112-pound division this year as a sophomore. Finishing third at state two years in a row, one win is all that has separated the wiry wrestler from standing at the top of the podium.
Coaches have hinted that Delgado will move up another weight class as his body continues to fill out. If so, he would certainly enter next season as the No. 1 ranked 119-pounder (he entered this season’s state tourney ranked No. 1 at 112).
Facing adversity and falling short of a goal is something almost every successful athlete has to go through to reach to the top of their sport. Getting it out of the way in one’s first two years of high school would suggest the best is yet to come.
Freshman: Sanchez set from start
Most freshman don’t see the field at the varsity level unless they’re watching from the stands.
But in the case of Gilroy freshman forward Jorge Sanchez, things went a little different than normal this past season. From day one, Sanchez was thrown into the fire. Despite going against some of the toughest competition in the Central Coast Section, he didn’t disappoint.
Tallying four goals and three assists in the first year of his high school soccer career, Sanchez showed surprising athleticism, skill and awareness for someone of his age and experience.
With a tall, lean frame, the coming years should be fun to watch as Sanchez becomes more versed in the nuances of the game while also building up his body for the rigors of a full season. Sanchez wore down as the season progressed, and lost out on playing time when senior Edgar Hernandez was ruled eligible to play. But during the month of January, Sanchez was one of the team’s best performers.
He recorded two goals in a 3-0 win against Palma on January 10 and followed two weeks later with assists in a 3-1 win over Alvarez and 5-0 thrashing of San Benito. A week after the victory over San Benito, Sanchez put it all together by scoring a goal and distributing an assist in a 6-0 win over North Salinas.
Gilroy lost only one game when Sanchez scored, which happened to be the first goal of his career, coming in a 2-1 defeat to Piedmont Hills early in the season.
With Hernandez gone, as well as several seniors who moved up from the backline and midfield to increase pressure on opponents during games, Sanchez will have plenty of opportunities to register points on the stat sheet. Three more years worth of opportunities.
