Bakersfield
– Jesse Delgado couldn’t remember ever having to wrestle nine
times in two days.That’s what happens at the CIF State Wrestling
Championships if you want to finish in third place after dropping
your first bout.
Bakersfield – Jesse Delgado couldn’t remember ever having to wrestle nine times in two days.
That’s what happens at the CIF State Wrestling Championships if you want to finish in third place after dropping your first bout.
Perhaps that is why this event is considered the most grueling state wrestling meet in the country. Sheer size alone assures that more wrestlers will compete than at any other state meet. And besides, there are pockets of wrestling hotbeds that assure that virtually every weight class is going to be “loaded.”
For Delgado, it was a survival test to earn the third-place medal. Hunter Collins, meanwhile, took a much easier route to his third-place finish. Lest anyone think his performance was subpar or below what he did last year when he finished second, he lost in the semifinals Saturday at Rabobank Arena to defending state 171-pound champion Louis Bland of Modesto Central Catholic, who beat him last year. And Bland lost in the final to No. 1-ranked Justin Danz of Ponderosa, the only other wrestler to defeat Collins.
What it means is that Collins’ only two defeats came against the two best wrestlers in his weight class in California. And Collins also won the 171-pound title at the Reno Tournament of Champions in December, besting Kirk Smith of Centennial, Idaho, who at the time was considered the best at that weight class in the country. Collins finished with a 44-2 record and earned his third state medal.
“I could have pushed the tempo more,” Collins said of his loss to Bland. “That was definitely the match I wanted to win. But I had to look past it (the loss) and come back and take third.”
Delgado finished his first year as a varsity wrestler with a 44-3 record. He won eight consecutive bouts after being pinned by Chad Thornack in his first bout. One of those wins was 6-2 over Thornack with the San Jacinto lightweight doing everything in his power to stay off his back.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Delgado said. “I felt a little better (Saturday). There was no pressure. I felt I wrestled better.”
GHS coach Armando Gonzalez praised Delgado’s overall performance.
“Jesse had to step up and be a ‘Little Man,'” Gonzalez said. “He lived up to it (his reputation). He had no easy matches. This was the first time he had to deal with this.”
Martin Gonzalez earned his second state medal, following his fifth-place finish in 2006 with a seventh-place finish at 119. His losses came to ranked wrestlers (Marcus Orona and nemesis Andre Gonzalez) but each was close.
“I came here wanting to medal,” Martin Gonzalez said. “Now that I’ve seen the competition, I know I could have done a lot better. I could have easily been in the top 4. Placing here is an accomplishment in itself and I’m happy with that.”
Armando Gonzalez hoped for a higher finish but knew the difficulties of repeating last year’s fourth-place finish.
“We were hoping for some big finishes,” Gonzalez said. “We had five boys who made it to the second day and three who were good enough to medal. We could have done better but this is a tough tournament.”
Among Central Coast Section schools, only five-time champion Gilroy enjoyed any team success. Los Gatos was the second CCS with 29.5 points in 39th place. Individually, Boris Novachkov of Sunnyvale-Fremont successfully moved up three weight classes to claim the 125-pound title a year after he won at 103. John Hall of Palo Alto finished second at 189 pounds.
Calvary Chapel’s Jason Lara received the meet’s oustanding wrestler award for upsetting defending champion and No. 1 seed Nikko Triggas of Campolindo 11-5 in the 119-pound final. Gilberto Camacho (50-0), the 103-pound champion, and Jason Welch (50-0), the 160-pound titlist, were the only wrestlers to finish unbeaten.
