Alecxis Lara had a hunch it would come down to one match.
His intuition proved correct.
Alecxis Lara had a hunch it would come down to one match.
His intuition proved correct.
“I did the match on paper with different scenarios. And with every scenario I did, it came down to one match,” the second-year head coach said. “And that’s exactly how it turned out.”
Watching his young yet savvy Christopher High varsity wrestlers scrap with Monterey Bay League power Monterey High on Wednesday night, the early-season dual meet between the league’s top contenders did ultimately hinge on one electrifying final bout of the night.
Monterey’s Pedro Salas earned a second-period fall victory over Cougars’ freshman Christian Carpenter at 140-pounds to give the Toreadors a narrow 42-33 nod over CHS.
A loss, yes, but another solid building block nonetheless.
“We lost but it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about performing. And they battled their hearts out,” Lara said, beaming with pride. “More than anything, they made a powerful statement. We are going to turn some heads starting now. Now the rest of the league knows that we are coming after them.”
The Cougars (1-1) already defeated Seaside in the MBL dual opener last week.
As the only CHS team a season ago to compete at the varsity level – with only freshmen and sophomores – Lara led the Cougars to a 3-3 record in the MBL.
Returning wrestlers are a year stronger and pocket a year’s worth of prep experience. And with a group of standout freshman entering the fray this season, Lara got a glimpse of the team’s true potential.
“These guys, about 90 percent of them, are year-round wrestlers,” Lara said. “I have a group of committed wrestlers who are buying into the program. They’re believing in us and in themselves.”
Sophomore Jerome Rebena (145) kicked off the evening with a second-period fall triumph followed by another six-point pin by the Cougars’ lone returning Central Coast Section qualifier, Jacob Graffigna.
“Last year we didn’t have as many people because it was a new program,” Graffigna said. “This year we have a bunch of new freshmen. They were all wrestling at their middle schools and that has help bring us up another level.”
A bulk of the freshman make up the top portion of the Cougars 14-man rotation -Jimmie Lopez (103), Raul Meza (112), Alex Felix (119) and Ralphy Ortega-Retiz.
“We have a very powerful lower-weights team,” Lara said. “Most of them are freshmen, but they are ready. They have set a really high bar for themselves and they now know they can compete with the best.”
The lower weights is where the Cougars made up ground Wednesday night.
After CHS rifled off the quick 12-0, the Toreadors picked up five consecutive wins, four of which by fall, to claim a 27-12 match lead.
However, Lopez, who grabbed a 12-0 second-period advantage, eventually earned the fall, cutting the deficit to 27-18.
“It’s going pretty good so far,” Lopez quietly said.
The Toreadors forfeited the 112-pound match, leaving the Cougars down just three points.
Freshman Alex Felix trailed by one point at the end of the first and second periods but escaped with a 10-8 decision thanks to a third-period surge and brought CHS even at 27-27.
CHS’s Ricardo Bribriescas lost 10-9 to Joey Aliotti in one of the match’s most compelling encounters. The grapplers traded takedowns but the difference came as a result of two technical violations against Bribriescas.
“(Monterey) earned that one fair and square. It was a good match,” Lara said. “But you take those two mistakes out and leave the match the way it happened and Ricardo wins.”
Ortega-Retiz lifted the Cougars back into the lead 33-30 with a first-period fall before the Toreadors landed two straight match victories to seal the win.
“These guys are accepting the challenge,” Lara said. “We are definitely going in younger and with less high school experience, but that’s when we rely on our training.”
Meet Results:
103- CHS: Jimmie Lopez win by fall vs. Justin Duenas
112- Monterey forfeit
119- CHS: Alex Felix win 10-8 dec vs. Eduardo Raygoza
125- M: Joey Aliotti win 10-9 dec vs. Ricardo Bribriescas
130- CHS: Ralphy Ortega-Retiz win by fall vs. Kirk Kim
135- M: Albert Ramirez win by fall vs. Andras Kabai
140- M: Pedro Salas win by fall vs. Christian Carpenter
145- CHS: Jerome Rebena win by fall vs. Ronald Alcantar
152- CHS: Jacob Graffigna win by fall vs. Dymund Winslow
160- M: Rweetherly Bonilla win by fall vs. Janos Kabai
171- M: Jacob Golden win by fall vs. Josh Aguilera
189- M: Jacob Newman win by fall vs. Tomas Zamora
215- M: Blake Flores win 6-5 dec vs. John Riffle
HWT- M: Joel Newman win by fall vs. Navi Pannu
