Mustangs jump out to a 20-0 lead, cap ninth straight undefeated
TCAL season.
In wrestling, momentum gained and momentum lost is something that happens from round to round, and not necessarily match to match.
But when the eight-time defending Central Coast Section champs jump out to a 20-0 lead through the first four weight classes, with each victory coming either via fall or major decision, the immediate hill looks a little more steeper to climb.
“We have to understand that each match is its own entity and not to get caught up in the momentum,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said Tuesday night.
Although it was the Balers’ turn to host the Prune Bowl of wrestling matches this year, and it kicked off the evening with a special Senior Night ceremony, Gilroy’s initial 20-point lead proved to be too much to overcome.
Although San Benito did cut the deficit, to 26-19 and later 32-25, the visiting Mustangs delivered big points in key matches en route to a 48-25 victory — one point better than last season’s 47-25 triumph.
The Mustangs actually earned victories in four of the final five matches of the night, while the team’s strength in the lower and middle weight classes was also showcased, as Gilroy won each weight from 114s to 147s.
Gilroy head coach Greg Varela was simply pleased to leave Hollister with a win.
“We got what we expected out of Hollister. They’re nails and they’re always ready to wrestle,” said Varela, who felt Gilroy wouldn’t be where it is today if “Hollister wasn’t pushing us.”
He later added, “All I wanted was a win.”
For the ninth year in a row, the Mustangs end the regular season as the lone undefeated team in the Tri-County Athletic League, and their first four matches on Tuesday night set the tone.
Beginning at 132s, Aaron Gonzalez beat Raul Suarez by a 15-3 major decision; Daniel Barbosa pinned Dominic Cortes with five seconds remaining in the third round; Niko Villarreal defeated Zack Rodriguez by a 17-6 major decision; and Willie Fox won by fall over Jonathan Arballo within the first minute of the opening period.
Baler senior Mikey Soto managed to finally stop the Mustang momentum at 154 pounds when he pinned Lupe Jimenez in 2:53.
“It was disappointing because I thought we could have wrestled better. Depending on the lineup, I thought we could have won seven (matches), with the possibility of eight,” said DeCarli, whose Balers were instead limited to just five wins on Tuesday. “So, we underachieved as a team tonight.”
Although pleased with the win, Varela pointed out his team’s top-work is in need of improvement.
“Hollister did a very good job on the bottom,” the Gilroy head coach added.
That much was evident in what was perhaps the match of the night at 162 pounds between Baler Tim Castillo and Mustang Julian Carbajal. After all, it was the only match that wasn’t decided by fall or major decision.
Castillo controlled a 2-0 lead entering the second period — he scored a takedown with three seconds left in the first — and wrestled in the down position for the entire two minutes. But he prevented Carbajal from ever finding the scoreboard, grasping to the Gilroy wrestler’s right leg for much of the second period and not allowing him to maneuver.
In the third, with Castillo still down after he deferred to start the previous period, Carbajal cut the San Benito wrestler for an escape point with 40 seconds remaining, but was unable to earn a takedown in the waning moments.
Castillo, meanwhile, delivered a takedown with 11 seconds left en route to a 5-0 decision.
“We need to dominate that (top) position and we definitely didn’t dominate that position (tonight),” Varela said.
However, trailing 20-9 at that point, San Benito would have needed to sweep the higher weight classes to have a chance, DeCarli felt. But it only managed to take two of the four bouts.
Gilroy’s Felix Gonzalez pinned Joey Garcia in 3:28 at 173s and Jose Lara did the same to Javier Bustillos in 55 seconds at 287s, although Bustillos is still only a week back after having his appendix removed in mid January.
San Benito did earn victories at 191s when Miguel Martin del Campo delivered an 11-2 major decision over Andrew Toste, while teammate Jorge Perez, weighing in at roughly 185 pounds, defeated Gilroy’s Izack Lugo by fall at 1:33 in the 217-pound weight class.
But the meat of Gilroy’s lineup came back around when the bouts went back to the lighter weight classes. Although Baler Tony Gatto won his 105-pound match by fall, and cut the deficit to 32-25, Mustangs Leif Dominguez, Paul Fox and Victor Olmos each won their match to close out the dual meet, winning by either fall or major decision to turn what was a narrow seven-point dual into a seemingly comfortable 23-point victory.
“That’s the good thing about duals; everyone has to do their job,” Varela said.
Both teams will be off this weekend before opening up the Tri-County Athletic League Championships next Friday, Feb. 19, at Gilroy High. Matches will begin at 10 a.m.
The TCAL Championships are just stage one of the postseason, though, with the CCS Championships and CIF state championships soon to follow. And DeCarli couldn’t help but look at the positives of squaring off against a team like Gilroy, the top-ranked team in the CCS, just a week before the postseason is set to get under way.
“This is the best team that we could have faced,” DeCarli said. “This is that caliber and this is the intensity that we have to compete with (in the postseason).”
Gilroy 48, San Benito 25
132 — GILR, A. Gonzalez def. R. Suarez by 15-3 major dec.; 137 — GILR, D. Barbosa def. D. Cortes by fall (5:55); 142 — GILR, N. Villarreal def. Z. Rodriguez by 17-6 major dec.; 147 — GILR, W. Fox def. J. Arballo by fall (:50); 154 — SANB, M. Soto def. L. Jimenez by fall (2:53); 162 — SANB, T. Castillo def. J. Carbijal by 5-0 dec.; 173 — GILR, F. Gonzalez def. J. Garcia by fall (3:28); 191 — SANB, M. Martin del Campo def. A. Toste by 11-2 major dec.; 217 — SANB, J. Perez def. I. Lugo by fall (1:33); 287 — GILR, J. Lara def. J. Bustillos by fall (:55); 105 — SANB, T. Gatto def. A. Ruiz by fall (1:17); 114 — GILR, L. Dominguez def. C. Baldwin by fall (2:21); 121 — GILR, P. Fox def. K. Salcedo by 11-2 major dec.; 127 — GILR, V. Olmos def. R. Rodriguez by fall (1:36).
