Seven freshmen join varsity team as GHS wrestling begins hunt
for ninth straight CCS title
Walking into the wrestling room at South Valley Middle School with B.o.B’s “Airplanes” buzzing through the walls a humid and stuffy feel clogs the tiny space.
It’s just business as usual for the Gilroy High wrestling team – the eight-time defending Central Coast Section champions.
Methodical and meticulous, the grapplers bury themselves in training.
But a closer look at the faces hidden inside hoodie sweatshirts as beads of perspiration cascade to the mat, the first thing that comes to mind is – who are these kids?
“It’s completely opposite as last year. We had like nine seniors and this year we have like nine freshman,” second-year head coach Greg Varela said.
The number isn’t nine, but seven freshmen in the Mustangs’ projected starting 14 wrestlers.
Guys like Jesse Delgado (four-time CCS champ, 2009 state champ), Dominic Kastl (four-time CCS champ), Luis Barragan and Vicente Aboytes (2010 CCS titlist), who provided the core senior leadership in 2010, are no more.
Now its, freshmen Paul Fox, Victor Olmos, Niko Villarreal, Daniel Barboza and others, dawning the blue.
“Who knows what (the freshman) are going to do when it comes time, but if we can get them ready, we will see what happens,” Varela said. “We are going to train to win state.”
But what about the pressures and expectations that are second nature with a program that has the reputation GHS carries with it?
“I think with a young group like that I down play it,” Varela said. “We are just training and getting through each obstacle. We are young, but I’m excited.”
It’s one thing to rebuild, but it’s an entirely different notion to retool and reload. And despite the newcomers who have grown up in the Gilroy Hawks wrestling community, the Mustangs have plenty of experience to hand down.
“The freshman are battle tested,” Varela added.
Varela doesn’t have to search far for stability in his lineup, either, with three CCS champs and state qualifiers, sophomore Leif Dominguez, and juniors Willie Fox and Blake Kastl, returning as the go-to veteran leaders.
“We are definitely excited,” said Kastl, who is the No. 1-ranked 140-pounder in preseason rankings. “The new freshmen are going to come in and fill all the spots that we had missing. The team has been training hard.”
Kastl finished sixth in last season’s CIF State Championships – a knee injury forced him to default from the fifth-place match. The junior said he is 100- percent recovered from offseason surgery and an increased regimen has him primed.
“I think we really picked it up during the offseason more than before,” Kastl said. “We are working harder in the room and going to camps and looking forward to that state title.”
Willie Fox finished runner-up at the CCS meet in both his freshman and sophomore years and starts the season as No. 2 in the section at 135 pounds.
“I’m training just as hard,” the soft-spoken Fox said.
Dominguez surprised many with his late-season push to the state meet. And it was an dynamite victory in the 103-pound CCS final last season that seemed to set the tone for the Mustangs in their march to their eighth title.
Senior Andrew Toste who grew into his own at the Tri-Country Athletic League finals last season, will wrestle at 189 and is joined by the only other senior on the team Felix Gonzalez (171), who returns to the mat after a year off.
Also adding a wealth of knowledge and experience is senior Jasmine Yanez. The defending CCS girls champion at 108 pounds, Yanez also won a state title in 2009-10 and this year, if all goes as planned she will wrestle in the first CIF sanctioned girls’ state championship meet in February.
Varela is confident with the skills his kids have and said he has focused a lot more on trying to prevent some of the other pit falls, such as grades and weight management, by taking a more proactive approach in those areas of emphasis.
“Some of the young guys aren’t used to the grind and the grades start to drop,” Varela said. “My main concern is the way they handle that. So far they have answered all my challenges. I have five kids with with 4.0 GPAs and another five with a 3.0 or better.”
So as the Mustangs rotated through different mat exercises, stationary bike rides and jump rope, the track changed on the music mix. The lyrics of Eminem’s “Not Afraid” hit peak decibels and scowls of determination were painted onto faces.
“They are going to be ready,” Varela said.
— With the exception of Willie Fox and Blake Kastl, the Mustangs participated in a tournament held at Madera South over the weekend.
Head coach Greg Varela bumped up each of his wrestlers one weight class as the team finished fifth.
Freshman Niko Villarreal took second at 135-pounds, freshmen Paul Fox and Victor Olmos placed third at 125 and 119, respectively and sophomore Leif Dominguez took fourth at 112.
Willie Fox and Kastl traveled to Ohio for the Walsh Ironman, one of the premier and most competitive tournaments in the country. Willie Fox went 1-2 while Blake Kastl (4-2) finished one match shy of the medal round.
The Mustangs kick off Tri-County Athletic League dual meets Wednesday at North Salinas.
