SAN JOSE – Eight-peat, eight and counting, whichever way it’s
phrased, the Mustangs are once again CCS champs, landing atop 80
other teams with 258 points, 65 more than second place Saint
Francis and 138 more than third place Bellarmine.
SAN JOSE – In stature, Leif Dominguez is the smallest member of the Gilroy High wrestling team.
However, the freshman grappler’s performance in the 103-pound final at the 2010 Central Coast Section Championships garnered the biggest ovation from the hundreds of spectators inside the gym at Independence High School on Saturday night.
Taking on No. 1-seed Daniel Polanco of St. Francis, Dominguez, the No. 3 seed, pulled out a miracle in the waning seconds of the third period.
Trailing 3-1 with the clock ticking down to 10 seconds, Dominguez simultaneously earned two points for a takedown and two more for a nearfall, sending the crowd into a frenzy and giving himself a CCS title.
“I hit the move I wanted,” Dominguez said. “Yeah, it’s CCS, but you can’t let it get to you. You have to treat it like any other tournament.”
The monster sequence set the tone for the Mustangs, who went on to capture an unprecedented eighth straight CCS championship.
“I love that little guy,” first-year head coach Greg Varela said. “He’s got such a great attitude. His heart is bigger than he is.”
Eight-peat, eight and counting; however it is phrased, the Mustangs are once again CCS champs, landing atop 80 other teams with 258 points, 65 more than second-place St. Francis and 138 more than third-place Bellarmine.
Gilroy High wrestlers are beginning to run out of fingers to indicate how many CCS championships they’ve won.
The streak is by far the longest in CCS history, long ago eclipsing the previous mark of four straight set by Oceana High School in the mid 1980s.
Keeping the number theme in order, GHS sent eight wrestlers into Saturday night’s finals with five of them having their arms raised in victory.
“I’m just proud of them,” Varela said. “I’ll enjoy it for about three weeks, then get ready for next year.”
The Mustangs carried a slim 16-point lead over St. Francis heading into Day 2, but dominating performances in all eight semifinals matches gave Gilroy some breathing room as the finals got underway.
“At the beginning of this day, I told them that if they don’t perform today we weren’t going to win,” Varela said. “I told them it was up to them. They came out on fire.”
Seniors Jesse Delgado (125 pounds) and Dominic Kastl (160) etched their names into the record book as the fifth and sixth wrestlers to become four-time CCS winners.
Delgado, a defending state champion, wore down John Claitor of Half Moon Bay before getting the fall in the second period.
Delgado has wreaked havoc on opponents ever since his freshman year and hasn’t been oblivious to the fandom that surrounds his wrestling prowess.
“You go for a run and you see people you know and they honk,” Delgado said. “You go to the store or something and people say, ‘Hey, you’re that wrestling guy.’ I’m just like, ‘How do you know?'”
Kastl, who won his previous three titles with St. Francis, took out Jeremy Mitchell of Bellarmine 36 seconds into the second period.
“It’s a great feeling,” Kastl said. “To share it with Jesse, too, it’s crazy that it happened in the same year and on the same team. Every year I’ve looked at CCS as a qualifying tournament. I’ve worked hard and prepared for it, but I look forward to state. I want to win state.”
Sophomore Blake Kastl (135) and senior Vicente Aboytes (152) secured their first CCS individual crowns.
Aboytes nailed down the victory by fall at 1:59 of the first period, defeating Michael Ciccarelli of King City.
Blake Kastl, who missed last year’s tournament due to illness, went up against former teammate and friend Nick Cano of St. Francis, putting aside their past for a 10-5 triumph.
Rodney Balajadia (119), Willie Fox (130) and Luis Barragan (287) came up short in their bids for championships, finishing in second place.
Balajadia endured a massive takedown by San Benito’s Junior Davila early in the first period. The impact rattled Balajadia, who later injury defaulted midway through the second period.
“I was really worried about Rodney,” Varela said. “He is probably mad at me right now for stopping (the match), but I want to make sure he’s ready for state.”
Fox engaged in a rematch of last year’s final with Jorge Barajas and narrowly missed out on payback, dropping a well-fought match, 5-4.
Barragan also met a familiar foe in the way of Drew Meulman out of St. Francis to conclude the night’s action.
The two big men grappled to a 3-3 tie into overtime, where Meulman delivered a two-point near fall to claim his second consecutive title.
Junior Jasmine Yanez pinned her opponent in the first period to claim the 108-pound title in the girls’ championship bracket.
All eight Mustangs qualified for the State Championships, which will take place March 5-6 in Bakersfield.
Gilroy High has 11 CCS wrestling championships, 10 team titles (the first coming in 1980) and one dual meet championship in 1991.
