Balers enter tourney as underdogs
With a slight chink in Gilroy’s section-supremacy armor, no team
is lacking in motivation heading into this weekend’s Central Coast
Section Championships, which the Mustangs have owned a record six
years running.
Balers enter tourney as underdogs
With a slight chink in Gilroy’s section-supremacy armor, no team is lacking in motivation heading into this weekend’s Central Coast Section Championships, which the Mustangs have owned a record six years running.
Not St. Francis. Not Palma.
San Benito is certainly not lacking in motivation, either. But if the Haybalers’ wrestling team is seeking an edge heading into the CCS Championships, they certainly have their options.
Finishing runner-up to Gilroy at last year’s section tournament is one.
“They break out (of practice) every day since the beginning of the year with the ‘CCS Champs’ motto,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said. “This is what they’ve been gunning for.”
Armed with the underdog title among the “Big Four” teams in the CCS – the Balers have the fewest seeded wrestlers behind St. Francis, Gilroy and Palma – San Benito will be 14-strong once the two-day tournament kicks off this morning at Independence High School in San Jose.
Only Salinas and Palma are bringing an equal amount of wrestlers, while San Benito’s seeded four includes Kenny Salcedo (No. 5 at 105 pounds), Junior Davila (No. 2, 121), Josh Ramirez (No. 1, 147) and Enrique Lucatero (No. 4, 162).
But with half of San Benito’s 14 qualified wrestlers carrying senior status, the CCS Championships could also very well be the last tournament some wrestlers experience in their high school careers.
“We have seven seniors this year, so CCS, that’s it for us,” said senior 127-pounder Morris Stevens. “At CCS, the seniors are really going to try their hardest.”
Along with being a senior, Enrique Lucatero also carries the status of being the last in a long line of state-qualifying Lucatero brothers from San Benito High, a list that includes brothers Fernando, Octavio, Saul and Eddie.
“There’s definitely some pressure (to qualify for state), but I’m not going to let it get in the way,” Lucatero said. “I’m just going to do what I do, just wrestle.”
Naturally, Lucatero receives a countless amount of tips from his brothers, while he still wrestles with Fernando, who graduated from San Benito last year and took fifth in the state at 154 pounds.
Within his 162-pound division, though, Enrique Lucatero is seeded No. 4 at CCS, but he has just as much of a chance as the three wrestlers in front of him do of taking the title.
No. 2 Tyler Edwards of Monterey, for instance, defeated Lucatero by a 13-4 major decision at 171 pounds at the Coast Classic in December. At Mid-Cals in late January, Edwards edged Lucatero by a 3-2 decision at 162.
“Everyone is right there,” Lucatero said. “The [162s] are stacked and there are some tough kids out there, but I really feel like I could be the man at 160s. That’s what I’m shooting for.”
As long as he keeps his No. 4 standing, Lucatero would at the very least qualify for state, which would certainly be a sufficient consolation.
“Anybody in that top four can win,” DeCarli said of the 162-pound weight division.
Lightweight Kenny Salcedo also has a proud familial wrestling heritage. His uncle David was a two-time CCS champ for Hollister, while his father Rafael won the section tournament as well his senior year.
The 105-pound sophomore wants to do one better, though. Salcedo wants to be the first three-time state qualifier in his family.
And with the five seed, Salcedo will likely have to face off against top-seeded Michael Lim of El Camino.
“I’ve been really anxious to wrestle him. I’ve been really wanting to wrestle him,” Salcedo said. “I’ve been watching him a lot, and I think I’m going to do good against him.
“I’m not going to say I’m going to beat him, but I am going to give him a good match, a run for his money.”
And DeCarli feels San Benito can give the CCS a run for its money; the Balers just need to put it all together.
“There’s a chance. We’ve just got to wrestle from 103s to heavyweights,” DeCarli said. “We can’t give anything up. We’re going to have to play spoiler in a couple ways.
“If we can collectively put some matches together, and knock off a Gilroy and a St. Francis kid, then we definitely have a shot. But we have to put it together and we haven’t put it all together just yet.”
San Benito is battling with several injuries, however, which could very well be the main reason why the team hasn’t been able to wrestle its best yet this season.
The Balers were shorthanded at Mid-Cals but finished sixth out of 67 teams; they were narrowly defeated by Gilroy 34-29 in the final dual of the season, but lost close key matches; and just last weekend, they fell just five points short of first at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships, once again losing key early-round bouts.
The latter scenario was especially unfortunate for the Balers, though. San Benito exited Palma High School believing the team tied the Chieftains for first place at the TCAL Championships on Saturday, only to see an error in the final results move them back to third place on Monday morning.
Hopefully, DeCarli feels, all these near misses are placing a collective chip on the shoulders of San Benito’s wrestlers.
“At this point, we have seven seniors that are going to go this weekend,” DeCarli said. “And a lot of those seniors have a lot to prove. They’ve never beaten Gilroy, and they’re upset about that. They got their first-place finish at the (TCAL) tournament, however you want to say it, taken away and they’re upset about that. So they definitely have enough edge.
“At this point, if you can’t get motivated for section, then we’ve got some other issues.”
The Central Coast Section Championships begin today, Friday, at Independence High School in San Jose at 10 a.m. The tournament continues on Saturday at 10 a.m., with the championship finals scheduled for 6 p.m.
Balers at CCS
105 – No. 5 Kenny Salcedo
114 – Nikko Espinoza
121 – No. 2 Junior Davila
127 – Morris Stevens
132 – Zach Rodriguez
137 – Geo Coelho
142 – Steven Borba
147 – No. 1 Josh Ramirez
154 – Justin Raine
162 – No. 4 Enrique Lucatero
173 – Adrian Hernandez
191 – Brantley Mott
217 – Martin Garcia
287 – Adam Davis
