‘Balers will dedicate Wednesday’s matches to long-time San
Benito supporter
The San Benito wrestling team earned four individual championships and took first place out of 20 teams at the Eureka Invitational Saturday.
Compiling 250 points in the individually-bracketed tournament, the ‘Balers defeated Illinois Valley of Oregon, which took second with 216 points.
Phoenix, Ore., took third with 186 points, Del Norte was fourth with 136 and host Eureka finished fifth with 126 points.
San Benito had 11 placers at the one-day tournament, with seven grapplers making it to the finals of their respective weights, and four of those seven earning a championship.
At 112 pounds, Junior Davila mowed down the competition with a major decision and three pins, including a fall in the first period of the 112-pound final.
At 119, Zach Rodriguez earned the title after defeating his teammate Morris Stevens, who finished second. Josh Ramirez also wrestled to a title at 147 pounds, where he defeated his opponent from Illinois Valley by an 11-7 decision. At 215, fourth-seeded Buddy Barraza knocked off the top-seeded wrestler and then knocked off his opponent in the finals by fall in the first period.
“The first two rounds (there wasn’t) that much quality, but the semis and the place-matches were pretty good for the kids,” coach Matt Olejnik said. “A lot of our guys had tough semifinal matches.”
Some of those tough matches included the 125-pound final for Geo Coelho, who lost by a 5-4 decision. Fernando Lucatero lost his final 8-0 at 160 pounds to an Oregon state champion, and Manny Tovar lost 2-0 at 171 to an Oregon state-placer.
Other wrestlers in attendance included David Bazan (3rd place at 103), Armando Lerma (DNP at 119), Ryan Lopez (3rd at 125), Steven Borba (4th at 130), Christian Solis (4th at 140), Enrique Lucatero (3rd at 154), Adrian Hernandez (DNP at 189) and Kevin Mueller (5th at 275).
San Benito will return to their home mat on Wednesday when they’ll host North Salinas and Palma. Olejnik noted tough matches at 160-, 171- and 215-pounds against Palma, which is ranked No. 3 in the Central Coast Section.
But the ‘Balers are ranked No. 4 in the CCS, and Olejnik pointed to his team’s perfect dual-meet record against the Chieftains over the last 14 years.
“We’re looking forward to having a chance to compete with them,” Olejnik said. “We’ve always found a way to get by them.”
On Saturday Dolph Casarino, a former wrestling coach at San Benito and a long-time supporter of the ‘Balers, was emitted to the hospital.
“Our hearts are with him and his family,” Olejnik said, “and we’ll dedicate our efforts Wednesday to him.”
Wrestling begins Wednesday at 5 p.m., with the junior varsity, while the varsity match will follow.
