‘Balers defeat Alisal 57-15, Alvarez 74-3 in a pair of dual-meet
victories
Salinas – The San Benito matmen walked away with a pair of easy dual-meet victories Wednesday night in Salinas, as the Haybalers defeated Alisal 57-15 and Everett Alvarez 74-3.
“I was very pleased,” coach Matt Olejnik said. “The teams we wrestled were not that good, but with our lineup down, I thought we looked pretty good.”
Five ‘Balers wrestled down from their previously held weight class against Alisal, and all five emerged victorious.
David Bazan at 103 pounds (previously 112) won by fall, Junior Davila at 112 (previously 119) won by technical fall, 119-pounder Zach Rodriguez (previously 125) won his match by fall, Geo Coelho at 125 (previously 130) won by fall and Steven Borba at 130 pounds (previously 135) won his match via an 8-5 decision.
As of Jan. 15, wrestlers were provided a two-pound growth allowance as listed under the CIF’s Weight Certification Program.
“Today was a good day for us,” Olejnik said. “I just thought we looked good.”
Other notable matches included Josh Ramirez at 152 (winner by fall), Enrique Lucatero at 160 pounds (winner by technical fall) and Fernando Lucatero at 171 pounds (winner by fall).
Manny Tovar at 189 and Kevin Mueller at 275 each won their respective match by decision, 6-0 and 11-5, respectively. Christian Solis also won his match with a 10-4 decision at 140 pounds.
Up against Alvarez, San Benito won all but one match. Of course, they only wrestled in a total of three for the meet, as the Eagles were lacking wrestlers at nearly every weight class.
At 152, Ramirez won his match by technical fall. At 160, Enrique Lucatero defeated his opponent by a 5-4 decision, and at 189, ‘Baler Thomas Morcate lost by a 6-4 decision.
San Benito’s opponents were not provided at press time.
San Benito will travel to the Eureka Invitational Friday to begin a 24-man individually-bracketed tournament beginning Saturday morning.
The ‘Balers will travel farther than any other team, as the invite will be dominated by Oregon schools, such as Coquille, Phoenix and Eagle Point.
Wrestling begins at 8 a.m., on Saturday and concludes at approximately 8 p.m.
