Wrestling team heads to CCS with hopes of a second-place
finish
With head coach Matt Olejnik entertaining ideas of coaching next
year at a high school in Bakersfield, tomorrow’s Central Coast
Section wrestling championships at Overfelt High in San Jose will
be a little more meaningful for the Balers’ coach.
Wrestling team heads to CCS with hopes of a second-place finish
With head coach Matt Olejnik entertaining ideas of coaching next year at a high school in Bakersfield, tomorrow’s Central Coast Section wrestling championships at Overfelt High in San Jose will be a little more meaningful for the Balers’ coach.
“This could be my last CCS with Hollister,” said Olejnik, who has headed up the San Benito High program since 1994. “I’m hoping that we do a good job. If we can battle for second and get it, that would be a good tournament. Anything worse than third won’t be.”
In the 14 years that Olejnik has been at San Benito High the Balers have won three CCS titles and six league championships. The last time the Balers won a Section title was in 2002 – the last year that they competed in the old Monterey Bay League. In 2003, the MBL was restructured to form the Tri County Athletic League. Since the TCAL was formed the Mustangs of Gilroy High have won every league and Section meet.
This year, things aren’t expected to be any different as Gilroy High enters tomorrow’s CCS championships at Overfelt High in San Jose with the luxury of having 10 wrestlers ranked in the top 6 in the Section – four of which are ranked first. A win in the Section meet will mean six consecutive CCS titles for the powerhouse Mustangs.
“They should cruise to the title again,” Olejnik said. “We’re really just fighting for second with Los Gatos. I think that’s a reachable goal.”
Since the tournament is bracketed based on ranking heading into it a number of Gilroy High wrestlers won’t face a ranked wrestler until the quarterfinals. In contrast, a number of San Benito players could meet up with a top seeded wrestler in the first or second match of the tournament, which makes the road to the finals a lot more difficult.
With that said, the Balers have qualified 13 wrestlers out of the 14 weight classes for the CCS tournament, the same number that the Wildcats from Los Gatos have, which will give the Balers strong representation throughout the tournament.
In all San Benito has five wrestlers that are seeded in the top 6 in the tournament. The Balers best chance at winning it all falls in the 145-pound weight class where Josh Ramirez is ranked No. 1.
The other top Baler wrestlers include No. 2 ranked Fernando Lucatero, who will compete at 152 pounds and Junior Davila, who is ranked No. 2 in the 112-pound division.
In order for the Balers to edge out the Wildcats for second, Olejnik needs high finishes by those three wrestlers as well as solid campaigns by his unranked wrestlers – the guys with good skills who are ready to have a break-out tournament.
“Los Gatos has the No. 2 guy at 135, the No. 1 guy at 152 and the No. 3 guy at 171. We’re going to need some of our guys to surprise some people,” Olejnik said.
One wrestler that falls into that category is Geo Coelho in the 125-pound division.
“He’s a key guy for us,” Olejnik said. “He’s been in all of his matches and the ones that he has lost have been real close. He could surprise a lot of people.”
Another wrestler in this category is Morris Stevens, a 130-pounder who made it all the way to the league finals before losing to Gilroy’s Rodney Balajadia by a 4-2 margin.
“He’s a guy who could go deep in the tournament,” Olejnik said.
Other “X” factors for the Balers include 119-pounder Zach Rodriguez, 160-pounder Enrique Lucatero and 171-pound wrestler Manny Tovar.
“It all depends on how the brackets go for these guys,” Olejnik said. “If things go well early and they can make it to the quarterfinals, then anything can happen.”
