San Benito senior notches CCS 215-pounder title with 6-4
decision over Scotts Valley’s Black; advances to State finals
The shiner under Ryan Dunn’s left eye spoke volumes as to the physical toll that the sport of wrestling takes on the human body.
But looking beyond the beads of sweat, the drenched uniform, and the messed up hair into Dunn’s eyes was the reflection of a champion.
Denied a CCS title in 2005, Dunn was determined to not let history repeat itself.
“Last year I came in as the No. 1 seed and was upset in the semifinals,” Dunn recalled. “I wasn’t about to let that happen again this year. I came out aggressive from the start. Finishing this time, that was the difference.”
Indeed it was.
Dunn defeated Dustin Black of Scotts Valley 6-4 at 215 pounds to clinch his first-ever CCS wrestling title.
Dunn trailed 2-0 early in his title match when Black earned a first-round take down. But in the second round, it was all Dunn. The senior earned his first point of the match with an early escape and took the lead for good with a reversed move. He was then awarded a point for a stall by Black.
Leading 4-2 heading into the final round he yielded a point to Black on an escape, but then midway through the round, his takedown gave him a 6-3 lead that he would safely preserve despite a late escape by Black.
The past several months have been quite a championship run for Dunn, was also part of the ‘Balers CCS championship football team that defeated Oak Grove back in December.
“I expected to win. I really, really wanted this one, being my last year and all,” said Dunn with an air of confidence. “Now I have to get right back to my training and keep my eyes focused on the task at hand.
“It’s a State title at stake now, and I know that I’ll be competing against the best,” Dunn said. “I’ve definitely got things to work on and fine tune, like my countering and finishing. But I definitely believe that I’ve got a shot at it.”
While Dunn was busy clinching an individual CCS title, arch-rival Gilroy was sewing up the team title and breaking a CCS record that had stood for 10 years. The Mustangs scored 274 1/2 points in the meet, breaking Independence’s record of 269 1/2 set back in 1996.
Gilroy also had five wrestlers Nicolo Naranjo (112), Adin Duenas (135), Armando Gonzalez (140), Hunter Collins (171) and Andres Barragan (189) win individual titles, and placed nine wrestlers in this weekend’s State meet.
In fact, as Dunn prepared for the awards ceremony, Gilroy’s Collins’ exited the pre-match warm-up room and Dunn reached out to offer Collins a few words of congratulations.
“Way to go, nice job man,” Dunn said. “Thanks, you to,” Collins answered.
“[The Mustangs] are good, they’re really good,” Dunn admitted. “But we’ve been coming on strong and been a bit dominating as well as of late. We have a great JV program coming up, so I can see us really giving them a run soon.”
The only other area wrestler to win a CCS title and advance to the state tournament was Sobrato’s Genaro Redman, who pinned Aptos’ Derek Millburn 4:20 minutes into the heavyweight match and in the process earned the school its first CCS title of any kind. Also qualifying from Sobrato was Moses Guillardo, who placed at 125 pounds for this week’s State tournament.
Another wrestler making news on this historic day was Silver Creek junior Tina Linhsamout, who became the first girl in CCS history to earn a medal. Her sixth-place finish at 103 pounds qualified her for the State tournament.a
