n BY Jimmy Durkin SPORTS EDITOR
Hollister – The wrestling season at San Benito kicked off Wednesday with the annual Baler Challenges, an intersquad tournament with wrestlers battling fellow ‘Balers in each weight class.
With about 90 kids on this year’s team, there was plenty of action.
Coach Matt Olejnik said a lot of incoming talent should bode well for San Benito.
One of those freshman the coach is high on is 112-pounder Junior Davila, who Olejnik expects to compete with sophomore returning varsity wrestler Morris Stevens.
The two battled it out Wednesday, with Davila winning a 24-9 decision over Stevens.
Among the top returners for the ‘Balers is Fernando Lucatero. He was the runner-up in last year’s 140-pound Tri-County Athletic League finals, losing to Gilroy’s Armando Gonzalez, the top-ranked wrestler in the Central Coast Section at that weight class.
Lucatero and another top returner, senior Sammy Ramirez, grappled in the 170-pound finals with Lucatero earning a 4-3 decision over Ramirez.
The 152-pound finals featured their two younger brothers, with sophomores Josh Ramirez and Enriquez Lucatero battling it out.
Ramirez won that battle by pinning Lucatero in the third period.
Olejnik expects to shift some of those wrestlers around to different weights by the start of the regular season.
The first official match for the ‘Balers is Dec. 6, when San Benito’s varsity team travels to face Cupertino in a dual meet.
The TCAL Novice meet for first-year wrestlers will take place that same day in Hollister.
Olejnik is entering the season with confidence that his team can compete within the league and section, although to get to the top any team will have to go through Gilroy, who finished sixth in the state last year and expects to again be among the state’s elite.
“We’re expected to be competitive within the section and the league,” Olejnik said. “If we finish second to Gilroy, we should be able to be up there with everybody else.”
