San Benito High wrestling coach Brian DeCarli doesn’t mess around when it comes to scheduling teams in the school’s annual Fehlman-Baxter Memorial Team Duals.
The tournament, named after two former Baler standouts, annually draws some of the top teams throughout the state. This year is no exception, as DeCarli has brought a loaded field for Saturday’s duals, which begin at 10 a.m. and is expected to last until around 4 p.m.
Clovis-Fresno, currently the top-ranked team in the state, is in the field along with North Coast Section power College Park-Pleasant Hill, Sac Joaquin Section power Los Banos, Ripon and Atascadero.
“We set this up knowing for a good amount of time this will be our toughest stretch of matches,” said DeCarli, who wrestled at Palma and Fresno State. “You go in knowing you’re going to take some lumps, but also with high expectations in terms of being competitive. We’re looking forward to seeing where we’re at.”
This much is certain: After Saturday, the Balers will know exactly what they’ll need to improve on going forward. All six teams in the field compete against each other in a round-robin type format, and points are totaled afterward.
“You don’t get better wrestling teams and individuals who aren’t going to push you,” DeCarli said.
The Balers are looking to improve on last season, when they finished third in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division behind state powerhouse Gilroy and Palma and 16th in the Central Coast Section tournament. The MBL Gabilan is hands down the best wrestling league in the section; Alisal, which San Benito beat twice last year, took third in the CCS tournament.
“The nice thing is we have some depth that we’ve been lacking the last few years,” DeCarli said.
Even though San Benito graduated its top individual from a year ago — Robb Rodriguez placed third in the CCS tourney at 132 pounds — it returns a number of wrestlers who have been steadily improving the last couple of years and seem equipped to take center stage.
One of those wrestlers include junior Eric Loredo, who went 2-2 in sectional’s a year ago in the 106-pound weight class. Loredo is currently ranked No. 6 in the 113-pound division, and continues to develop his technical skills to go along with a strong work ethic.
Speaking of indefatigable, senior Patrick Ippolito (138) has come on strong after a decent junior season. In the last two years, Ippolito has spent the offseason at a 30-day wrestling camp in Minnesota, competing with top-tier competition.
DeCarli also expects big things from Jaime Aleman (132), Simon Coelho (170) and J.J. Melo (220).
“We have a lot of kids who people don’t know about yet,” DeCarli said. “We don’t have quote-unquote proven entities, but they’re up-and-coming kids who have shown tremendous progression. We always say every year everything is practice until March, which is the CCS tournament and state.”
San Benito won five CCS titles from 1992-2002, a testament to just how vital wrestling is to Hollister.
“Our community has always supported wrestling as one of the frontline sports programs,” DeCarli said. “There’s a strong tradition here and just a lot of people who have a general knowledge and love for the sport, which is neat to see because you don’t really get that in a lot of places.”
Once again, the Balers are looking to outwork the competition.
“We spend so much time trying to out-condition people,” DeCarli said. “What we might be lacking a little in technique, we more than make up for in our preparation. The harder you work and the more time you put in something, the harder it is to give up.”
