Although the San Benito High wrestling team didn’t meet its postseason goal of qualifying a wrestler to the CIF State Championships, the Balers had several noteworthy accomplishments this season, including a solid second-place finish in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division, the best wrestling league in the Central Coast Section — bar none.
San Benito had one of its best seasons in recent memory, going 5-1 during the dual-league season — its only loss was to state powerhouse Gilroy — while also excelling in tournaments.
Junior Eric Loredo was the team’s top individual finisher in last weekend’s CCS Championships. Competing in the 113-pound weight class, Loredo went 5-2, good for a fifth-place finish. Loredo won his first two matches via pinfall before suffering a 10-3 loss to El Camino-South San Francisco’s Christian Diokno in the quarterfinals.
Loredo then won his next two matches via pinfall before losing to Christopher’s Felipe Duenas in the consolation semifinals. In the fifth-place match, Loredo pinned Oak Grove’s Jordan Auen, who was the No. 3 seed.
“From the end of last year, Eric was the hardest worker by far on a team of hard workers,” Balers coach Brian DeCarli said. “It’s great to see the success he’s had this season, because it validates everything he’s done. Working hard doesn’t guarantee you success, but at least you put yourself in the best position possible to have success, and that’s what Eric did. Being a competitor, it’s always bittersweet when you don’t get one of your guys on the podium, because there’s always the drive to get there. But shoot, I think all of the coaches and kids should be proud of how they performed this year.”
The Balers’ Patrick Ippolito (138), J.J. Melo (220) and Tristan Medina (heavyweight) all went 3-2. Jaime Aleman (132), Issac Gallope (145) and Simon Coelho (160) all finished 2-2.
San Benito qualified wrestlers in 13 of the 14 weight divisions, and DeCarli attributed some of the success the team had this season to being able to hold practice for every wrestler in the program in one room.
The Balers practiced at an off-campus location this season, allowing them to get everyone in the program — from freshmen to seniors — in one room. In past years, San Benito had to hold practice in two separate rooms on campus because it didn’t have a facility to fit multiple wrestling mats in one location.
“When you’re able to get everyone at the same location at one time, the atmosphere in the room is pretty doggone good when you have 60-plus kids competing for 14 (varsity starting) spots,” DeCarli said. “There’s a lot of motivation inside that room, and it helps to create a positive environment. The bigger room allows our wrestlers to compete in an environment that is similar to the environment of matches.”
If Loredo was the team’s best overall wrestler, then Medina was certainly the breakout performer of the year. One of five heavyweights competing for the varsity starting spot at the beginning of the season, Medina slowly worked his way up to become the team’s best heavyweight near the end of the league season.
Just a sophomore, Medina headlines a strong returning group next year, including Eric Lopez (108), Juan Gutierrez (120), Osvaldo Ruiz (126), Billy Rosenberg (182) and Melo.
San Benito should also be buoyed by an influx of strong newcomers, as it had a number of standout junior varsity wrestlers who are itching to make an impact at the varsity level.
“The guys are hungry because they know they still have a long way to go to bridge the gap with who’s ahead of them now,” DeCarli said. “We’re happy with where we’re at, but at the same time we understand we’ve still got a long way to go. When you take everything in perspective and see what we did this year while also looking at the big picture, I’d say we’re pretty happy and encouraged with the state of the program.”
