The Baler wrestling team had its first chance to test its skills
Monday during the Red and White combined intersquad challenges at
O’Donnell Gym.
The extended football season has kept several players and also
head coach Matt Olejnik, who coaches outside linebackers and tight
ends, from attending wrestling practice. Assistant coach David
Salcedo has been filling in while Olejnik is gone. There are about
seven wrestlers expected to join the team once football season is
over.
The Baler wrestling team had its first chance to test its skills Monday during the Red and White combined intersquad challenges at O’Donnell Gym.
The extended football season has kept several players and also head coach Matt Olejnik, who coaches outside linebackers and tight ends, from attending wrestling practice. Assistant coach David Salcedo has been filling in while Olejnik is gone. There are about seven wrestlers expected to join the team once football season is over.
“Three or four of those guys will probably fit right in the lineup somewhere,” Olejnik said. “Everybody is still kind of bunched up in the same weight classes, so we need to work on stretching them through out the 14 weight classes.”
Although there are still some holes in the positioning, the team is starting to fill out. There are several up and coming freshmen who should be able to make an impact on the team this year.
“We have several young kids who look like they are hard workers and have what it takes,” Olejnik said. “The thing that concerns me a little is our numbers. We usually get about 70 or 80 kids out, but now we have 40. The kids we do have are working their butts off.”
Olejnik said the poor turnout may be because more athletes are focusing on year-around sports as their specialty sport. He said video games may also play a factor as well.
“Why would you want to go pound your head in wrestling, when you can use your thumbs?” Olejnik said.
But Olejnik said he was pleased with what he saw Tuesday from the kids who dropped the controllers to wrestle.
Olejnik hopes to have a good idea after the Kenny Fehlman Duals on Dec. 5 and 6 of who is competing where, with the exception of the football players if the Balers beat Los Gas this weekend. The Bellarmine dual meet in Hollister on Dec. 9 may be the first time the team can get together.
“We may not have a full team ready to go until the middle of January,” Olejnik said. “I think we will be a fairly good dual meet team. For the individual tournament, we got four our five really strong guys, so we need some other guys to step up. We are going to shoot for a section title again. We got the guys who want to work hard to do it.”
Here is a rundown of some of the top wrestlers this season although some will go up or down.
-103 pounds – Joe Verismo (Jr.) was one match from placing in the section last year. He may also see time at 112.
-112 pounds – Chris Mora (So.) has a little wrestling in his blood. His cousin was a state champion in San Diego two years ago.
“He has probably made the most improvement,” Olejnik said. “He has done a lot of stuff over the summer.”
-119 pounds – Luis Barocio, the younger brother of another Baler wrestler, is battling with a couple other freshmen for the spot.
-125 pounds – This slot is open right now with Chris Uribe moving up and another kid out of school.
“We got a lot of kids coming up, but I don’t know if they will be ready for that weight class yet,” Olejnik said. “You usually want seniors there who have moved up from lower weight classes.”
-132 pounds – Uribe (Sr.), coming out from football, may jump up to the 132 or 137-pound class.
-137 pounds – Adam Sunseri (Sr.) is expected to move up into this weight class. Olejnik was impressed with his performance Tuesday.
-142 pounds – Octavio Lucatero (Sr.) is the leader of the team. Lucatero, who comes from a successful linage of wrestlers, finished second in CCS last year and went 3-2 in the state meet.
“He has been working hard over the last month and a half,” Olejnik said. “He lifted hard over the summer, and he is as quick as he was. He may be up at 145s for a while, so I could see him getting off to a little bit of a slow start. But he will be contending for a state meet. He has been close a couple time to the CCS title. He is hungry, so hopefully he will be able to do it.”
-147 pounds – There is a little bit of a log jam in this spot, Olejnik said. Alex Diaz, coming out from football, Evan Rodriguez and Elias Barocio are competing.
“That will only make us better,” Olejnik said. “Because whoever shakes out to be the first guys will have to beat some tough competition to get there.”
-152 pounds – Nick Carpenter (Sr.), who almost won the league tournament after winning the JV title two years ago, will probably be switching spots with Alejo Velasquez, Olejnik said.
“Nick was a light 160-pounder last year, so being down more toward his natural weight will help him out,” Olejnik said.
-162 pounds – Velasquez (Sr.) was injured last season but remained ranked. He came back two weeks before CCS but wasn’t able to recover fully from the injury. He finished fourth in the section as a sophomore.
“He is a weight-room junkie and is real strong,” Olejnik said.
-171 pounds – Francisco Avilles (Jr.), who has had a strong season as a running back, is expected to be around the 171 category. Latch Headley (So.) and Kyle Horn (Jr.) will also be competing in this spot.
-189 pounds – Ryan Dunne (So.), coming off football, is battling with Jessie Grace (Jr.).
-215 pounds – Matt De La Rosa (Sr.), who is coming off shoulder surgery, missed all of last year. Aaron Headley and Ricardo Sanchez, who won all his matches Tuesday, will be competing here as well.
-Heavyweight – Tito Flores (Sr.), the returning league champion, will be challenged by Jake Mahan (Jr.).
