The future of wrestling in South County continues to look
promising.
The future of wrestling in South County continues to look promising.
The Gilroy Hawks wrestling club recently ended its season by putting on a spectacular performance at the California Freestyle State Championships. The Hawks earned a total of 15 state medals, including seven state champions. On top of all that, the Hawks team also produced three national champions and numerous All-Americans.
“We are always trying to improve from our previous performances,” coach Greg Varela said. “Last year we had 22 state medals but only two champions, so this year we made a push for more champions. We had seven champions this year, but only 15 medals. So, there is always room for improvement.”
For seven individuals, there was no way to top the way their season ended.
Jose Andrade, Juan Lopes and Tony Andrade all won first place in the Midget division, Jasmine Yanez won the Cadet division, Joseph Barnes won a title in the Bantam division, and 12-year-olds Isaiah Locsin and Nicholas Villarreal both won national titles on top of state in the Novice division.
“It’s no wonder [Locsin and Villarreal] are buddies because they work their butts off,” Varela said.
While the pair are the same age, the two faced different opponents according to weight after Villarreal grew three inches over the past year. Neither was about to say the past 12 months were easy, but they did say the grueling training paid off.
“It was hard, but for the national tournament we worked really hard,” Locsin said.
Villarreal has goals that go beyond just one national title. After winning the Reno Worlds in April, he plans on going for the vaunted trinity award, which is attained by winning the three most prestigious national tournaments. To do so, Villarreal would have to win the Kickoff Classic in November, and the Tulsa Nationals in February.
“I think I can do more,” Villarreal said. “I just want to keep on winning.”
By combining the experience of Varela and Armando Gonzalez – Gonzalez was named California Wrestling Coach of the Year in June by the California Coaches Association after he and Varela helped lead Gilroy High to a record six straight Central Coast Section titles and a school-best second-place finish at state this past season – with a successful annual “Casino Night” fundraiser (which will be taking place August 23, go to www.gilroywrestling.com for details) and access to a new state-of-the-art training facility in Morgan Hill known as TFL [Train For Life] Fitness, coaches feel the club is poised to become even more dominant.
“The third key ingredient to Gilroy’s success has been our strength and conditioning program headed by Danny Locsin, owner of TFL Fitness,” Varela said. “His program has led to four years of injury-free wrestlers and his gym has been a godsend. Although Gilroy High would build us a new room (to train) if they could, in reality they can’t.
“TFL provides [the wrestlers] a place to practice, lift weights and condition all under the same roof. As a coach, we’re able to push them on the wrestling mat because we know Danny has something new for them to do every week.”
Using different methods such as combat training that doesn’t focus on just wrestling, medicine ball exercises, pounding sledgehammers on tires, rowing on machines and workouts that don’t involve heavy weight lifting, the Hawks are taking an approach that few amateur athletes pick up at such a young age.
“The key to this thing is it’s safe,” Varela said. “They’re not lifting weights, it’s just their own body weight.”
Of course, the wrestlers get a little bit heavier with each new trophy to hoist.
Below are recent individual results and a brief description of how each result was achieved:
Fifth place – Dallas Gutierrez, Bantam Division (7-8 years old). Gutierrez wrestled all over the state every weekend, traveling from Sacramento one weekend to Temecula Valley the next to make sure he wrestled the best to prepare for the State Championships.
Fourth place – Nathan Villarreal, Bantam Division (7-8 years old). Villarreal wrestled a very good tournament. In his match that he had to win in order to place at state, he was slammed on his back and got the wind knocked out of him. He told coaches he was fine and gutted out a barn-burner in which he scored the winning takedown as time expired.
Third place – Vince Aboytes, Cadet Division (15-16 years old). “Vince has improved in this tournament every year,” Varela said. “Last year he took fifth place and this year Vince took third place and qualified for the Freestyle Nationals, where he wrestled and had a great experience. Vince will be a key ingredient in Gilroy’s quest for a seventh straight CCS Championship.”
Third place – Leif Dominguez, Schoolboy Division (13-14 years old). Dominguez has had himself a great season, placing fifth at Reno Nationals, becoming a Junior High County Champion, and now placing third in the state. “Leif is a leader of his group and a permanent fixture at TFL,” Varela said. “He goes to the kickboxing Class in the morning, weight lifting in the afternoon, wrestling in the evening, and combat fitness at night.”
Second place – Adam Mena, Midget Division (9-10 years old). Mena “is one of the funniest wrestlers to watch,” Varela said. “He grabs when he should shoot, he shoots when he should grab, he rolls when he should stand and he almost always wins. Armando Gonzalez has coached Adam since he was in diapers and after every match going back as far as he can remember, Adam always asks for a dollar so he can eat at the snack bar. He never stresses about wins and losses.”
Second place – Juan Villarreal, Midget Division (9-10 years old). Armando Gonzalez Jr., home for the summer after completing his redshirt freshman year at Cal State Fullerton, was in Juan’s corner during the semifinals. The match went back and forth, and in between the last rounds, Armando Jr. told Juan to keep his composure and apply pressure, to take the last shot as time winds down. As the clock ticked to less than ten seconds, Juan took his shot and executed the plan to perfection, advancing to the finals.
Second place – Victor Omos, Novice Division (11-12 years old). “I’m proud of all my wrestlers,” Armando Sr. said, “but I’m especially proud of Victor for the obstacles he had to overcome this year.” During the junior high season in December, Omos was wrestling at his section championships when his opponent severely broke his own arm. It was a freak accident that almost never occurs. Still, Omos had nightmares and was afraid to wrestle aggressively in fear of injuring his opponent. Gonzalez Sr. worked with him for months, talking to him, even letting the 100-pound Omos wrestle him until he got his confidence back. After Omos’ first match at the state tournament, any questions about his confidence were answered when he nonchalantly walked past coaches and said, “I’m going to win this tournament.” Omos almost did as he won six more matches in a row before losing a heartbreaker in the finals.
Second place – Jesse Delgado, Cadet Division (15-16 years old). If this name sounds familiar, it’s because Delgado is a two-time CCS Champ and a two-time high school state placer, as well as a high school national champion. After his disappointing second-place finish, Delgado rebounded and earned All-American status as he won third place at the Freestyle Nationals. Gonzalez Sr. believes Jesse, as well as Martin Gonzalez, will lead Gilroy High’s team to another top-10 finish in the state this year.
First place – Jose Andrade, Midget Division (9-10 years old). Like Bob from “La Bamba”, Jose always feels overshadowed by his kid brother, according to Varela. But not this time. Jose won his first state championship by being more aggressive on offense than coaches have ever seen him. Gonzalez Sr. hugged Andrade mat side as the wrestler smiled and said, “Now I have a Bear Trophy, too,” referring to the two-foot California Bear Head trophy that only State Champions receive.
First place – Juan Lopes, Midget Division (9-10 years old). Lopes had a great season and capped it off by winning his second state title in two years, something neither of his older brothers were able to do. Lopes’ oldest brother competes for Fresno City College and was a CCS Champ; his other brother is going to be a junior at Gilroy High and is a CCS Champion. Every time his brothers tell him to work harder at practice, he points to the mantel full of his State Championship Trophies.
First place – Jasmine Yanez, Cadet Division (15-16 years old). “Jasmine is one of the most dominant girls in the state,” Varela said. “After back-to-back girl state championships, Jasmine has really put in the extra time to perfect her technique for the upcoming season. Because Jasmine knows her strength is a weakness she can’t control when wrestling boys, she works on technique before and after practice.”
First place – Tony Andrade, Midget Division (9-10 years old). Andrade is one of Gilroy’s best wrestlers and rising stars. He has that rare blend of speed and power, and is built like a tank but moves like a cat. Andrade placed second in the nationals and wrestled up an age division all year to get the best competition he could find. As a nine-year-old, Andrade held his own with some of the toughest junior high kids in the area.
First place – Joseph Barnes, Bantam Division (7-8 years old). “Joseph is one of the most talented wrestlers on the team,” Varela said. “At eight-years-old, he understands that the best guys in the country never stop training. Joseph went undefeated in his age group this year, including nationals. He also spends about eight hours a day at TFL fitness, doing combat fitness, speed training, and wrestling.”
First place – Isaiah “Ice” Locsin, Novice Division (11-12 years old). Called “Ice” because that’s what he is when the pressure gets turned on in big matches. One mistake and he has you. This season Ice won his national title wrestling after going up a weight class and facing an opponent going for a trinity award (three national titles in three styles in the same season) in the semifinals. In the finals, all Ice had to do was beat the returning national champion, which he did 4-0. No one spends more time in the gym then Locsin because his father, Dan Locsin, is Gilroy High wrestling’s strength and conditioning coach, as well as owner of TFL Fitness in Morgan Hill.
First place – Nicholas Villarreal, Novice Division (11-12 years old). Villarreal’s history at freestyle state has been a steady progression. He went 0-2 three years ago, took fourth place two years ago and third place last year. This year he would not be denied, as Villarreal won his first state championship. He trained so hard after state that Villarreal tried his luck at Western Regionals, and after taking first place, he tried his luck again at the Nationals where he beat the returning national champion in the finals. After the season was complete, Villarreal won a Greco Roman State Championship, a Freestyle State Championship, a Western Regional Championship and a National Championship.
