Young San Benito Wrestlers Lose 41-29
While San Benito’s varsity wrestling team spent the afternoon practicing in preparation for the final push to its season, the Haybalers’ junior varsity squad took top billing in the school’s dual meet at North Salinas yesterday.
The JV ‘Balers, wrestling against the North Salinas varsity squad, gave a game effort, but lost 41-29.
“We thought we were at [the varsity] level and we weren’t quite at that level yet,” said San Benito JV coach Randy Logue, who noted the coaching staff’s desire to bring the team’s performance back to where it was in its heyday. “We’re trying to elevate our program. We’re trying to rebuild the program to that level.”
Despite falling short, San Benito received several encouraging performances. A trio of freshmen posted wins for the visitors.
Josh Ramirez won the 154-pound match by a score of 16-1, prevailing in a technical fall. Christian Solis (114-pound) and Morris Stevens (105) both won by pin.
North Salinas forfeited the 173-pound and heavyweight matches.
The ‘Balers JV team has enjoyed an outstanding season, winning all five of its Tri-County Athletic League matches. San Benito also won three tournaments: the Hollister Earthquake, the Cupertino Second-Man and the Del Mar Frosh-Soph.
With arch rival Gilroy next up for the San Benito wrestling program, the ‘Balers varsity and JV teams will be gunning for an upset over the top-ranked team in the Central Coast Section.
But on this night, the young Haybalers took an important step in their development.
“We’re setting our sights on the big fish in the CCS,” said Logue. “We’ve got some work to do, too. We got beat tonight and we’re going to try to reach the point where that won’t happen again. We’re going to keep working ’til we’re at the level we want to be at.”
