Sectional powerhouse Gilroy focuses on state
The Gilroy High wrestling team is stacked with so much talent
from top to bottom that head coach Armando Gonzalez isn’t focusing
much on winning a league title or even the Central Coast Section
title for the fourth year in a row.
Instead, Gonzalez’ bar for his team is set so high that the
measuring stick now is seeing how many kids he can send to the
state tournament.
Sectional powerhouse Gilroy focuses on state
The Gilroy High wrestling team is stacked with so much talent from top to bottom that head coach Armando Gonzalez isn’t focusing much on winning a league title or even the Central Coast Section title for the fourth year in a row.
Instead, Gonzalez’ bar for his team is set so high that the measuring stick now is seeing how many kids he can send to the state tournament.
“Hollister and Salinas are up and coming. Hollister has a lot of depth,” said Gonzalez. “But we’re concentrating on much bigger things than winning league.”
League dual meets don’t get underway for the local wrestlers until January. Right now the teams are preparing for the non-league portion of their schedules, which includes a number of tournaments.
This year the Mustang roster looks like a who’s who list of the top wrestlers in Northern California, which probably explains why they’re ranked third in the state and 22nd in the nation.
Gilroy freshman Martin Gonzalez is a seven-time state freestyle medalist, who will wrestle in the 103-pound class. Before a match even takes place, Gonzalez enters the season as an honorable mention in the national rankings for freshman.
At 112 pounds, Nicolo Naranjo, a junior, is going for his third CCS title in a row this year.
Adin Duenas, a 135-pound senior, is ranked first in his weight class in CCS and looking to defend his title.
Senior Armando Gonzalez Jr. will be going for his fourth CCS title in a row as well as his fourth league title – and he’s ranked seventh in the country.
Hunter Collins is also a force to be reckoned with. Not only is he the 171-pounder the defending CCS champion, but he’s also ranked second in the nation amongst sophomores.
“We could place 10 of our 14 kids this year at CCS,” said Gonzalez. “Last year, we placed six wrestlers and we won it so I think we’ll have a good shot at doing it again. Fremont High (Sunnyvale) could give us a run. They have five state-ranked wrestlers and Los Gatos is good too.”
Because of Gilroy’s depth, the other local coaches in the league know that it would be unrealistic to expect to oust the Mustangs from their throne atop the Tri County Athletic League – but that doesn’t mean that the other schools don’t have an abundance of talent either.
San Benito
San Benito High coach Matt Olejnik is anticipating a strong year in the TCAL and hoping for a top three finish at CCS.
“Right now we are ranked eighth at CCS. I think that’s a little lower than we should be,” he said. “We don’t have the individual talent that Gilroy has so we can’t compete with them individually. Our goal is to beat them in a dual meet. We’re pretty solid too from 119 pounds to heavyweight.”
Since Gilroy took command of the league the Balers have had to play second fiddle in recent year. Prior to that, the Balers won section titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
“We’re getting our numbers back up and we’re getting back in a good cycle. I think in another two or three years we could be ready to contend for CCS again,” said Olejnik.
A few Baler wrestlers who are expected to make a run at a CCS or league title this year in their respective weight classes are senior Ryan Dunn, sophomore Fernando Lucatero, junior Luis Barocio and junior Jesus Sagrero.
Dunn, who wrestles in the 215 pound division, is the two-time defending league champion. Last season he finished third in the section, which earned him a trip to the state tournament. This week his focus however was on getting sacks and protecting Baler quarterback Karson Klauer in the CCS Large School Division football championship, which takes place tonight at 7 p.m. at San Jose City College (see related story).
Last season Lucatero qualified for CCS in the 140-pound class. He also comes from a family of wrestlers that included 1998 San Benito High graduate Saul Lucatero, who went on to become an All-American wrestler in college.
Barocio, a junior, took sixth last year in the section tournament in the 125-pound division and seems to be getting better every day.
“I think he’s going to have a breakout year this year,” said Olejnik.
As a member of the junior varsity squad a year ago, Sagrero was the league champion and is expected to hold down the fort for the Balers in the 130-pound class.
Live Oak
While most of the focus is on Gilroy High and San Benito, Live Oak High School could raise a few eyebrows in this the Acorns final season in the TCAL.
Head coach Robert Fernandez is excited about the turnout he’s had over the off season and the dedication of his athletes.
“This is one of my biggest teams,” said the second-year coach, who had 12 wrestlers last year on the varsity squad. “I have 35 kids right now, and I’m stacked from top to bottom. We haven’t been saying much about our progress, kind of keeping it low key but I think we will do well this year. We did a ton of training over the summer.”
The Acorns also take to the mats with 18 freshman and only three seniors, which means that Fernandez will be able to develop his players more and more the next few years.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve got guys like San Benito and Gilroy have but we’ve got some good guys,” he said.
One of those guys is 135-pounder Jason Hendersen, who is ranked 10th in the CCS.
Fernandez is also expecting solid seasons from a number of his wrestlers. One of them is a 215-pound transfer student from Virginia named Mike McHenry.
“He is a specimen-a big, corn-fed white boy. He’ll definitely place at CCS, no doubt in my mind,” said Fernandez.
Tom Method is also expected to do the same in the 272-pound or heavyweight division.
In addition to those two stars for the Acorns, 160-pound wrestler Mitch Haaser and 152-pounder Brett Jones enter the season with three tournament wins under their belts.
“Everybody on this team puts in 120 percent, and they work hard. And I get them next year and the year after that,” said Fernandez. “I’m going into the season with realistic goals but I think we might surprise some people.”
