BAKERSFIELD
–– Senior Octavio Lucatero hopped up off the mat and right onto
both feet, celebrating Friday’s clinching takedown in overtime of
his 140-pound quarterfinal match against Antioch’s Nathan
Bingham.
BAKERSFIELD –– Senior Octavio Lucatero hopped up off the mat and right onto both feet, celebrating Friday’s clinching takedown in overtime of his 140-pound quarterfinal match against Antioch’s Nathan Bingham.
Once his hand was raised in a 5-3 victory, the Haybaler standout jumped into the arms of head coach Matt Olejnick, who was just as ecstatic that Lucatero had guaranteed himself his first state medal and invitation to move on to the Nationals in Cleveland. The top six seniors qualify to move on to the prestigious tournament.
“I saw him kind of cracking,” Lucatero said. “I started to crack him because I was just shooting, shooting, going after him. He was like this guy’s got a lot of tenacity. He’s not going to stop coming after me, so that’s exactly what I did.”
Alejo Velasquez finished with a 2-2 record in the Finals. He lost 8-2 in his first match against Evan Barbre of Vista. But he rebounded to win his next two matches 14-5 and 5-4.
Velasquez was pinned in his fourth match by Rueben Pivaral of Jesuit despite being up 6-0.
“It is a respectable showing considering it is first trip,” Olejnik said. “Missing last year may have cost him a win or two.”
Lucatero, who finished second in the Central Coast Section Championships one week earlier at Independence High School in San Jose, nearly did not make the trip to Bakersfield for the 2004 CIF State Meet at Centennial Gardens.
In his section championship bout, Lucatero was upset by Fremont’s Greg Crane, 7-6. With the match tied in the third period and both wrestlers on their feet, Crane was given a borderline takedown to take a two-point lead.
Lucatero fought for an escape, but did not have enough time to score again, losing in a bit of controversy.
Although he still qualified for state as one of the top two placers at section, Lucatero let the referee know how he felt about the takedown call. The referee initially signaled for Lucatero’s disqualification, but later rescinded his decision after an apology from the Haybaler.
“Everything paid off,” said Lucatero, who capped off his scholastic wrestling career with a sixth-place state medal. “I was DQ’d because I told off the ref. It was a miscue of mine, but everything happens for a reason, and God wanted me to place in this tournament and that’s exactly what I did.”
After three straight victories in Friday’s opening rounds of the state meet, Lucatero was done for the day, advancing into Saturday’s semifinals for a match-up against Calvary Chapel senior David Juaregui.
But Lucatero was already guaranteed a state medal, following two previous state trips that ended one win shy of a medal.
“My family, I want to thank them for supporting me always. My friends. My coaches, they’ve been hard with me, but it all pays off,” said Lucatero before rushing to enjoy the moment with his family and then getting focused for the semis. “I prepare mentally first. You have to have it mentally that you can beat whoever you are going to wrestle and that’s exactly how I’m going to go out there. I’m going to give it my best shot and see what happens.”
As good as things were going for the Baler grappler, Lucatero was nursing a high-ankle sprain that he suffered in his second match of the first day. His mobility was limited, but Lucatero’s adrenaline eased the pain long enough for a quarterfinal victory.
“I have a (messed) up ankle right now, but who (cares),” Lucatero said. “I hurt it in my second match. There was a pop in it, so I don’t know what’s wrong with it, but who cares.”
Lucatero returned the next day in hopes of winning his semifinal bout and reaching the 140-pound championship match later that night for a chance to perform under the spotlight in front of the 7,000-plus fans in attendance.
“My goal was to take it,” Lucatero said. “That was my first goal. Then my second goal was to take top three in the state.”
But against the South Section Champion and state’s top ranked 140 pounder, Lucatero’s ankle injury was too much for him to overcome, and he dropped a disappointing 22-7 technical fall decision to Juaregui.
“That guy is a really aggressive wrestler, and I have a banged up ankle right now. I can’t really shoot that well right now,” said Lucatero, following his first loss of the state tournament. “I know I could have done better than that. He plainly embarrassed me out there, but I don’t have all my offense. I’m not 100 percent out there.”
Lucatero then had to face one of the hardest things for a wrestler. He had to quickly forget about the pain of losing and the pain in his ankle and get re-focused for his consolation wrestlebacks.
“I’ve just got to get my ankle out of the way and just forget about my ankle and just go out there and wrestle my hardest. That’s all I can do,” said Lucatero, who lost his next two matches to Ayala’s Dominic Del Duca and then Manteca’s Benny Garcia to finish in sixth place.
