Gilroy, trailing 29-28 in the final match of the night, scored a
pin to secure a narrow five-point victory
HOLLISTER
The Gilroy Mustangs, having never lost a dual meet in the history of the Tri-County Athletic League, almost lost that enviable title on Tuesday night in Hollister.
Almost.
Driven to the absolute brink by the San Benito Haybalers, which were ahead 29-28 going into the final match of the night, the Mustangs pushed back at the very last moment when heavyweight Luis Barragan pinned ‘Baler Adam Davis in 1:27 to seal an epic 34-29 victory.
While it will most certainly go down as the greatest dual meet between the two rivals in recent memory, it could very well simply be a precursor of things to come.
The two teams will see each other again this weekend at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships.
“This was the toughest dual meet we’ve ever had with San Benito,” Gilroy High head coach Armando Gonzalez said. “It was the best match. I’m so excited.
“I’ll be honest with you, coming in here I had it on paper them winning by two points. Everywhere we looked at it, we just had a couple of lucky wins.”
Both teams certainly had their upsets, their lucky victories. Gilroy’s Vincent Aboytes defeated Enrique Lucatero by a 5-3 overtime decision at 162 pounds, while San Benito’s Morris Stevens returned from injury to pin Willie Fox in 3:11 at 127 pounds.
But the raucous crowd that exited Mattson Gym after nearly two and a half hours of varsity wrestling perhaps couldn’t help but think that if the two teams met up 10 times, they just might split 50/50.
It was that close.
Due to the almost nail-biting nature of each match, though, the Haybalers may have felt like they were punched in the stomach after suffering the narrow defeat. But San Benito High head coach Brian DeCarli is hopeful the loss will put a collective chip on his team’s shoulder as they enter the TCAL Championships on Saturday.
“Bottom line, we needed a match like this going into league,” DeCarli said. “We needed a match like this to really get ready for the postseason.
“Everything we’ve done up to this point has been practice … This was our last practice match before the season starts. Bottom line, we needed an environment like this because this is now what every match is gonna be like for us – league, section and state.”
Starting the night out at 105 pounds, the ‘Balers jumped out to an early lead when Kenny Salcedo edged Jasmine Yanez by a 5-3 decision, and teammate Nikko Espinoza coasted to a 15-4 major decision over Javier Martinez.
But in a battle of the two best in the Central Coast Section at 121 pounds, between Gilroy’s Jesse Delgado and San Benito’s Junior Davila, it was Delgado who trumped Davila.
The No. 1 ranked wrestler in the CCS, Delgado fell behind early when Davila scored a takedown in the opening seconds of the match. But he quickly rebounded and built a 12-4 lead before pinning Davila with just 24 seconds remaining in the third period.
The ‘Balers, however, quickly rebounded as well when Stevens pinned Fox, who is honorable mention in the state, in the following match at 127 pounds.
It was Stevens’ first match back after he suffered a separated shoulder and a stretched nerve at the William C. Overfelt Classic on Jan. 17.
“I wrestled all right. I was a little bit sore, but it was good,” Stevens said. “They’re good, but our team should have won. It was close.”
Few matches were as close as the 137-pound bout between Mustang Rodney Balajadia and ‘Baler Geo Coelho.
Going into the third round ahead 4-3, Coelho was called for stalling, which awarded one point to Balajadia. Balajadia then scored a reverse with 50 seconds left and held on for the eventual 6-5 decision.
The match of the night came between Aboytes and Lucatero at 162 pounds, though. After neither opponent recorded a point in the first round, Lucatero managed to take a 1-0 lead into the final period when he was awarded a stalling point at the second-period buzzer.
But Aboytes scored an escape with 52 seconds left to tie the match. Lucatero then responded by pulling down on Aboytes’ head from the grapple position and quickly swung around to Aboytes’ backside to score a takedown just before the two wrestlers went out of bounds.
But despite trailing by a 3-1 margin with 33 seconds left, Aboytes was awarded a stalling point with nine seconds to go, then scored an escape at the buzzer to send the match to overtime.
In the one-minute extra period, Lucatero appeared to have the winning takedown, but Aboytes somehow rolled out of it and rolled on top of Lucatero. The two wrestlers sat almost motionless on the edge of the mat, neither one in control, for approximately 10 seconds before Aboytes was able to get his arm free and swing it around Lucatero’s torso for the takedown.
“That was a huge win for us. We would have never expected to have beaten him,” Gonzalez said. “I give all the credit to this program (San Benito) and to this school right here. These guys are the best, and they make me work as hard as I do.”
The ‘Balers still held a 23-21 lead after Aboytes’ win, but Gilroy built a 28-23 lead over the next two matches.
San Benito’s Martin Garcia pulled a shocker in his match at 215 pounds when he pinned Fabian Loredo with 41 seconds remaining in the third period – after there was no score heading into the third period – to supply the ‘Balers with a 29-28 lead.
But Barragan, the No. 2 heavyweight in the CCS, made sure Gilroy kept their TCAL streak alive in the night’s final match.
“There was some sort of pressure,” Barragan said. “We were down by one (point) as a team, and we needed that in order for us to win it.
“The team is strong right now … Once we all get down to our regular weight, our team will be set. We’ll be able to win it again (at TCALs).”
On Saturday, the TCAL Championships will be held at Palma High School in Salinas at 10 a.m.
Said Stevens, “It’s gonna be close.”
Gilroy 34, San Benito 29
105 – SB, K. Salcedo def. J. Yanez by 5-3 dec.
114 – SB, N. Espinoza def. J. Martinez by 15-4 maj. dec.
121 – GIL, J. Delgado def. J. Davila by fall, 5:36
127 – SB, M. Stevens def. W. Fox by fall, 3:11
132 – GIL, M. Gonzalez def. Z. Rodriguez by fall, 2:59
137 – GIL, R. Balajadia def. G. Coelho by 6-5 dec.
142 – SB, S. Borba def. M. Lucero by 11-2 maj. dec.
147 – GIL, A. Rosso def. J. Fontaine by 9-2 dec.
154 – SB, J. Ramirez def. F. Gonzalez by fall, 1:08
162 – GIL, V. Aboytes def. E. Lucatero by 5-3 OT dec.
173 – GIL, B. Torricier def. E. Tovar by 18-6 maj. dec.
191 – GIL, M. Penychek def. B. Mott by 5-2 dec.
217 – SB, M. Garcia def. F. Loredo by fall, 5:19
287 – GIL, L. Barragan def. A. Davis by fall, 1:27
JV Note:
The Gilroy High junior varsity wrestling team defeated San Benito High 42-31 Tuesday at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
