Team hopes to place high at TCAL, CCS
Although no one is expecting the San Benito High School
wrestling team to dethrone Gilroy High at either the Tri County
Athletic League tournament or in next month’s Central Coast Section
championships, that doesn’t mean the Balers aren’t a team to reckon
with down the stretch.
Team hopes to place high at TCAL, CCS
Although no one is expecting the San Benito High School wrestling team to dethrone Gilroy High at either the Tri County Athletic League tournament or in next month’s Central Coast Section championships, that doesn’t mean the Balers aren’t a team to reckon with down the stretch.
“We’re doing pretty well right now,” Baler coach Matt Olejnik said. “I pretty much expected this. Gilroy has three guys that are ranked number one or two in the state and we really can’t compete with them. They beat us by 100 points in a recent tournament. Dual meet wise, there are some scenarios where we could be competitive with them. Realistically, they are tough to beat. We’re going to try and battle Los Gatos for second at the Section Championships.”
In recent weeks, the Balers have showed enough skills on the mat to pick up some impressive finishes at several tournaments.
At the Baler-hosted Kenny Fehlman Tournament, San Benito took second with a record of 8-1. From there, they finished fourth at the Silicon Valley Challenge, with a mark of 4-2 before taking sixth at the Coast Classic in Santa Cruz and finished 14th at the El Cajon Tournament in San Diego.
Last week they opened league play by ousting Salinas 59-12 in the first TCAL dual meet of the year.
While many of the results haven’t surprised Olejnik, he has been pleasantly pleased with the performances of several of his wrestlers in recent weeks, starting with junior Morris Stevens, who edged teammate sophomore Junior Davila in a 119-pound team challenge match to crack into the lineup. Davila, who finished 5-1 in the Silicon Valley Challenge and 19th in the Coast Classic, is now representing the Balers in the 112-pound division.
“Junior has done well but I’ve been surprised by Morris’ aggressiveness. He’s been very offensive and beaten a lot of guys because of it,” Olejnik said.
Another wrestler who has done well in recent weeks is 125-pounder Zach Rodriguez, one of only a few year-round competitors on the Balers’ squad. Most recently Rodriguez finished sixth in the El Cajon event and took first in the Silicon Valley Classic.
“He wrestles more like a junior or senior than a freshman,” Olejnik said.
For the last two seasons senior Manny Tovar wrestled at 189 pounds. He went 5-1 at that weight in the Silicon Valley Classic before dropping 18 pounds to compete in the 171-pound division. In his first tournament at 171 pounds he finished eighth at the El Cajon tournament.
“At 189 pounds, he was short and stocky,” Olejnik said. “He is now much quicker and more physically able to compete at 171.”
For most of the season the Balers had been without 147-pounder Josh Ramirez, who made the most of his return to the mat by winning the Silicon Valley Challenge.
While there have been a lot of surprises so far this season the one constant has been the rock solid efforts of senior Fernando Lucatero, who appears to be chomping at the bit to win a Section title this year in the 160-pound division. So far this season Lucatero has not lost a single match and is a perfect 17-0 at The Pinnacle’s press time.
Included in his perfect start this year were first-place finishes at the Coast Classic, El Cajon and the Silicon Valley Challenge.
Next month, he hopes to cap the outstanding season off with a win in the Section tournament.
Last year, Lucatero headed into the Section meet ranked No. 1 before breaking his arm in the finals. Currently, he is ranked eighth in the state.
While Fernando has enjoyed success in the 160-pound division his younger brother Enrique is doing well in the 152-pound division after moving down from 160.
He too was first in the Coast Classic and went 4-2 in the Silicon Valley Challenge.
“He is a tough on top wrestler,” Olejnik said. “He just needs to stay focused all the time. He lost some of his matches this year because he broke his focus.”
