San Benito goes 6-1 in Baxter/Fehlman, falls to champion
Atascadero
Hollister – San Benito did about what it expected to do Saturday in its own Adam Baxter/Kenny Fehlman Memorial Holiday Duals wrestling tournament.
The Haybalers went 6-1 in the pool-play dual meet competition to finish in second place. San Benito’s only loss came to Atascadero, which won the tournament and was considered the favorite by ‘Balers coach Matt Olejnik.
The Greyhounds knocked off San Benito 50-15 on Saturday, earning two wins by forfeit and getting a win by decision from sophomore Josh Ramirez.
“(Atascadero) was strong,” Ramirez said. “But they were gassed by the second round. I think next time we could beat them.”
Ramirez led a host of ‘Balers with one loss on the weekend. He suffered his only defeat in San Benito’s match against Fremont-Sunnyvale.
San Benito beat Fremont 56-21 and also earned wins over Monta Vista (66-12) and Mission San Jose (55-15).
Manny Tovar (189 pounds) and Fernando Lucatero (171 pounds) both suffered their only losses in the match against Atascadero, which finished with 43 team points.
With 28 points, the ‘Balers edged out Cupertino and Dos Pueblos (27 points) and Fremont and Santa Teresa (23).
“Most of our guys are wrestling a couple of classes above their weight,” Olejnik said. “We’re just still figuring it out. I’m very optimistic after what I saw (Saturday).”
Some wrestlers, such as Ramirez and Enrique Lucatero, are at about the same weight and as the season goes on, they are working to adjusts their weights to separate themselves.
“If Enrique goes down to 145, I’ll go down to 152,” said Ramirez, who is currently grappling at 160 pounds. “But I’ll probably start working to gain weight.”
Olejnik pointed out that in the loss to Atascadero, most matches were won by decisions that could easily have gone either way.
“The score wasn’t indicative of how close it was,” Olejnik said. “We’ll learn and we’ll move on. I think this was a good competition for us.”
First-year wrestler Ryan Cowell was among those who impressed Olejnik. Cowell, a senior, went 4-2 in his first tournament action, including two pins.
“He had a very good tournament,” Olejnik said.
