Shorthanded due to injuries and having to jumble wrestlers at
the middle weights, the San Benito Haybalers shuffled wrestlers up
and down the weight-class ladder last weekend at the Kenny
Fehlman/Adam Baxter Memorial Hollister Duals.
Shorthanded due to injuries and having to jumble wrestlers at the middle weights, the San Benito Haybalers shuffled wrestlers up and down the weight-class ladder last weekend at the Kenny Fehlman/Adam Baxter Memorial Hollister Duals.
San Benito (8-1), nonetheless, still managed to meet Atascadero in the tournament championship dual in the end.
The two teams met up in the final dual meet last year for the tournament championship, and after both teams ran the table and won seven straight duals this year, the two squads saw each other again Saturday afternoon at Mattson Gym.
But the Greyhounds (8-0) managed to repeat as champions of the Hollister Duals after defeating San Benito 46-21.
“We were competitive in the match, but the difference always in dual meets is that the team that pins, wins,” coach Matt Olejnik said.
While both teams exchanged forfeits – Atascadero at 119 and San Benito at 171 – the Greyhounds won five matches by fall compared to only one by San Benito, a third-round pin at 215 pounds by Buddy Barazza.
After San Benito’s Zach Rodriguez handled Elijah Jackson at 125 pounds by a 9-2 decision, the ‘Balers lost the next five matches – three by fall and one by major decision.
Olejnik pinpointed two matches that nearly went San Benito’s way, however.
At 130 pounds, ‘Baler Geo Coelho held a 4-1 lead on Ben Giggy after scoring a 2-point near-fall. But Coelho got twisted around on the mat, and Giggy, in a rather awkward position where his feet were up around Coelho’s head, managed to pin the ‘Baler wrestler.
At 152 pounds, San Benito’s Josh Ramirez battled back after John Rodda scored a 2-point near-fall in the second round. Trailing 6-3 in the third, though, the ‘Baler scored a takedown and an escape but couldn’t get any closer to Rodda and fell by a 9-6 decision.
Aside from those close losses, however, the two wrestlers were near-perfect. Coelho completed a 7-2 record at the Hollister Duals, while it was Ramirez’ only loss, as he wrestled to an 8-1 mark.
“(Coelho) was on his way to getting a reversal and then he looked like he was frozen and he couldn’t move and the guy got the pin,” Olejnik said. “If you look at that match and Josh Ramirez’ match, it’s a whole different ball game.
“But I can’t be disappointed.”
Olejnik can’t be disappointed because San Benito had three members selected to the all-tournament team, a team made up of those wrestlers who went undefeated.
“We haven’t had three guys on the all-tournament team in a while,” Olejnik said.
Junior Davila (119 pounds) and Enrique Lucatero (160) each went 9-0 and Barazza (215) completed the weekend at 8-0. Additionally, the ‘Balers finished second overall with 30 falls over the course of the tournament.
San Benito was forced to move some wrestlers around due to injuries, most notably to Fernando Lucatero at 171 pounds, who’s absence from the tournament was said to be precautionary.
The ‘Balers will have some time off after three straight days of wrestling, including last Thursday’s win over Cupertino. San Benito will return to the mat on Dec. 28 for the El Cajon Invitational in San Diego.
