When presented with the opportunity to play with his older brother, Joseph, Will Gularte couldn’t pass on the moment. That was the deciding factor in Gularte’s decision when he signed his letter of intent last Friday to play football at Presentation College, a NAIA program located in South Dakota.
“My brother being at Presentation gave them the edge,” said Gularte, who also received scholarship offers from Montana State-Northern, Bacone College in Oklahoma and Jamestown University, which is the rival to Presentation. “At a certain point, my brothers (Gularte also has another older brother, Jason, who attends Northern State University, which is also located in Aberdeen, the same city where Presentation is in) were a little scared I might go somewhere else. But this is my one and only chance to play football with my brother, and it’s going to be something special. It was a great moment to sign (the letter of intent) with my brother there. I was really stoked, but I tried not to show it in front of the coaches.”
The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Gularte is projected to play tight end at Presentation, which saw Gularte play the position in his senior year at San Benito High. Gularte, who played right tackle during his junior season, finished up his senior season on the offensive line to help fill a need after some linemen went down with injuries.
“Heck yeah I was excited that they would have me play tight end,” said Gularte, who displayed athleticism and nimble feet while going out on pass routes. “Catching passes are a lot more fun than blocking, I’ll tell you that.”
Gularte didn’t start playing football until he was in the eighth grade, as former Balers coach Chris Cameron finally convinced him to take up the sport. Gularte grew up playing basketball and has known Cameron since he was in the fourth grade, when he played with Cameron’s son, Kyle, on a club basketball team.
Gularte counted Cameron as being one of the biggest influences of his life, along with his dad, Steve, who drove his son to camps and got him in touch with coaches and the right people who could lead him to a scholarship. Gularte’s athleticism is undeniable; he is the school’s top athlete on the track and field team in the shot put and discus events.
Gularte only took up track and field last year, after then-head coach Bob Rawles asked Gularte to throw so “I wouldn’t do anything stupid (laughs).”All Gularte did was qualify for the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Championships in the shot put.
“It wasn’t until just before the CCS Trials I blossomed out of nowhere,” he said. “I really love throwing, and once last season was over, I had seven letters (expressing interest), but I didn’t really go into them (or explore the process further) because I knew I was more interested in playing football in college.”
Because Joe is five years older than Will, the brothers never got to play together competitively. However, Joe took a redshirt year at Cabrillo College before transferring to Gavilan and then to Presentation, setting up the stage where the two could be on the same field together at last. Joe plays on the right side of the offensive line, meaning depending on the formation, the Gulartes could line up by each other.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am for that,” Will said. “This is a dream come true.”
