Gilroy once again pins competition at TCAL wrestling finals, but
Balers weigh in with strong performance
The Tri County Athletic League wrestling championships ended
pretty much as everyone expected
– with Gilroy High School winning another league title.
Gilroy once again pins competition at TCAL wrestling finals, but Balers weigh in with strong performance
The Tri County Athletic League wrestling championships ended pretty much as everyone expected – with Gilroy High School winning another league title.
After all, the heavily stacked Mustangs have won every league title since the league was formed six years ago. Just as the Mustangs have won every Central Coast Section title since then, and they’re expected to up the ante to seven when the Section championships get under way next week.
But that doesn’t mean that the Balers aren’t gaining ground on the Goliaths to the north.
In fact, the Balers had seven wrestlers in the finals and walked off the mats with three individual champions. As a result of their solid efforts, San Benito High will also have representation in 13 of the 14 weight classes at CCS – which will significantly help the Balers achieve their goal of finishing in the top two at CCS.
“I believe the gap is definitely closing,” said former Gilroy High assistant coach Mike Koester, who retired from the position just two days after the TCAL finals. “Hollister has most of its kids coming back next year and Gilroy is losing six of its wrestlers.”
In all, the Balers racked up 233 points, some 35 points less than the Mustangs but eight more than third-place Palma, a team that had hoped to solidify its position as the league’s second best team going into the championships.
The Balers achieved their feats without the help of head coach Matt Olejnik there to guide his squad.
Olejnik, who has headed the program at San Benito High for more than a decade, opted to sit the league finals out via a self-imposed ejection. Olejnik’s decision stemmed from his involvement in a verbal altercation with a parent shortly after the Balers final dual meet of the year with Gilroy High, which took place on Feb. 6.
By offering to suspend himself, it allows Olejnik to rejoin his team for the more important Section championships, which get under way next weekend at Overfelt High School in San Jose.
The three Balers to capture the league championship in their respective weight classes were: Fernando Lucatero (152 pounds), Josh Ramirez (145) and David Bazan (103 pounds)Lucatero captured his title by ousting Gilroy’s Tim Caspary in a 13-3 decision. Ramirez won via a 7-2 decision over Travis Sakamoto. Bazan won his final match with Salinas’ Justin Montgomery 11-5 by decision.
The other Baler wrestlers that qualified for the finals but wound up losing were: Junior Davila, Morris Stevens, Zach Rodriguez, and Manny Tovar.
In those matches it was Stevens who put up the biggest battle before narrowly falling to Gilroy’s Rodney Balajadia by a 4-2 margin.
Davila went up against the state’s No. 1 ranked wrestler in the 112-pound division, Gilroy’s Jesse Delgado. Davila fought hard before dropping the close contest 12-7.
Rodriguez ended up getting pinned by Gilroy’s Martin Gonzalez while Tovar lost at the hands of Gilroy’s Hunter Collins.
