Graduations leave Hollister vulnerable; returners give Gilroy the edge
How does winning a Monterey Bay League championship and a Central Coast Section title one season translate into diddlysquat the next? When your team graduates eight three-year starters and your league rival returns all of its.
That’s the predicament the San Benito Haybalers, the defending league and section titles, finds itself in at the start of the new varsity wrestling season.
When the grapplers take to the mat tomorrow in the annual Kenny Fehlman Duals at SBHS, the Haybalers are playing the unusual part of an underdog team looking to keep pace with the Gilroy Mustangs.
The Mustangs and the Haybalers lock horns Jan. 13 at SBHS in what will be a showcase of the finest wrestlers on the Central Coast. Wrestlers will be looking to take the first-ever T-CAL title. The following is a synopsis of the teams, in order of their predicted finish.
Gilroy Mustangs The Mustangs are the big dogs on the Tri-County Athletic League block. When the CCS rankings were released, not too many teams were surprised when they saw Gilroy’s name atop the list. The team returns all of its starters from last year including Johnny Gurich, Gilbert Gutierrez and Mark Zaballa. Gurich, who took fourth place in the CCS finals last season, will move up from the 103-pound weight class to the 112 and should work well with the added pounds. Gutierrez, 135 pounds, and Zaballa, 160 pounds, will provide Gilroy coach Armando Gonzales with plenty of firepower.
This could be enough to knock off the Haybalers for the league title.
San Benito Haybalers Last year after the Haybalers won the CCS title, the team said goodbye to eight of its starters. Normally such a hit to a program would scream rebuild. The Haybalers are a bit different however. Every year Coach Matt Olejnik mentally prepares his team to win the section title, not the league crown.
“I would trade a section title for a league title any year,” Olejnik said.
Although the Haybalers lost the bulk of its wrestlers, the team still has its 135-pound bulldog Octavio Lucatero in the mix.
Lucatero placed third in the CCS last year and is a big part of San Benito’s success. Also expected to make a big splash are Jamie Driskill, who is moving up from the 103 weight class to 119, Brett Kelsey, at 130 pounds, and Alejo Vasquez. Vasquez is currently out with a broken hand he suffered during the football season but Olejnik expects him to be ready soon.
Palma Chieftains If nothing else the Chieftains are deep. Really deep. This is an asset in wrestling. The glut of talent in each weight class will allow the Chieftains’ coaching staff to rotate the boys according to how well they wrestle during practice.
Palma should take advantage of the weaker teams in the league and put forth a solid effort in league and possibly a strong run in the CCS finals. The Chieftains hope the 145-pound Ernie Varela builds off his fifth-place finish in CCS last year.
Live Oak Acorns The future looked glum when the Acorns lost its trinity of gifted grapplers, Drew Fredenburg, Evan Cooper and Taylor Catrett, to graduation. The team lost a CCS champion in Fredenburg, a CCS finalist in Catrett and a bruiser in Cooper. It may take a while for the Acorns to bounce back but given the program’s history of shaping into form once the regular season winds down, expect a push toward the end
Salinas Cowboys Last year the Cowboys did not field a team. This season the Cowboys hope to make a triumphant return in the new league. The Cowboys hope the addition of transfers and a new refreshed outlook will point the program in the right direction.
North Salinas Vikings Unfortunately for the Vikings wrestling is not the school’s strongest suit. The Vikings are a few years away from making a name for itself in the Tri County Athletic League.
