The San Benito wrestling season ended in quick fashion for the Balers at the 2012 Central Coast Section championship tournament Friday and Saturday in San Jose.
Only two Balers – out of eight – survived the first set of rounds and advanced to the second day of the two-day tournament. But all eight wrestlers failed to place and San Benito finished in 46th place – out of 80 teams – with a score of 17. Meanwhile, league-rivals Gilroy (241) and Palma (129) placed first and second.
“We had some good stuff, but a lot of stuff that we need to work on,” head coach Brian DeCarli said.
At Lemoore High in the California Interscholastic Federation Girls Wrestling State Championship, San Benito’s Athena McGoff won her first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals before losing.
McGoff placed outside the top eight finishers in her 235-pound weight class, but she recorded a pin and a 5-2 decision win.
McGoff, who was seeded 10th, defeated No. 9 seed Veronica Sanchez and No. 12 seed Maria Legoretta. McGoff’s run ended after being pinned by second-place finisher Maddy Tyrone of Northview.
“She did a really good job,” DeCarli said. “We are really happy with what she was able to accomplish. And she has two more years.”
He continued: “She started really strong. She’ll be able to build off that.”
In San Jose, San Benito struggled to stay in the championship bracket. Robb Rodriguez, wrestling at 132, and Tim Castillo, wrestling at 170, were the only Balers to win their first-round match.
Castillo, who was the last Baler standing in the tournament’s second day, pinned Lost Altos’ Omar Zeitoun before falling to Joe Elsein in the second-round. Castillo stayed alive in the consolation bracket with decision wins over Bellarmine’s Sam Hickman and St. Francis’ Danny Mujica.
Castillo was eliminated in the consolation bracket’s fourth round by a pin from Monterey’s Jacob Golden.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez opened the tournament with a 13-4 decision win over St. Francis’ Charley Carke. But Rodriguez was eliminated by a 8-1 loss to Palo Alto’s Nicholas Ortiz and a 3-2 decision to DJ Novak.
San Benito’s Elijah Riddle, wrestling at 106 pounds, survived the first day after a first-round pin sent him to the consolation bracket. Riddle earned a consolation bye before pinning Palo Alto’s James Gaiccia. In the consolation third round, Riddle was eliminated by Menlo-Atherton’s Anthony Andreghetto.
Ricardo Sosa (195), Jacob Rea (182), Dominic Cortes (138) and Patrick Ippolito (113) all finished the tournament 0-2. Alex Gonzalez was eliminated in the consolation bracket’s second round after defeating Carmel’s Austin Moonen in the first round.
“It was a mixed bag,” DeCarli said. “We did a lot of good things but we also did a lot of things that showed our inexperience.”
The team should be better next year.
“A lot of them are coming back,” he said. “We’ll learn from this experience.”
