For as difficult a week as it is about to endure, the San Benito
Haybalers perhaps could not have started it in any better fashion.
With Mid-Cals slated for Friday and Saturday, and prior to that, a
key Tri-County Athletic League showdown with Alisal on Tuesday
night at home, the Balers first got a jump on the week ahead with a
championship performance at Saturday’s inaugural Bert Mar
Invitational at Gilroy’s Christopher High.
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GILROY
For as difficult a week as it is about to endure, the San Benito Haybalers perhaps could not have started it in any better fashion.
With Mid-Cals slated for Friday and Saturday, and prior to that, a key Tri-County Athletic League showdown with Alisal on Tuesday night at home, the Balers first got a jump on the week ahead with a championship performance at Saturday’s inaugural Bert Mar Invitational at Gilroy’s Christopher High.
“It felt good. We had kids that hadn’t wrestled a lot this year and they did pretty well,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said. “It’s good bringing in positive outcomes.”
Led by first-place finishes from Mikey Soto (142 pounds), Nick Mendizabal (154), Miguel Martin del Campo (191) and Javier Bustillos (217), as well as runner-up finishes by Kenny Salcedo (121) and Raul Suarez (127), San Benito compiled 130 points to edge both Christopher (114) and Gilroy (109) for the top spot.
Said DeCarli, “Obviously, you’ve got to do pretty darn well as a collective nine. They wrestled well and I was happy with that.”
The tournament is perhaps not the biggest hook for the Balers to hang their hat on, but with eight of nine wrestlers finding the podium, including four wrestlers who were positioned at the very top, Saturday’s tournament victory was certainly a good start to what will otherwise be a tough week for the wrestling team.
The Balers will get to show off their strength in depth and flexibility on Tuesday night when they host Alisal at Hollister’s Mattson Gym, with the Balers looking to avenge last year’s 39-25 loss to the Trojans. Alisal is currently ranked No. 4 in the CCS, one spot ahead of the No. 5 Balers, according to ccsrank.com.
San Benito will then be able to perhaps turn some heads on Friday and Saturday at Mid-Cals in Gilroy, an individually bracketed tournament that acts as a precursor for the state championships.
“This week is huge,” DeCarli said. “I still tell the kids that it’s all about the end of the year. But this is the time of year where we need to start showing what we have.”
In other words, DeCarli added, it’s “put up or shut up” time.
Even with a shorthanded roster, though, the Balers showed up last Saturday to earn their first victory this season at an individually bracketed tournament, a fact that bodes well for the team moving forward, especially with tournaments like Mid-Cals and the CCS Championships employing a similar individually bracketed style.
With depth and flexibility at the core of their strengths, however, the Balers have shown so far that team tournaments play more to their style, having taken first at the General McLane Duals in Fresno to start the season and finishing second at the Fehlman/Baxter Memorial Duals in early December. But DeCarli is hoping his team’s “dual-meet competitiveness” begins to shine through more at individual tournaments, which tend to garner the spotlight as the season progresses.
Saturday’s performance at Christopher was certainly a start.
“We had some big growing pains last year, out of necessity. We had to put some younger kids out there, some a little too early,” DeCarli said, noting the amount of injury and illness San Benito endured a year ago. “You know, those heavier guys had to do a lot of growing up since the beginning of last year. This year, we really don’t have that one, true top-flight guy … but compared to the last couple of years, we have more depth, more flexibility on our roster, and that has to do with wrestling so many younger kids from last year.”
Right now, the Balers have two wrestlers, and as many as three wrestlers, able to compete at almost every weight class. It’s a formula that has proven to be successful in dual meets, allowing DeCarli to play a game of chess with opposing teams, but also one that has opened up a competitive ladder in the wrestling room, with so many wrestlers for so few spots.
“If anything else, it makes for a more exciting environment, for a more competitive environment, for where we can take it out of the practice room and out here to compete,” DeCarli said.
On Saturday, Mikey Soto pointed out the mat prowess of Raul Suarez at 127 pounds. Although without much varsity experience this season, Suarez went 2-1 in his weight class to finish in second place, and even defeated a North Salinas wrestler by fall despite trailing by a 2-0 margin.
“It just shows how strong our team is and how deep we are,” said Soto, who went 3-0 on Saturday to take first place at 142 pounds. “We have a lot of wrestlers and a lot of them are really good.”
“We have varsity [quality] people who aren’t on varsity,” he later added.
With Miguel Martin del Campo at 189 or 215, and Javier Bustillos doing a “tremendous job” at heavyweights — both took first in their respective weight classes on Saturday — Soto, Zack Rodriguez and Kenny Salcedo have managed to anchor the Balers this season, and each attended the ultra-elite Doc Buchanan Invitational as a result.
But while each wrestler has the talent and the technique, DeCarli feels, they’re still searching for that “breakthrough” victory; that one victory that vaults the wrestler to the next level.
Perhaps it will come this week, either against Alisal on Tuesday night, or at Mid-Cals this weekend. And if it happens, perhaps it will vault San Benito to that next level as well.
“This is gonna tell us where we’re gonna be at for the CCS tournament and where we’re gonna be at for the state tournament,” said Salcedo, who took second Saturday with a 2-1 mark at 121 pounds. “A lot of guys have the potential to be top five in the CCS. If we step up, we can turn a lot of heads at this tournament.”
Bert Mar Invitational
Teams (Top 10 of 15 teams)
1, San Benito, 130; 2, Christopher, 114; 3, Gilroy, 109; 4, North Salinas, 108; 5, Andrew Hill, 83; 6, Sobrato 82; 7, Live Oak, 73; 8, Monterey, 65; 9, Gonzales, 64; 10, Seaside, 35.
Individuals (San Benito only)
105 — J. Espinosa, 1-2, 5th; 121 — Kenny Salcedo, 2-1, 2nd; 127 — Raul Suarez, 2-1, 2nd; 142 — Mikey Soto, 3-0, 1st; 147 — Jonathan Arballo, 2-2, 4th; 154 — Nick Mendizabal, 3-0, 1st; 160 — Luis Ruiz, 1-2, DNP; 191 — Miguel Martin del Campo, 3-0, 1st; 217 — Javier Bustillos, 3-0, 1st.
San Benito 66, North Salinas 3 (Jan. 12)
103 — SB, Espinosa def. Fragosa by 7-5 dec.; 112 — SB, Gatto def. Espino by 6-4 dec.; 119 — SB, Salcedo def. Martinez by fall (second round); 125 — SB, Rodriguez def. Pino by fall (second round); 130 — NS, Combs def. Garcia by 4-3 dec.; 135 — SB, Cortes by forfeit; 140 — SB, Soto def. Noz by fall (third round); 145 — SB, Rodriguez def. Antonio by 10-6 dec.; 152 — SB, Arballo def. Ruiz by fall (third round); 160 — SB, Ruiz def. Rodriguez by 12-10 OT dec.; 171 — SB, Castillo def. Hernandez by fall (first period); 189 — SB, Perez by forfeit; 215 — SB, Martin del Campo def. Omictin by fall (second round); 285 — SB, Bustillos def. Quiroz by fall.
JV Note:
The San Benito junior varsity wrestling team defeated North Salinas 69-12 last Wednesday in Salinas.
Frosh/Soph Note:
The San Benito frosh/soph wrestling team placed seven wrestlers last weekend at a tournament in Los Gatos.
Earning first place in his weight class was Daniel Rodriguez, while Jorge Perez, Simon Coelho and Ricardo Sosa each placed second in their respective weight classes.
Tobias Sherman was fourth, meanwhile, and both Daniel Arzeta and Tim Castillo finished in seventh place.
