Winning its first seven matches by either major decision or
fall, the San Benito wrestling team opened Tri-County Athletic
League action on Wednesday night with an impressive 49-21 victory
against host Palma in Salinas.
SALINAS
Winning its first seven matches by either major decision or fall, the San Benito wrestling team opened Tri-County Athletic League action on Wednesday night with an impressive 49-21 victory against host Palma in Salinas.
The Balers earned six points in the first match when they won the 140-pound weight class by forfeit, and never looked back.
Head coach Brian DeCarli said the forfeit by the Chieftains at 140 pounds was key, and allowed the Balers to move Mikey Soto and Zack Rodriguez up to 145 pounds and 152 pounds, respectively.
At 145s, Soto defeated Robert Caldwell by a 14-2 major decision, while Rodriguez defeated Bart Bonfantini by second-round fall, setting off five straight wins for the Balers that resulted in a pin.
Nick Mendizabal continued the trend at 160 pounds when he pinned Zack Zender in the first round; Tim Castillo did the same at 171 pounds with a second-round pin of Matt Castillo; Jorge Perez followed suit with a first-round fall over Josiah Pulealii at 189s; and Miguel Martin del Campo rounded out the five-straight falls with a win by pin over Tyler Escoto at 215s.
The match of the night, DeCarli said, was actually a San Benito loss. But it was a well fought match, nevertheless, between San Benito’s Javier Bustillos and Palma’s Brandon Pulealii, who is the No. 3 ranked heavyweight in the Central Coast Section by ccsrank.com.
“A great match,” DeCarli said.
Bustillos was trailing Pulealii by one point late when he scored a two-point takedown with 12 seconds remaining to grab a slim lead over the Chieftain heavyweight. But Bustillos was unable to hold Pulealii down for the remainder of the match, and the Palma senior scored a two-point reversal in the waning seconds to reclaim the lead.
DeCarli said Bustillos managed to escape Pulealii’s grip in the final seconds, which would have awarded the San Benito heavyweight with one point and a tie match, but referees said time had expired, and Pulealii held on for a 5-4 victory instead.
“Javier’s motor was just running the whole time,” DeCarli said. “It was really a great match. That was definitely the match of the night.”
It also got Palma on the scoreboard. But while the Chieftains followed the narrow decision with a win at 103s — Hunter Reihbien defeated Jennifer Espinosa by fall in the second round — as well as a victory at 112s when Nick Busby topped Tony Gatto by first-round fall, the Balers closed out the evening with three wins in four matches.
At 119s, Kenny Salcedo defeated Martin Martinez by a 9-2 decision, while Jay Garcia edged Sam Eastman by a 4-2 decision at 130 pounds and Dominic Cortes won by a 7-4 decision over his Palma opponent at 135 pounds.
Palma’s Josh Gonzalez, meanwhile, picked up the Chieftains’ last win of the night when he defeated Robb Rodriguez by fall in the first round at 125 pounds.
“We had everyone on weight,” DeCarli said. “With Palma forfeiting 140s, we were able to move Soto and Rodriguez up. Perez filled in nicely at 189s, allowing del Campo to go to 215s. That actually worked out really well for us.”
So well, in fact, that San Benito held a 41-0 lead through the first seven matches on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, at the junior varsity ranks, San Benito’s Cash Robinson sealed a 39-35 Baler victory when he won by pin in the final match of the night.
This weekend, the Balers will return to the invitational circuit, with the majority of the wrestling team traveling to Watsonville for the Apple Cider Classic. Mikey Soto, Kenny Salcedo and Zack Rodriguez, meanwhile, will compete at the Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis.
