San Benito will bring a full, 14-member team to the CCS
Championships on Friday, however, and will be one of just three
teams in the section to do so
— Saint Francis and Palma will also bring a full 14.
HOLLISTER
In previous years, the top-six seeded wrestlers in each weight class at the Central Coast Section Championships have flexed their collective muscle under the single spotlight.
As the cream of the area’s grappling crop, a wrestler seeded prior to the section meet normally carried a better-than-average chance of advancing to the be-all, end-all of meets — the CIF State Wrestling Championships in Bakersfield.
And the same could be true this season. After all, only the top four wrestlers in each weight class qualify to state, leaving those select six with a bit of a head start.
“For the most part, the seeds have traditionally held up as far as state bids,” said San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli, whose Balers finished runner-up to Gilroy at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships two weeks ago .
San Benito will bring a full, 14-member team to the CCS Championships on Friday, however, and will be one of just three teams in the section to do so — Saint Francis and Palma will also bring a full 14.
But while the Balers were only awarded two seeds in wrestlers Junior Davila at 119 pounds (No. 1) and Zack Rodriguez at 130 pounds (No. 5), DeCarli feels a lack of depth at certain weights may open the door for other wrestlers to advance to state, including those who didn’t earn a seed at all.
“The section as a whole, speaking generally on the weight classes, you have a couple of really good kids at the top but not a lot of depth behind them,” DeCarli said. “I do anticipate a lot of non-seeded guys to be at least competing (for a state bid) than there have been in the past.”
With Davila earning the top seed at 119s, and No. 5 Rodriguez dealing with a rather strong group at 130s, Baler Robb Rodriguez could find his way to the medal rounds with the right matchup at 112 pounds — one of the weight classes that may be difficult to predict.
Rodriguez lost to Johnnie Nguyen of Andrew Hill at the Mid-Cal Classic by a 4-3 decision in late January when Nguyen scored a takedown in the final 30 seconds of the match. Rodriguez then lost by an 11-3 major decision to Duy Nguyen of Wilcox in the consolation round.
Entering the CCS Championships, Johnnie Nguyen is the second seed at 112s, Duy Nguyen is the third seed, and Rodriguez is unseeded.
“There is definitely some parity,” DeCarli said.
Wrestling consistently may be San Benito’s biggest test, however. The team has had several ups and downs this season, many of which can be attributed to growing pains after last year’s squad graduated some 12 starters. DeCarli is expecting to see a little more of that on Friday and Saturday, too, as several Balers will be making their section debut.
Meanwhile, TCAL rival Gilroy will be gunning for an unprecedented eighth straight CCS title. The longest CCS championship streak next to Gilroy’s is a four-year run from 1983-86 by Oceana High School, while Fremont, which won the first three CCS championships back in the late 60s, Overfelt (1989-91) and Independence (1995-97) are the only other schools to have three consecutive titles.
Both Gilroy and Bellarmine will bring 13 wrestlers to the CCS Championships on Friday, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Independence High School in San Jose.
“We’re taking 14 and we really should be competitive in all the weight classes,” DeCarli said. “But we have a lot of inexperience. This would be the type of tournament, especially for some of our inexperienced guys, to develop some of that name recognition out there.”
The same can be said for the competition, though.
Davila is the top seed at 119s, and his top competition is Gilroy’s Rodney Balajadia, the No. 2 seed. Although the San Benito senior has defeated Balajadia twice already this season, his most recent match with the Gilroy grappler at the TCAL Championships was tighter than expected — Davila won by a narrow 7-5 decision.
Meanwhile, No. 5 Zack Rodriguez is returning from an injury that lasted most of the season. The senior Baler suffered minor concussions at both the Fehlman/Baxter tournament and the Coast Classic in mid-December, and was held out of San Benito’s lineup until the week of the TCAL Championships, where he finished runner-up to Gilroy’s Willie Fox.
Fox is No. 2 at 130s entering the CCS Championships.
“The thing we can’t work on in the (wrestling) room is the number of matches we lost during the year,” DeCarli said of Rodriguez. “It’s totally different when you’re out there competing. He’s done as much as he can to get ready, but it’s hard to make-up those real-life situations.”
Zack and Robb Rodriguez, as well as Davila, will be joined at the CCS Championships by Anthony Gatto (103), Jay Garcia (125), Eric Henry (135), Mikey Soto (140), Tim Christenson (145), Edgar Ortega (152), Justin Raine (160), Luke Diller (171), Miguel Martin del Campo (189), Adam Davis (215) and Nick Angelo (285).
With DeCarli setting small goals first — everyone making weight and remaining healthy — the San Benito head coach expects to send 11 wrestlers to the second day on Saturday.
“I expect us to wrestle like we’re the No. 1 team in the section going in,” DeCarli said. “We have the ability to wrestle well. I could realistically see us medal six kids, and that’s not far-fetched.
“If that happens, that is a great end to the season from the beginning. But we’ll see.”
The Central Coast Section Championships will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday at Independence High School in San Jose. Wrestling will continue at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with the championship finals scheduled for 7 p.m.
Reporter Josh Weaver contributed to this story.
Central Coast Section Championships
103 pounds — 1, Daniel Polanco, sophomore, St. Francis; 2, Nam Nguyen, sophomore, Overfelt; 3, Leif Dominguez, freshman, Gilroy; 4, Johnny Alonzo, junior, Alisal; 5, Abram Ross, freshman, Oak Grove; 6, Manny Borrego, freshman, Terra Nova.
112 pounds — 1, Kaelob Obien, junior, Independence; 2, Johnnie Nguyen, senior, Andrew Hill; 3, Duy Nguyen, senior, Wilcox; 4, Alexis Arciga, sophomore, Overfelt; 5, Edwardo Lopez, sophomore, Alisal; 6, Jeremiah Ramirez, senior, King City.
119 pounds — 1, Junior Davila, senior, San Benito; 2, Rodney Balajadia, senior, Gilroy; 3, Brian Ha, junior, El Camino; 4, Tanner Heath, junior, Aptos; 5, Cassidy Octavio, junior, Bellarmine; 6, Franks Escajadillo, senior, Oceana.
125 pounds — 1, Jesse Delgado, senior, Gilroy; 2, John Claitor, junior, Half Moon Bay; 3, Alex Howard, junior, Los Gatos; 4, Arturo Morado, junior, Alisal; 5, Nick Bernardo, freshman, Oak Grove; 6, Alfred Murabito, sophomore, Saratoga.
130 pounds — 1, Jorge Barajas, sophomore, St. Francis; 2, Willie Fox, sophomore, Gilroy; 3, Anthonie Linares, junior, Oak Grove; 4, Andy Kreidle, senior, Los Gatos; 5, Zack Rodriguez, junior, San Benito; 6, Jack Sakai, senior, Palo Alto.
135 pounds — 1, Blake Kastl, sophomore, Gilroy; 2, Nick Cano, junior, St. Francis; 3, Scott Chessin, senior, Los Gatos; 4, Ethan Ruby, senior, Bellarmine; 5, Garun Arustamov, junior, Cupertino; 6, Johnny Mercado, senior, Oak Grove.
140 pounds — 1, Stefan Weidermann, junior, Gunn; 2, Ryan Schott, senior, St. Francis; 3, Jon McCarthy, senior, Archbishop Mitty; 4, Joe Johnson, senior, Fremont; 5, Omri Rahmil, senior, Los Gatos; 6, Victory Saldana, senior, Overfelt.
145 pounds — 1, Cody Rodebaugh, senior, San Lorenzo Valley; 2, Adam Pilkington, senior, Bellarmine; 3, Casey Johnson, senior, Fremont; 4, Jonathan Gonzalez, junior, Santa Teresa; 5, Luis Mitre, senior, Overfelt; 6, Ian Messaros, junior, Cupertino.
152 pounds — 1, Vicente Aboytes, senior, Gilroy; 2, Michael Ciccarelli, senior, King City; 3, Gurmukh Singh, senior, Cupertino; 4, Sean McVannel, senior, Salinas; 5, Max Simon, senior, Palo Alto; 6, Sam Hopkins, sophomore, St. Francis.
160 pounds — 1, Dominic Kastl, senior, Gilroy; 2, Jeremy Mitchell, senior, Bellarmine; 3, Kyle Venell, senior, Prospect; 4, Alex Rankin, senior, St. Francis; 5, Mike Sarmiento, senior, Palma; 6, Marty Rayburn, senior, Aptos.
171 pounds — 1, Tyler Edwards, senior, Monterey; 2, Sebastien Chene, senior, Leigh; 3, Eric Ochoa, senior, King City; 4, Jeff Tran, senior, Milpitas; 5, Cesar Fernandez, senior, Oak Grove; 6, Trevor Perrigo, senior, Harbor.
189 pounds — 1, Ismael Sanchez, junior, Silver Creek; 2, Logan Kellogg, junior, San Lorenzo Valley; 3, John Velez, senior, Aptos; 4, Danny Chaid, sophomore, Bellarmine; 5, Robert Nessier, senior, St. Francis; 6, Josh Castillo, junior, Watsonville.
215 pounds — 1, Juniel Morales, senior, Oak Grove; 2, Scot Basil, junior, Mount Pleasant; 3, Joey Lopez, senior, Serra; 4, Dylan Johns, senior, Los Gatos; 5, Justin Sagote, senior, Wilcox; 6, Joey Walker, senior, Archbishop Mitty.
285 pounds — 1, Drew Meulman, senior, St. Francis; 2, Luis Barragan, senior, Gilroy; 3, Max Lohr, senior, Pacific Grove; 4, Brian Newell, senior, Sequoia; 5, Charlie Hohenschuh, senior, Burlingame; 6, Brandon Pulealii, junior, Palma.
