San Benito’s Junior Davila is turning heads with his recent
success
— he’s ranked No. 8 in the state
HOLLISTER
Junior Davila’s improvement on the mat has been rather noticeable, even if his season progression and win-loss record appears somewhat similar to years past.
See, the 119-pounder for the San Benito wrestling team has always won. He’s a three-time state qualifier for the Balers and is on track to make the state competition a fourth time later this year.
He’s often ranked near or at the top of his weight class each and every year in the Central Coast Section, and has placed either second or third in the CCS championships three years in a row.
Noticing any progression with an already impressive resume can be difficult to pinpoint.
But Davila, in his senior year now, is suddenly knocking on the upper echelon of wrestlers — from being recognized in the section to being recognized in the state. He hasn’t busted through just yet, but there’s still plenty of time — just ask anyone on the San Benito wrestling team.
“He’s definitely grown up a lot,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said of Davila, who figures to wrestle at 119s or 125s this year.
Already with a record of 21-2 this season, including perfect 5-0 records at both the Fehlman/Baxter Memorial Duals in Hollister and the Coast Classic Wrestling Tournament in Scotts Valley, Davila is currently ranked No. 1 in the CCS and No. 8 in the state at 119 pounds, according to The California Wrestler.
The two blemishes on his record are nothing to be ashamed of, either. At the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno, Nev., on Dec. 30, Davila built a 5-0 lead against Sheldon’s Isa Hurtado, currently ranked No. 5 in the state.
He lost by an 11-9 decision.
At the Apple Cider Invitational in Watsonville last weekend, Davila held a 7-4 lead against Turlock’s Fabian Garcia, the third-ranked wrestler in the state.
He lost by a 10-9 decision.
DeCarli feels his wrestler is close, though.
“He can be as good as he wants to be,” DeCarli added. “If he’s on, he’s on, and anybody in that bracket needs to be aware of him.
“But we need to get to that point where we’re not building (anymore).”
Although Davila simply says he’s been working harder in the offseason, taking in wrestling camps in Lake Tahoe and running three miles prior to practice each and every day, the boatload of experience he carries, as well as his senior status, may just be the determining factor in his development, DeCarli said. It all amounts to a sense of urgency.
“After those losses, I just wanted to keep going,” Davila said.
While he says he’s not nervous anymore when up against highly-touted, highly-ranked, highly-experienced wrestlers, Davila is aware of what’s at stake this season.
“Now that I know where wrestling can take me, I want to go to a university or a community college and wrestle,” Davila said. “That’s what I want to do now.”
The San Benito senior has had his doubters. At the beginning of the year, Davila said he struggled with grades and even got into a fist fight, leading to his suspension. But speaking with administrators, including DeCarli, Davila said he “woke up” one day and realized how his wrestling talent can take him places.
“I believe wrestling can take me somewhere,” he said. “I realized I made a mistake and some stupid decisions, but now I’m getting closer to my goal. Even though I haven’t beaten (those ranked wrestlers), I’m getting closer.”
And so are his San Benito teammates. The Balers, who returned just two varsity grapplers from last year’s team, including Davila and 130-pounder Zack Rodriguez, battled youth and varsity inexperience at the start of this season, but are slowly and surely returning to form.
“Last year’s mantra was that we’re building toward the end of the year. Everything is practice is for the end of the year,” said DeCarli, whose team has suffered through injury and illness recently. “That probably holds more true this year than last year because we have so much more maturing and development to do … as well as understanding that we have to get better, and not putting too much into one tournament.”
The head coach felt last weekend’s Apple Cider Invitational went a long way in proving that “mantra.” The Balers managed to compile 122 points and finish in sixth place out of 31 teams, despite a lineup that had six starters missing due to injury or illness.
Nevertheless, San Benito, although inexperienced at the beginning of the season, has seen marked improvement from grapplers like Robb Rodriguez, Tim Christenson and Adam Davis, among others.
“We definitely knew we were gonna have some growing pains, especially at the beginning of the season,” DeCarli said.
“But when it’s all said and done, this will be a very gratifying year.”
Davila’s performance to date can easily be filed into San Benito’s highlights this season. There is still work to be done, of course — conditioning, for one. Davila said he was “gassed” at the end of his two matches with Hurtado and Garcia, while DeCarli is looking for that finishing factor to his 119-pounder.
“When you put someone on their back, they don’t need to get up. DeCarli said. “Those are two things that we need to get down, and the good thing is that we have time to get it down.
“We’re not re-inventing the wheel. We just need to fine-tune some things.”
Said Davila, “This is all practice for the end of the year.”
