Even without three wrestlers at 112, 160 and 171 pounds, the San
Benito wrestling team still managed to compile 121 points and
finish in eighth place among 33 teams at the Coast Classic
Wrestling Tournament in Scotts Valley last weekend.
SCOTTS VALLEY
Even without three wrestlers at 112, 160 and 171 pounds, the San Benito wrestling team still managed to compile 121 points and finish in eighth place among 33 teams at the Coast Classic Wrestling Tournament in Scotts Valley last weekend.
The Balers had four medalists, including 125-pounder Junior Davila, who went 5-0 and racked up 31.5 points for San Benito in the process.
Mikey Soto, Adam Davis and Zack Rodriguez were also each awarded medals.
“We’re all progressing in the right direction,” said San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli, whose Balers were runner-up at the Coast Classic last year. “… And it was good to see Junior take first after he took second last year.”
Davila, who was the No. 1 seed entering the tournament at 125 pounds, defeated John Claitor of Half Moon Bay by technical fall (17-2) in the semifinal round, then edged Curtis Hulstine of Ceres by a 6-4 decision in the final.
“The good thing is we’re improving,” DeCarli said. “We had some kids that didn’t do too well with wins and losses, but they are improving.
“The kids are starting to figure it out. They know they’ve just got to continue to get better and they’re seeing it.”
San Benito also had two third-place finishers in Mikey Soto at 145 pounds and Adam Davis at heavyweight.
Soto, who went 6-1, upset No. 2 seed Oscar Mendez of Alisal by an 11-5 decision in the second round before falling to Joseph Ochsner of Cupertino by a 6-2 decision in the quarterfinals.
Soto battled back through the consolation bracket, however. The 145-pound wrestler won three straight matches before defeating Cody Owen of Madera South by an 8-4 decision to take third place.
Meanwhile, Adam Davis marched all the way to the semifinal round — he upset No. 2 seed James Sudbeck of Monterey by fall (1:54) in the quarterfinals — before falling to Palma’s Brandon Pulealii by a 3-1 decision.
Last week during a dual meet in Hollister, Pulealii defeated Davis by a 4-2 decision.
Davis managed to fight back through the consolation bracket, though. He defeated Placer’s Jake Styler by fall (4:11) and Aptos’ Ryan Rodrigues by fall (2:27) to grab third place.
Zack Rodriguez was San Benito’s fourth medalist. The 135-pound wrestler took sixth place after going 3-3, but lost two of those matches due to injury default.
“As a safety precaution, we just sat him,” DeCarli said.
Rodriguez won his first three matches before losing to Keegan Overbey of Ceres by a 14-7 decision in the semifinals. In his ensuing consolation semifinal with Robert Jimenez of Kingsburg, Rodriguez was accidentally kicked in the head and was unable to continue.
“His semifinal match that he lost was the best he’s looked to this point,” DeCarli said. “Those first two rounds of the match, he was in charge. He looked really good.”
San Benito was fourth at the Coast Classic among Central Coast Section teams, which included Los Gatos (3rd, 147.5), Cupertino (6th, 128) and South San Francisco (7th, 121.5).
Granada was first overall with 215 points.
San Benito won’t return until after the holiday break. The Balers will travel to Reno, Nev., to compete in the Sierra Nevada Classic from Dec. 29-30.
COAST CLASSIC WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
TEAM
1, Granada, 215; 2, Placer, 155; 3, Los Gatos, 147.5; 4, Kingsburg, 141; 5, Ceres, 139; 6, Cupertino, 128; 7, South San Francisco, 121.5; 8, San Benito, 121; 9, Madera South, 116.5; 10, Aptos, 101; 11, Palo Alto, 94; 12, Alisal, 93.5; 13, King City, 88; 14, Monterey, 81.5; 15, Trinity, 80.5; 16, Saratoga, 73; 17, Palma, 70; 18, Half Moon Bay, 66.5; 19, Gunn, 61.5; 20, Salinas, 59.5; 21, North Salinas, 56; 22, San Lorenzo Valley, 49; 23, John F. Kennedy, 47; 24, Santa Cruz, 40; 25, Harbor, 39; 26, Everett Alvarez, 31; 27, Silver Creek, 26; 28, Scotts Valley, 23; 29, Terra Nova, 23; 30, Carmel, 21; 31, Soquel, 18.5; 32, Galileo, 11; 33, Independence, 10.5.
INDIVIDUAL
103 — Jennifer Espinoza, 0-2, DNP.
112 — N/A
119 — Raul Suarez, 2-2, DNP.
125 — Junior Davila, 5-0, 1st.
130 — Nikko Espinoza, 2-2, DNP.
135 — Zack Rodriguez, 3-3, 6th.
140 — Tim Christenson, 1-2, DNP.
145 — Mikey Soto, 6-1, 3rd.
152 — Edgar Ortega, 3-2, DNP.
160 — N/A
171 — N/A
189 — Luke Diller, 1-2, DNP.
215 — Miguel Martin Del Campo, 2-2, DNP.
285 — Adam Davis, 5-1, 3rd.
