Senior Junior Davila has one last chance at the state podium,
although his draw is anything but easy
HOLLISTER
It took Junior Davila all of 10 seconds to show just how explosive and dominant he can be, 10 seconds to flip the switch in one of the biggest matches of his career.
Two weeks ago at the Central Coast Section Championships, wrestling Gilroy rival Rodney Balajadia in the 119-pound final —— a grappler the San Benito senior had some difficulty with in his previous two matches —— Davila sent a charge through the Independence High School gymnasium when he threw Balajadia across his body and onto the mat in the opening seconds of the first round.
Although never earning a pin, Davila built a 10-0 lead on Balajadia —— 8-0 in the first 59 seconds of the match —— when Gilroy coaches finally stopped the bout, opting for an injury default instead.
His ticket to this weekend’s CIF State Wrestling Championships was already punched prior to the 119-pound final, but the easy victory supplied Davila with an elusive CCS title —— he earned either second or third place in his weight class the previous three years.
Earning an elusive medal at state, Davila will need to call upon that explosive emotion he used at CCS two weeks ago.
“He got to the point where he was trying to overthink it,” San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said following Davila’s win on Feb. 27. “We told him that you have to leave no doubt. We have to start making an impression on the state and it has to happen now.
“Go after him and wrestle with a lot of emotion, because that’s when he’s at his best. He can just absolutely run through people with that emotion.”
Controlling that emotion at state is a whole different ball game, but Davila has been there before —— three times, in fact. And not overthinking anything has the 119-pound senior thinking podium.
“I want to make it to the finals, but I have to go one match at a time because my first match will be tough,” Davila said. “They’ll all be tough.”
Unlike in years past, when the four-time state qualifier would psych himself out by an opponent’s ranking or seed, by an opponent’s record or name, Davila has developed a bit of tunnel vision prior to a match.
Bouncing back-and-forth from his left toes to his right like any other wrestler, Davila listens to a friend’s iPod while thinking of his mother, Mona, who raised five kids and “did everything” for him growing up.
“She’s a wrestling mom,” he said. “She gets all into it.”
And, at least at state, looking to see who the next opponent is never a good thing anyway. As DeCarli points out, there’s no such thing as a good draw at the state finals.
“Each weight class is its on March Madness bracket,” DeCarli said. “Every match could be a final at any other tournament during the regular season. Every kid is capable.”
And that includes Davila’s very first opponent. The San Benito senior will open the state tournament on Friday morning against Clovis East junior Patrick Phaysamone, who finished fifth at 119 pounds last weekend in the Central Section Championships —— perhaps the toughest wrestling section in the state.
“You have to respect everyone in the tournament, but if you’re facing a Central Section kid or a Southern Section kid, you’re gonna get all you can handle,” DeCarli said.
Phaysamone finished second at 119s in the Doc Buchanan Invitational, a top five wrestling tournament on the West Coast, DeCarli said, and is even receiving honorable mention status in the state at 119s, according to The California Wrestler newsletter.
If the opening round opponent for a section champion like Davila seems a bit heavy, that’s probably because he is. Said DeCarli, “They separate the top two (seeded wrestlers), and then you’re at the mercy of the bracket gods.”
If Davila were to earn a victory over Phaysamone in the first round, he could see a third-round opponent in Gabe Brown, a senior out of wrestling powerhouse Poway who is currently ranked No. 6 in the state at 119s.
A trip into the fourth-round quarterfinals would likely net Davila a third chance at Turlock junior Fabian Garcia, who has defeated the Haybaler twice already this season and is currently ranked No. 4 in the state at 119s, while a semifinal bid would most likely pit Davila against Clovis West senior Zack Zimmer, the top-ranked wrestler in the state at 119s, according to The California Wrestler.
“You definitely have to earn it,” DeCarli said. “We’re not getting much love out there, but we’ll be fine. We’ll be busting it out there, just like everyone else.”
Davila has been using the last two weeks to prepare and rest up, unlike wrestlers from the Central, Southern, San Joaquin and San Diego sections, who have had championship tournaments up until last weekend.
Fellow teammates Zack and Robb Rodriguez, Jay Garcia and Mikey Soto even extended their wrestling seasons by helping Davila practice every day, while Davila himself seems wired and ready to wrestle with that emotion.
“There’s been times I’ve wrestled like that and there’s times that I haven’t,” he said. “But I’m gonna be like that at state. I’ve got nothing to lose. It’s my final year of high school and after this … start a new life.”
Davila has never earned a top-eight medal at state, but DeCarli feels his wrestler’s noticeable sense of urgency and boatload of experience may just push him over the top, no matter what ranked wrestler stands in his way.
Now, it’s all about channeling that emotion and throwing it to the mat.
“I think at this point he realizes the finality of everything. This is his last state tournament, and every match he wrestles could be his last,” DeCarli said. “We fully expect to medal, just like every other guy in that bracket. But there’s no easy road getting there.”
The CIF State Wrestling Championships will be held at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. on both days, with the championship finals scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday night.
