GILROY, CA. – The Gilroy High wrestling team is considered the best team in the Central Section year-after-year and their performance in their Mid-Cal Tournament over the weekend did nothing to diminish that belief.
Gilroy head coach Daniel Cormier was happy with his team’s performance a week after a disappointing runner-up finish at the 5 Counties tournament.
The Mustangs racked up 298.5 points to top second-place Buchanan by 26.5 points. Gilroy had 12 place winners, led by champions Henry Porter (138), Victor Jacinto (145), Chase Saldate (152), and Nicholas Villareal (285). Runner-up finisher’s included Clarence Moore (106) and Jayden Gomez (126).
Porter bounced back from a disappointing performance at the Five-Counties meet the week before to pin No. 13 Zach Watts (Clovis North) by a fall in 1:31. Porter’s closest match was a 15-2 major decision over Marcus Murabito of Los Gatos. Porter is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest Flo Wrestling California rankings.
Jacinto, meanwhile, built on last week’s 4th place finish at 5 Counties by winning his weight class with a 9-3 decision over No. 8 Garrett Fletcher of Frontier. Jacinto pinned his first two opponents before dispatching Sergio Montoya (Clovis North) 9-3 in the round of 16. He then earned a 22-5 technical fall and a 5-0 win prior to defeating Fletcher.
Saldate had a much easier time with his opponents during the tournament. He won four matches by pin and another by major decision to win the 152-pound weight class. He defeated Reymundo Raiz (Buchanan) 11-0 in the finals.
Villareal was the pinfall king as he recorded five falls at 285-pounds. In the finals, Villareal pinned No. 10 Kade Campbell (Buchanan) in 31 seconds of their championship match.
One of the better matches of the tournament occurred at 120-pounds as Carter Bailey (Granada) got the 15-0 technical fall over Ryan Luna (St. Francis) in 4:14 of their championship match. Luna was one of the top freshmen last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament before succumbing to an injury.
A surprised champion occurred at 126-pounds as No. 8 Ryan Watts (Clovis North) was able to hook the cradle on No. 4 Jayden Gomez (Gilroy) and pin him with seconds left in the first period.