After 10 hours of wrestling competition, the San Benito Haybalers will send seven wrestlers to Day 2 of the 30th annual Mid-Cal Classic in Gilroy, including three wrestlers who remain alive in the championship bracket.
Robb Rodriguez at 112 pounds, Junior Davila at 121 pounds and Edgar Ortega at 132 pounds went undefeated on Day 1 Friday, and will open Saturday's final day with quarterfinal matches. The three remain in contention to earn individual titles.
The Balers have four other wrestlers who will begin competing in the consolation bracket on Saturday, including Mikey Soto at 137 pounds, Justin Raine at 162, Miguel Martin del Campo at 191 and Adam Davis at 217.
However, five wrestlers, including Luke Diller at 171 pounds, Eric Garcia at 152, Tim Christenson at 142, Eric Henry at 147, and Nikko Espinoza at 127, have been eliminated for the Balers.
"Nikko had a couple rough draws," San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said. "He just had a really tough draw."
DeCarli was expecting to see Espinoza advance to the second day. But after he defeated El Camino's Mitch Bouyer by fall (1:52), he lost to John Claitor of Half Moon Bay by fall (5:17), then Vacaville's Kevin Coss by a 16-3 major decision.
Vacaville currently owns first place after compiling 138.5 points, while Madera South trails in second with 124 points.
San Benito compiled 69.5 points on Day 1, and sits in 20th place out of 67 teams. Only 15 points separate the Balers from a spot in the top 10, however.
"The most important thing for us is getting off on the right foot," DeCarli said. "After this, our next test isn't until section.
"We better learn something out there."
Wrestling continues at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, with the championship round scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
See Tuesday's edition of the Free Lance for a full recap of the Mid-Cal Classic.
30th Annual Mid-Cal Classic
INDIVIDUALS
105 - N/A
114 - Robb Rodriguez, 2-0. Friday: Bye; Def. Gabe Balderas of Ceres, 11-0 maj. dec.; Def. Lance Palmer of Clovis West, 6-1 dec. Saturday: Johnnie Nguyen of Andrew Hill.
121 - Junior Davila, 2-0. Friday: Bye; Def. Devin Smith of Kingsburg, 20-4 tech. fall; Def. Sebastian Lopez of Silver Creek by fall (:35). Saturday: John Fife of Vacaville.
127 - Nikko Espinoza, 1-2. Friday: Def. Mitch Bouyer of El Camino by fall (1:52); Lost to John Claitor of Halk Moon Bay by fall (5:17); Bye; Lost to Kevin Coss of Vacaville by 16-3 maj. dec. Saturday: Done.
132 - Edgar Ortega, 3-0. Friday: Def. Jeremy Cothran of Santa Teresa by fall (1:47); Def. Cesar Moreno of North Monterey County by 12-10 OT dec.; Def. Sergio Lopez of Dos Palos by 8-3 dec. Saturday: Willie Fox of Gilroy.
137 - Mikey Soto, 3-1. Friday: Bye; Lost to Monte Renteria of Dinuba by fall (3:37); Def. Ricardo Espinoza of North Salinas by 12-7 dec.; Def. Michael Morag of Gunn by 6-0 dec.; Def. Anthony Garcia of Soledad by 10-6 dec. Saturday: Johnny Nicolas of Madera South.
142 - Tim Christenson, 2-2. Friday: Def. Cody Heier of Kingsburg by 7-2 dec.; Lost to Robert Vasquez of Pitman by 10-0 maj. dec.; Def Cesar Sancen of Soledad by 5-4 dec.; Lost to Mikey Lucero of Gilroy by 10-3 dec. Saturday: Done.
147 - Eric Henry, 3-2. Friday: Def. Zack Davidson of Galt by 13-7 dec.; Lost to Cody Owen of Madera South by 13-0 maj. dec.; Def. Ander O'Connor of Archbishop Riordan by 7-1 dec.; Def. Johnny Carr of El Camino by 12-9 dec.; Lost to Fala Salem of South San Francisco by 21-7 maj. dec. Saturday: Done.
154 - Eric Garcia. 0-2. Friday: Lost to Armando Gonzalez of Overfelt by fall (3:05); Lost to Armando Martinez by 13-11 dec. Saturday: Done.
162 - Justin Raine, 4-1. Friday: Def. Angelo Goumenidis of El Camino by 7-2 dec.; Lost to Kelan Gans of Palo Alto by 8-4 dec.; Def. Marquis Scott of Monterey by 7-4 dec.; Def. Avi Sangha of Los Banos by 2-0 dec.; Def. Roberto Gonzalez of Overfelt by 5-4 dec. Saturday: Matt Chapman of North Monterey County.
173 - Luke Diller, 0-2. Friday: Lost to Kevin Scroggins of Turlock by fall (5:39); Lost to Jason Pena of Dos Palos by 4-0 dec. Saturday: Done.
191 - Miguel Martin del Campo, 2-1. Friday: Bye; Def. Deion Deng of Archbishop Riordan by fall (1:20); Lost to Tanner Roberts of Kingsburg by fall (1:18); Def. Jordan Lugar of Rio Linda by fall (2:02). Saturday: Nate Velasquez of Palo Alto.
217 - Adam Davis, 2-1. Friday: Bye; Def. Ralph Cisneros of Dinuba by fall (3:50); Lost to Jonathon Brower of Galt by 8-3 dec.; Def. Kenneth Marquez of Overfelt by fall (4:38). Saturday: Berto Martinez of Madera South.
287 - N/A
TEAMS
1. Vacaville 138.5
2. Madera South 124.0
3. Overfelt 99.0
4. Los Banos 98.0
5. Pitman 97.0
6. Kingsburg 96.5
7. Gilroy 87.5
8. Dos Palos 85.0
9. Oak Grove 84.5
10. Palo Alto 84.5
11. Mount Pleasant 83.0
12. Cupertino 81.5
13. Clovis West 79.0
14. Central 78.5
15. Selma 74.0
16. Aptos 73.0
17. South San Francisco 72.5
18. Ceres 72.0
19. Los Gatos 70.0
20. San Benito 69.5
21. Turlock 69.0
22. Alisal 67.0
23. Palma 67.0
24. Dinuba 60.5
25. Monterey 60.0
26. Buhach Colony 57.0
27. Junipero Serra 53.0
28. El Camino 50.5
29. Santa Teresa 49.5
30. Saratoga 46.5
31. Castro Valley 46.0
32. Galt 44.0
33. North Salinas 44.0
34. Wilcox 43.5
35. Salinas 43.0
36. Sobrato 43.0
37. George Washington 42.0
38. Andrew Hill 41.5
39. College Park 41.0
40. Silver Creek 41.0
41. James Lick 35.0
42. Watsonville 34.0
43. Harbor 31.0
44. Soledad 31.0
45. Archbishop Riordan 29.5
46. North Monterey County 26.0
47. Newark Memorial 25.5
48. Gonzales 20.0
49. Gunn 20.0
50. Dougherty Valley 18.0
51. Monta Vista 18.0
52. El Diamante 17.0
53. Leigh 15.0
54. Oakland Tech 15.0
55. Rio Linda 15.0
56. Christopher Ranch 14.0
57. Terra Nova 14.0
58. College Park 2 12.0
59. Half Moon Bay 12.0
60. San Lorenzo Valley 12.0
61. Oceana 10.0
62. Hillsdale 8.0
63. Piedmont Hills 8.0
64. Monte Vista Christian 6.0
65. Harker Academy 0.0
66. Pajaro Valley 0.0
67. Seaside 0.0
Free Lance Sports Staff Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
POST A COMMENT
If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate.
Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.
San Benito Score: Baler baseball, CCS basketball and state wrestling
