Live Oak wrestling beats Del Mar 64-18 to move to 3-0 in the
West Valley Division
MORGAN HILL — Though it counts for fewer team points than a conventional pin, a win by technical fall is the most cunning achievement in wrestling. If you can pull one off, you probably don’t need to.
Putting your opponent to the mat? Child’s play. Try beating him by 15 points with scoring combinations of one, two and three points.
Superfluous and eye-catching, technical falls belong in a category next to mercy wins, empty netters, 900s, Hawaiian shirts and kicking late field goals to beat the spread.
Scoring a “tech” is difficult, much tougher than Steven Fernandez made it look Thursday. Most technical falls are completed midway through the second round; roughly three minutes into a varsity match. Fernandez did it in 50 seconds. Better yet, he did it and then pinned Sean Johnston of Del Mar at 160 pounds.
Showcasing a veritable cornucopia of cradles, takedowns and pin combinations, the poker-faced Live Oak senior worked the score to 14-0 — one point short of ending the match — before touching Johnston’s shoulders to the Acorns’ home mat with six seconds left in the opening period.
“That’s motivation right there,” Live Oak’s Cesar Gamboa said afterward. “Steven makes it look easy, but we know it’s a lot harder to tech somebody.”
The performance wasn’t meant to stab at Johnston’s pride. Fernandez, who is ranked fifth in the section at his former 145-pound division, wanted to incur as little labor as possible on the hip he hyperextended during a tournament in early December. If Fernandez let his man up, the near fall would have given him a 17-1 win; good for five team points.
Fernandez wanted six.
“I was just trying to get in, get out and give my team the most points possible,” Fernandez, who wrestles regularly at 152 pounds, said during a telephone interview Friday. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have a match, but I was ready. It’s a home dual; the team captain has to wrestle.”
Fernandez’s inspiring short match was a matter of course for a team making an unprecedented league-championship run appear simple at times. With their 64-18 victory over the winless Dons, the Acorns moved to 3-0 in West Valley Division duals and three wins away from securing at least a share of their first league title in 29 years. They can clinch it outright if they win their remaining duals against Yerba Buena, Independence, San Jose and Lick.
Live Oak’s greatest weapon has been its full roster. The team reaped forfeit points in each dual, including six in the conclusive heavyweight bout that pushed the local grapplers past Pioneer, 36-35, Jan. 8. They squashed Gunderson 42-29 in their Dec. 16 league opener.
Forfeits aside, the Acorns have outscored their opponents in contested matches.
“Each dual is like a new season,” said Live Oak coach Robert Fernandez, Steven’s father. “I tell our guys to treat each match like it’s a world championship. They take it one match at a time, and they work hard every day to prepare.”
Some of them weren’t satisfied after Thursday’s win. Gamboa and teammate Kenny Lee dominated their matches at 140 and 145 pounds, respectively, but missed out on six points. Gamboa, who had Del Mar’s Anthony Talamantes staring at the ceiling most of the way, settled for a 12-2 major decision. Lee would have taken that. He built an 8-0 lead against Guillermo Ayala only to be taken down and pinned 30 seconds into the third round.
“I just couldn’t finish him. I need to work on that,” Lee said. “We always want to try and do our best. It helps watching Steven. It gets us pumped up.”
Cushioned with an early lead and 36 forfeitted points, the Acorns were never in trouble. Tyler Pederson (130 pounds) pushed them ahead 24-6 when, from underneath, he locked Bryant Bahena into a head-and-arm hold and dragged him to the mat in the second period. Matt Dariano followed with a third-round pin against the Dons’ 135-pounder Edgar Sanchez.
Live Oak’s Tyler Geer (171) made timely work of Miguel Lopez, driving a half Nelson with 1:30 left in the first period, and Derek Peralta (189) did the same against Del Mar’s Rolando Martinez in the final contested match. Peralta settled a half with two seconds left in the opening round.
“I think we wrestled really hard,” said Steven Fernandez, who hopes to be at full strength in the coming weeks for a potential run to state. “Sometimes they’re under pressure because they have to wrestle for me if I can’t go, but they rise to it. They know we’re close to winning league.”
