Morgan Hill – The Sobrato wrestling squad continued its winning ways, defeating Mount Pleasant in a dual meet on Thursday followed by a 20th-place finish as a team over the weekend at a tournament at Buchanan High School.
In Thursday’s dual meet, the Bulldogs cruised to a 42-28 win, riding pins from heavyweight Genaro Redmond, Mike McChesney at 125 pounds, Michael Duran at 112 and Taylor Ortez at 160. Sobrato also had wins from Jake Ortiz at 145 and Victor Gillespie at 171.
“We have been wrestling very tough early in the season,” said coach Phil Luna.
Sobrato followed the win by traveling to the Buchanan-hosted tournament Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs had four top-12 finishes out of their seven wrestlers, including Redmond’s second-place finish and Duran’s fourth place ranking.
Redmond was the top-ranked heavyweight in the tournament, something that Luna said was good for the senior to experience.
“He learned how to wrestle with all of that on him,” Luna said.
He added that he thought Redmond was anxious in the final round, which led to a 5-2 loss.
“He told us he was fine,” Luna said. “But when you are pacing back and forth, you are a little anxious.”
McChesney and Gillespie both finished in the top 12, each one win away from placing.
Luna said Duran could have finished higher were it not for a take down call while facing the No. 2 seed in the consolation round.
“The ref called one of the weirdest take downs I have ever seen,” Luna said.
Duran was dinged for the take down in the last 10 seconds of the match when his opponent took a shot, Luna said, that had the crowd calling for a take down.
But despite the call, Luna said he was pleased with his wrestler who beat the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds before losing to the No. 1 wrester in the weight group.
The Bulldogs finished fourth among Central Coast Section schools, placing behind Gilroy, Fremont and Silver Creek.
“The kids were tough,” Luna said. “I’m excited, but we still have to work on a couple of things.”
