Acorns favored to win first league title since 1981
MORGAN HILL — Nary a workout has gone by this year that Live Oak senior Steven Fernandez hasn’t pondered last season’s Central Coast Section Championships, where he finished two matches short of qualifying for state finals.
“It was pretty hard,” the funk-style wrestler said during Friday’s practice. “Experiencing that gave me insight for what I have to do: just more all-around training. I’ve been working on that ever since. I feel like I’m getting better.”
Fernandez expanded his regimen this summer, trying his powerful hands at gymnastics on top of limited wrestling and training with the boys water polo team. Change may be the last thing you would recommend to someone coming off of a 24-6 finish at 140 pounds, but Fernandez knows he has to be that much better to avoid any more letdowns this winter.
“His goal is state. That’s the bottom line,” said Acorns coach Robert Fernandez, Steven’s father. “He’s trying to improve everything right now.
“Ability-wise, he’s where he needs to be, so, this summer, we worked on increasing his core strength, increasing his agility and kind of staying away from wrestling. It’s funny, water polo and gymnastics made him a better wrestler.”
Steven Fernandez has even brought a couple water polo players into Live Oak’s wrestling room. They are among a solid 25-man squad that Robert Fernandez boasts as the best in the West Valley Division.
“We’re going to win it,” he said. “Anything’s possible, but I think it’s going to come down to us and James Lick, and they scheduled us for the last dual meet of the year [Feb. 10 at Live Oak High]. That’s going to be a big battle.”
The Acorns are three deep in almost every weight class and returned six varsity veterans — Clayton Howard (125), Danny Acker (135), Kenny Lee (140), Chandler Harris (160), sophomore Tyler Pederson (160-171) and Fernandez, who plans to wrestle at 145. They welcomed a promising crop of newcomers, including Cesar Gamboa (135), freshman Tyler Geer (152), Derek Peralta (171) and senior Joe Dorsch (140).
“It’s all about development right now,” their sixth-year coach said. “We’re trying to squeeze out maximum results in the minimum amount of time. I would say we’re at about 80 percent of where we need to be, and that last 20 percent is the hardest.”
Robert Fernandez is instilling optimism in his young team. He predicts big things for Dorsch and expects Pederson to place second in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Finals tournament that the Acorns will host beginning Feb. 13.
“We all want to work harder,” Pederson said. “I learned just to be tougher after my first year. I want to win more matches this year.”
Steven Fernandez aims to do the same, springboarding a run to state with BVAL and CCS championships.
But a West Valley team title? Live Oak coaches and wrestlers could not ponder — nor recall — how that feels. The Acorns won their lone league wrestling title in 1981.
“That would be a great accomplishment, too,” Steven Fernandez said. “It hasn’t been done here in a long time. That would be great to see, especially since BVAL finals are here, too. That’d be a pretty good way to end the year.”
