The past few years the Mid-Cal Classic has been like a
coming-out party for Sobrato’s top wrestlers and a gateway to their
dream of making the Central Coast Section Championships and beyond.
“That’s always the big one,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Genaro
Redmond, who won a CCS heavyweight title as a senior at SHS in
2007. “You better come ready to wrestle.” One of the state’s elite
tournaments, the two-day Mid-Cal Classic will showcase 70 schools
and several individual standouts beginning today at Gilroy High
School.
The past few years the Mid-Cal Classic has been like a coming-out party for Sobrato’s top wrestlers and a gateway to their dream of making the Central Coast Section Championships and beyond.
“That’s always the big one,” said Bulldogs assistant coach Genaro Redmond, who won a CCS heavyweight title as a senior at SHS in 2007. “You better come ready to wrestle.”
One of the state’s elite tournaments, the two-day Mid-Cal Classic will showcase 74 schools and several individual standouts beginning today at Gilroy High School. Among them are defending champion Selma and six teams ranked in the top 10 in the CCS.
A strong showing this week can lead to a high seed for sectionals and an inside track to state. At least three Bulldogs stand a good chance of padding their résumés in Bryan Gomes, Zach Zhang and freshman Steve Canela.
First-year SHS coach Erik Lupercio expects Gomes to place in the top three at 120 pounds. The senior is 15-5 this season and ranked 14th in the section with three top-six tournament finishes, including a second-place effort in last week’s Jim Root Classic. Gomes has beaten seven of the 35 wrestlers listed in the 120-pound bracket, according to his coach.
“They should test him pretty well, but he’s always ready to work hard,” Lupercio said. “He doesn’t want to lose. He’s consistently working to get better.”
Gomes has bumped up a weight class after putting on muscle this offseason. He feels ready to finally make sectionals. A deep run this week would boost his confidence even more.
“I would say it’s even tougher than CCS – it’s the biggest of all tournaments,” he said. “I’ve made it to the second day every year, which is big. I want to place this time.”
Lupercio thinks Canela can make sectionals this winter at the rate he is training. Canela practices with Gomes and 126-pounder Daniel Johnson.
“His technique and strength are very well,” said Lupercio, 29, who qualified for CCS in each of his four years (1997-00) of wrestling heavyweight for Willow Glen.
Zhang (14-6) is one of the best athletes at the school and arguably Sobrato’s most gifted wrestler. He is ranked 11th at 145 pounds and has placed in three tournaments at as many weights this year.
Zhang is coming in hungry after being upset by Matt Slyngstad on Wednesday in a 36-21 Santa Teresa Division dual loss to Pioneer.
“He is that good, but he has to kind of humble himself sometimes,” Lupercio said. “Hopefully that helped.”
Zhang wasted little time putting the loss behind him and shifting focus to this weekend. He felt inspired after watching former teammate Gustavo Ramirez reach the Mid-Cal heavyweight final in 2011.
“It kind of set the standard. I’m very excited,” Zhang said. “We’ll see what CCS is going to be like.”
Lupercio also is optimistic toward his 182-pounder, Evan Enright (first in the Jim Root Classic) and his 160-pounder Brandon Lefore. They wrestle off each week and just might push each other into the postseason.
Lupercio will have a better idea after this week.
Notes: Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. both days. The third-/fourth- and fifth-/sixth-place matches begin at 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by the finals at 5.
Correction: Due to a reporter’s error the year of Genaro Redmond’s CCS title was stated incorrectly in the original version of the this story. Redmond won it in 2007, not 2003.
