”
Experience NOT necessary- just heart
”
, says the Why Wrestle? sign posted in the Live Oak wrestling
room. It may well be the motto of the Acorns this season as they
have 19 freshmen, most without prior wrestling experience, joining
the team.
Morgan Hill – “Experience NOT necessary- just heart”, says the Why Wrestle? sign posted in the Live Oak wrestling room. It may well be the motto of the Acorns this season as they have 19 freshmen, most without prior wrestling experience, joining the team.
“We’ve had more kids than ever come out this season,” said Live Oak’s head coach Robert Fernandez. “We have about 40 kids on the roster.”
Last season the Acorns had a 3-3 record and finished in third place in the Tri County Athletic League with just 12 wrestlers. Eight of those wrestlers qualified for the Central Coast Section meet.
In the offseason Fernandez and his assistant coaches launched an aggressive, and successful, recruiting campaign to get numbers up.
“We did a ton of recruiting,” said Fernandez. “We went to all the football games and handed out fliers. We were also at the freshman oreintation and back-to-school night.”
This season, in his second year as head coach, Fernandez sees as a rebuilding year and doesn’t have any expectations of his team.
“I look at it from the bottom up,” explained Fernandez. “I don’t have any expectations for the season and we’ll just see where the chips fall. Because wrestling is an individual sport, it’s hard to see what the team as a whole will do.”
Live Oak will have to fill the holes left by three of the team’s top wrestlers lost to graduation last spring. Johnathan Redman (171-pound class), Hondo Dominguez (119-pound class) and Eddie Mendoza (112-pound class) were quality wrestlers for the Acorns and Redman and Domiguez were both first in the TCAL in their respective weight classes.
The Acorns’ have two returning wrestlers primed to step up, senior Jason Hendersen and sophomore Mariah Fernandez.
Hendersen is a 4-year varsity wrestler for Live Oak and is currently ranked 12th in the CCS. According to coach Fernandez, Hendersen is a really good, quality wrestler and a hard worker.
Mariah has been wrestling for eight years and is one of the best female wrestlers in California at the 132-weight class. She had one loss over the summer to the No.1 ranked girl wrestler in the nation and trained at the Olympic training center in October. Mariah was also the girls section champ and the No. 1 seeded girl at the state tournament last year.
“Mariah is the only girl on the team and she’s one of the toughest,” said Fernandez, who is Mariah’s father and the reason he accepted the coaching job last season.
One of the biggest challenges that face the Acorns this season is going to be aclamating the freshmen into the team without the benefit of feeder programs at the junior high level.
Another challenge will be the high level of competition in the TCAL every year. Gilroy and Hollister are perennial powerhouses in the TCAL and always have strong teams.
“I would like to duplicate our third place finish in league last season,” said Fernandez. “I would like to have wrestlers qualify for CCS and I would like to send wrestlers to the state tournament. I just want the kids to work hard and give 100 percent. It’s all I can ask.”
Live Oak faces its first test of the season this Friday and Saturday when it participates in the Penisula Wrestling Tournament in Terra Nova.
2004-2005 Result
3-3 in TCAL
Key Losses
Jonathan Redmen- 171-lbs
Hondo Dominguez- 119-lbs
Eddie Mendoza- 112-lbs
key returnees
Jason Hendersen, Sr
Mariah Fernandez, So
OUTLOOK
The Acorns have 40 wrestlers on their roster compared to just 12 last season. Coach Fernandez would like to see the team duplicate last season’s results, work hard and give 100 percent.
2005-2006 Live Oak
Wrestling Schedule
(All Home Games in Bold)
Date Time Opponent Where
12/2 4:00 Tourney Terra Nova
12/3 8:00 Tourney Terra Nova
12/3 8:00 Women’s Classic Del Mar
12/7 4:00 Tourney Hollister
12/14 7:00 Salinas Live Oak
12/21 7:00 Sobrato Sobrato
01/11 7:00 Hollister Live Oak
01/14 8:00 Jim Root Classic West Valley
01/14 8:00 Tourney Los Gatos
01/18 7:00 Gilroy Gilroy
01/21 8:00 Overfelt Classic Overfelt
01/27 7:00 N. Salinas Live Oak
02/7 7:00 Palma Palma
02/11 10:00TCALs Gilroy
