Morgan Hill – Live Oak wrestling coach Robert Fernandez will not have many to fill out this year’s squad, but he said he is still confident that the Acorns will be competitive.
Live Oak will have 16 wrestlers, seven of which are new faces to the team.
“We have a real small team, but we will be pretty scrappy,” Fernandez said.
Because of the numbers, Fernandez moved the squad to the lower West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
“It is going to be a competitive league for a team our size and experience,” Fernandez said. “For us it works out great because we don’t have to compete with Hollister, Salinas and Gilroy.”
Fernandez also noted that the move to the West Valley Division means that his younger kids won’t have to go against strong seniors who routinely make appearances at the state meet.
“In that league, teams don’t have full rosters and a JV team is almost non-existent,” Fernandez said. “We are just going to have to move people around.”
Bringing some depth to the young team is Moriah Fernandez, who is the No. 2 ranked 138-pound girl in the state.
She will be training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., for a week to get ready for a tournament in early January.
Robert Fernandez said he expects Moriah Fernandez to be ranked nationally at the beginning of the year.
She will be joined by seniors Tom Method, Brett Jones and Milo Esquivel.
“We are looking for these guys to do very well this year,” Fernandez said.
Rounding out the ranks are the new comers to the Acorn squad, including Steven Fernandez, who as a freshman already has more than 200 matches.
“He is pretty experienced,” Robert Fernandez said. “We are looking for big things out of Steven.”
Initially because of the football season, Coach Fernandez said Moriah Fernandez has provided a leadership role to the new wrestlers. When Jones and Method were able to being training with the squad, they began to provide additional leadership, Fernandez said.
Fernandez said that having the 275-pound Method has really provided an impact.
“It’s nice to have a heavy weight around that nobody messes with,” Fernandez said.
The Acorns will open their season this weekend at Overfelt.
The first league dual match for Live Oak will be against Leland at home on Dec. 14.
Fernandez said he is excited to begin the year.
“We have got a good team, even though our numbers are small,” Fernandez said. “We have some scrappy kids. … I’m happy to keep the tradition going.”
