The Sobrato wrestlers finished three wins shy of qualifying for
state
SAN JOSE — In the same weekend Joseph Redmond ended a stellar prep wrestling career, and Kyle Shelton got his off and running, Phil Luna announced he is hanging his whistle up after four seasons as coach of the Bulldogs.
Luna, 38, said he plans to spend more time with his four sons, Ryan, Bryce, Matthew and Hunter, who are starting elementary school.
“At this point in my life, I just need to be there for my family,” Luna said. “Right now, they’re going to bed at 7:30, and I’m getting home at 6:30.”
Luna helped springboard Sobrato wrestling after joining the program in 2005. He guided the Bulldogs to three consecutive second-place team finishes in league and coached Mike Duran and Genaro Redmond — Joseph’s older brother — to individual CIF-Central Coast Section titles in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
“I’ve had a lot of fun coaching here,” he said. “The program has been very professional and family orientated.”
With Luna on hand, Joseph Redmond and Shelton finished three wins from qualifying for state last weekend in the CIF-Central Coast Section finals at Independence High School. Both were eliminated with consolation-bracket losses to the No. 6 seeds at their respective weights. Redmond fell 10-1 to Overfelt’s Joshua Go at 121 pounds, and Shelton (105 pounds) lost by way of a 17-2 technical fall to Abel Rascon of Watsonville.
“It’s unfortunate they drew the only seeded wrestlers in the consols,” Sobrato coach Phil Luna said. “That just happens.”
Redmond, a senior, fell just short of his seasonlong goal: placing in the top four and making state. It was his third consecutive appearance at section finals.
“He ended a great (prep) wrestling career,” said Luna, who coached Redmond all four years. “Joseph didn’t even advance out of league finals freshman year. He was, like, 62-17 the past two years. He had a great finish.”
Redmond lost his opening bout, but advanced through Friday with a thrilling triple-overtime victory in his final match. He overcame a 4-0 deficit in the third period on the way to beating Kyle Wade of Aptos.
“That was a big win for him,” Luna said. “I’ll never forget it.”
Shelton, a sophomore, wrapped up a promising CIF-CCS debut. He bounced back from a second-round loss with back-to-back wins Friday, including a first-round pin against Santa Clara’s Taylor Olsen in an elimination match.
“Kyle had a superb tournament, finishing in the top 12. He was a great surprise,” Luna said. “Kyle has a great career ahead of him. He got the butterflies out this weekend.”
Steven Fernandez’s quest to make the state wrestling tournament will have to wait another year.
The Live Oak junior — seeded fifth at 142 pounds — on Saturday was eliminated from sectionals with a 7-4 loss to Steven Borba of San Benito.
It was only the sixth loss of the season for Fernandez, who was three wins from wrestling for third place — and advancing to state. He was making his third section-finals appearance.
“We were a little in shock afterward,” Acorns wrestling coach Robert Fernandez, father of Steven, said. “It’s pretty tough when you train year round, and it all ends with one loss. But you move on to next season. The fortunate thing is, Steven has another year.”
Steven drew a bye in his opening match and advanced through Friday by pinning Gilroy’s Adam Rosso in the second period. Steven finished the day with an 11-0 loss to No. 4 Chase McDowell of Bellarmine, dropping into the consolation bracket.
Live Oak’s Tony Morales ended his prep career Friday.
The senior was eliminated after losing to Milpitas’ Lendi Yanogacio in the second round of the 121-pound consolation bracket. Morales finished the tournament 1-2, scoring his 25th victory of the season.
“That’s his career,” Acorns coach Robert Fernandez said. “He gave it everything he had. It shows you how important it is to get seeded in this tournament. It’s a meat grinder.”
