Sobrato heavyweight faces toughest foes in section this weekend
at Mid-Cals
With four schools that placed in the top 40 at the 2010 CIF State Championships, the upcoming Mid-Cal Classic is shaping up as more of a Central Coast Section showcase than the state-title race warmup seen a year ago, during the Gilroy tournament’s 30th anniversary.
That bodes well for wrestlers like Gustavo Ramirez. Sobrato’s senior heavyweight is dead set on ending his high school career with a first trip to Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena in March. He has a decent chance to make that happen next month at CCS finals, where Ramirez could run into many of the same opponents he sees this weekend at Gilroy High School.
“For us, this tournament is all about just trying to get a better record, get better prepared for CCS,” Sobrato coach Moses Guillardo said. “Hopefully, our guys have a good tournament.”
Of the 71 schools registered for Mid-Cals, more than half compete in the Central Coast Section. As many as seven wrestlers qualified for state in 2010; four were part of a state runner-up team at Selma, which will likely be in a two-horse race with Gilroy for the top prize today and Saturday. More than 200 are listed in the CCS rankings.
Ramirez, who is ranked No. 7 at 285 pounds, is coming off a first-place finish in the inaugural Bert Mar Invitational, where he upset No. 6 Steve White of host Christopher in the championship match. Ramirez has placed in four tournaments this winter.
“State’s the only goal for me,” he says.
This weekend, Ramirez gets an early look at some of the top competitors who could stand in his way at section finals: Homestead’s Dominick Jackson (ranked No. 1 in the CCS), El Camino’s Trevor Kelly (No. 2) and Palma’s Brandon Pulealii (No. 4), plus White.
“Hopefully, ‘Guze’ takes in the top five,” Guillardo said. “My goal for him is to place high up there — maybe top three. He has the potential.”
Sobrato is sending eight others to today’s opening session, which begins at 9 a.m., including sophomore Zach Zhang – ranked 17th in the CCS at 160 pounds. Teammates Bryan Gomes (119), Nik Crawley (140) and Evan Enright (152) are listed honorable mention. Sobrato is ranked 40th as a team.
Live Oak is not entered in the tournament.
The second session of Mid-Cals starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with the third- and fourth-place matches and fifth- and sixth-place matches following at 3 p.m. The finals are at 5.
