Live Oak High had three wrestlers left. There were a number of
possible outcomes but only one of them would win the meet. The
Acorns needed a miracle; one came. In Live Oak
’s meet against Salinas Wednesday night, the finial three
wrestlers scored pin falls to pull out a 36-35 victory in dramatic
fashion.
Live Oak High had three wrestlers left.
There were a number of possible outcomes but only one of them would win the meet. The Acorns needed a miracle; one came.
In Live Oak’s meet against Salinas Wednesday night, the finial three wrestlers scored pin falls to pull out a 36-35 victory in dramatic fashion.
“The team is now coming together as a unit,” new Acorn head coach Manny Fernandez said. “They took on the characteristics of what a Navy SEAL unit would be. When you become a unified unit, nobody can beat you.”
Salinas looked to have the meet well in hand, jumping to a quick lead that increased to 32-6 before Live Oak could blink.
It was a testament to teamwork and never giving up, Fernandez said. Looking back, Live Oak saw some lucky breaks, even in the losses.
Live Oak was forced to forfeit in the 103 class, putting them in a 6-0 hole early. But Hondo Dominguez at 112 pinned his opponent to even the score.
Things went downhill for Live Oak as Beatrice Castro at 119, Jake Ortiz at 125 and Brett Jones at 135 were all pinned. Going down by points early on were Ishmael Marisclan at 130 who fell 16-3 and Steve Gunn at 140 who fell 18-5.
It all led up to the final matches that would turn the tide for Live Oak and allowing them to win and win big.
The tide turned when Richard Hossein at 145 wins by pin fall to make the score 32-12.
With Live Oak down by 20 points, senior Mitchell Reisner in the 152 weight class stepped in and fought hard, winning 5-0.
He was followed by senior Daniel Wahl in the 160 class who came from behind to win 5-4.
When junior Jonathan Redmond went up against his opponent in the 171 pound class, he fought numerous attempts to be pinned. There were several times when it looked like the match was over, but Redmond kept his shoulders off the mat and kept Live Oak in the meet.
By not getting pinned, Live Oak still had a chance to win, and they took it.
Redmond was followed by senior Gabe Sedberry in the 189 weight class who had to battle initially, but came out on top, literally.
With the adrenaline flowing from that pin, senior Mike Horner in the 215 pound class went in.
Early in the match, Horner received a bloody nose, but he was able to continue.
Horner had complete control of the match, but the Salinas wrestler was stubborn and wouldn’t make things easy for Horner. With the match nearly over, he was able to get the shoulders down and score the pin with ignited the Acorns who could saw victory just at the edge of their finger tips.
It came to rest on the shoulders of heavyweight senior Michael Gamez, or rather on the shoulders of his opponent.
Like in the previous two matches, Gamez took control early on and the only question was would he pin his Cowboy opponent.
Then it happened.
Gamez had the Salinas wrestler on his back and the gym erupted in shouts and stomping.
The only thing louder than the crowd was the sound of the referee’s hand hitting the mat announc-ing the victory for not only Gamez, but the entire squad of wrestlers.
“This gives us some great motivation,” Horner said. “The team worked hard. We have a good team with great leaders, a good captain. Everyone did a good job.”
Live Oak will next face Palma at Palma before coming home for meets against Gilroy and Hollister.
“The way the kids battled, we will probably be going 4-0 into Gilroy,” Fernandez said. “They’re battlers; they don’t quit.”
