Javier Torres entered the Central Coast Section Wrestling Championships intent on taking home a title in the 106-pound weight class. Even though the Live Oak High junior finished second, he still had plenty of reasons to feel proud about his performance. Quite simply, Torres delivered another machine-like effort en route to the finals, coming up with three pins before running up against a buzzsaw in Gilroy freshman sensation Jayden Gomez in the championship match.
“I’m very happy I made it as far as I did, but I was pretty disappointed I came up short in the finals,” said Torres, who dropped an 8-1 decision. “I really wanted to become a CCS champ, but I’m happy I’ll be going to state.”
The CIF State Championships start on Friday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. Torres will go in unseeded, which suits him just fine.
“I’m going to wrestle like I have nothing to lose because I don’t,” he said. “I know state is another monster, but I hope to take a state title and finish first there.”
Torres realized he’ll need to improve his bottom game to beat Gomez should the two meet again. Gomez was able to ride Torres to the ground and spent a lot of time on top against Torres, who uses losses to learn and improve.
“I try to learn a lot from my matches and improve on everything I did wrong,” he said.
That’s exactly what Torres did in the semifinals against Palma’s Zach Thompson, who had easily handled Torres 11-2 earlier in the season at the Overfelt Tournament. However, Torres was intent on getting payback. With the match tied at 2-2 late in the third period, Torres got Thompson on his back for a pin with one second remaining.
Had Torres not gotten the pin, he would’ve won 5-2, having accumulated three points for a near fall.
“I trained a lot for the Palma guy because I knew I would see him in the semifinals, and he would be my obstacle to get to the finals,” Torres said. “Going into the match, my head was on straight and I was confident I would come away with the win.”
It’s worth noting that Torres went 1-2 in the CCS Championships last year. The improvement he’s made in 12 months has him poised for even greater things next season.
“Next year I’m planning to take CCS,” he said. “And state.”
