Hollister High School wrestlers dominate Soledad in home meet

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It would be hard to describe the Hollister High School wrestling team’s 59-5 home match victory over Soledad High School as anything other than a rout. But the result was not really a surprise.

“It’s one of the things you expect when a team comes up from a lower division,” said Head Coach Steven Salcedo. “But it gave us a chance to wrestle a couple of our backup kids, and it was nice to see them come away with some wins.” 

And win they did. Of the 14 junior and varsity contests, there were eight falls, two technical falls, two decisions, one forfeit and only one loss—Diego Galvan (154) with a 3-21 technical fall.

“I was hoping Diego would take that one too,” Salcedo said. “That kind of caught me off guard. But I think it’s more disappointing for him than for me because Diego’s had an excellent year otherwise.”

One disappointment for the junior varsity team was the number of forfeited matches resulting from a short Soledad roster. Only two wrestlers had a chance to compete—Leo Morales (122) and Gabriel Horton (134)—and both won quickly by falls.

“They were looking good today,” said JV coach Isaias Rivera. “They’ve been putting in the work, and they had challenges yesterday for their spots so they were ready to go tonight.”

The JV team probably could use the rest after their first-place showing at the Jan. 17 44th Overfelt JV Classic. Orestes Montero (126), Horton, Maximiliano García Pérez (160), and Miles Martinez (190) all took individual championships. There was a scattering of others on the team who placed: Carson Quesada (126) was fourth, Isiah Toscano (150) was second, and Luke Trujillo (157) was sixth.

“We are looking pretty good,” Rivera said. “I see us being league champs again this year and ready to feed the varsity team next year.”

The varsity matches were notable, in part, for their brevity. Montero, Shane Wilbur (167), Noe Cortes-Ceja (192) and Joseph Aviles (287) all scored 3-0 falls, leaving stunned opponents in their wake. 

Overall, Salcedo was pleased with the match results, saying that none of the individual efforts really stood out because of his high expectations for the team. 

“They won the matches I expected them to win,” he said. “But the next tournament is the Mid-Cals, which has a lot of the best kids in the surrounding states. I look forward to seeing our better kids trying to place or win the tournament.”

After the match, Salcedo singled out a few wrestlers for interviews.

Francisco Rivera (134): 14-1 decision

“I’ve been coaching Francisco since he was probably about eight or nine years old,” Salcedo said. “So watching him grow up and have success has been great and it’s gonna be bittersweet to see him leave.”

Rivera said he likes wrestling because, though it’s a team sport, it is really all about individual achievement and how much work you need to put into succeeding on your own on the mat. Going into his match, though, he had a slight advantage: he had wrestled his opponent before.

“I kind of got in there kind of knowing what I was gonna do,” he said, “and then I just did it. It was more complicated because I expected him to wrestle exactly like he did last year.”

The big difference, Rivera said, was that his opponent had a stronger base than he remembered.

“I just had a little bit of a hard time turning him,” he said, “but I got it done.”

Though this was only his third tournament this season. Rivera has won 16 out of 19 matches, and he is looking forward to the league championships and working to advance to the state finals.

Shane Wilbur (167): 3-0 fall

“Shane has one of the highest GPAs in the school,” Salcedo said. “I’ve been coaching him since he was around 10 years old. I know he’s still trying to think about his next year’s options, but he’s grown into a mature young man.” 

Wilbur had also wrestled his opponent before but with less difficulty than Rivera, quickly pinning him—to his regret.

“I kind of wanted to let him up and score a bit more,” he said. “But the way he was wrestling, I didn’t really get to do that. But I can’t complain about the way it ended.”

Wilbur was sidelined with an injury at the beginning of the season but now feels secure in his chances of advancing to the finals.

“I came pretty close last year,” he said, “but I had a head injury, so I wasn’t able to quite accomplish that. But the goal is to be league champion and qualify for state.”

Wilbur said that what he likes best about wrestling are the values it promotes.

“You learn hard discipline and values that you can carry on in everyday life,” he said. “And you learn self-control and critical thinking, which allows you to navigate life a little bit more easily.”

James Furrow (177): 20-1 technical fall

This year is Furrow’s first on the varsity team and he has already proven to be a valuable talent. Salcedo said he’s watched Furrow, a senior, grow into a new person as a result of his training and noted that a couple of schools have already offered him some scholarship opportunities.

After spending the last three years as a backup, Furrow decided to make a push to varsity, gaining enough weight to move up a class, part of his overall dedication to the sport. He described himself as “a prime example of hard work.”

“I came to the sport knowing nothing about wrestling,” he said, “and now I am on the varsity squad. I love working hard to achieve my goals. Whatever you do off the mat is going to be what the output is on the mat. I love that part.”

With not a lot of experience at this level of competition, Furrow said, he went into the match with less mental preparation than he would have preferred. 

“I had never wrestled this guy before,” he said, “so it was kind of a gamble knowing what I was supposed to do out there. I decided I wanted to wrestle the way I wrestle, and just let it fly.” 

Furrow quickly discovered that his opponent was not going to be a pushover when he was immediately hit with a suplex, where a wrestler uses their body weight to throw the other onto their back.

“I fought my way out of it,” he said, “and I got my reversal. Then I just started racking up the points and won it on a tech in the second period. I had a full heart and trusted in myself, no matter what was happening.”

There are only two more high school meets—Jan. 29 at Palma High School and Feb. 5 at Hollister High with Salinas—before the PCAL meet on Feb. 7 and 8, this year hosted by Hollister. The CCS Regionals follow on Feb. 15, then the CCS Masters on Feb. 22. The season ends with the CIF State Championships, which will run from Feb. 22 through March 1.

Results by weight class

JV

122 – Leo Morales – 11-0 – fall
134 – Gabriel Horton – 9-0 fall

Varsity

122 – Kaden Rodrigez – 15-4 fall
128 – Orestes Montero – 3-0 fall
134 – Francisco Rivera – 14-1 decision
140 – Aaron Rodriguez – 9-1 fall
146 – Troy Garcia – forfeited by Solano
154 – Diego Galvan – 3-21 technical fall
159 – Aidan Castro – 10-4 – decision
167 – Shane Wilbur – 3-0 – fall
177 – James Furrow – 20-1 technical fall
192 – Noe Cortes-Ceja – 3-0 fall
207 – Vinsint Cervantes- 18-2 technical fall
287 – Joseph Aviles – 3-0 – fall

Upcoming meets

1/24-25 – Mid Cals @ Gilroy
1/25 – JV Tournament @ Lynbrook
1/29 – Meet @ Palma
2/05 – Meet with Salinas @ Hollister
2/07 – PCAL Boys JV Finals @ Hollister
2/08 – PCAL Varsity Boys Finals @ Hollister
2/15 – CCS Regionals @ Watsonville
2/22 – CCS Masters Championships @ Watsonville
2-22- 03/01 – CIF State Championships @ Bakersfield

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