CCCAA State Championship Recap
Comets fans, friends, alumni, and supporters,
This Saturday, we concluded our season at the CCCAA State Championship Tournament.
Four wrestlers qualified for the tournament:
Owen Wilson – 7th Place
I honestly could not be more proud of the effort Owen put forward this weekend. After dropping a very hard-fought match in the opening round to the eventual third-place finisher, he stepped up big and pinned the #8 ranked guy in the state with a well-timed shot attempt that led to a body lock throw. Owen reached the 7th-8th place match, where he would face the #4 ranked opponent from Cerritos, who had beat him last week at regionals. In one of my favorite moments as a coach, Owen timed a leg counter from the bottom position perfectly, reversed his opponent, and bulldozed him over for the pin. This kid has as much heart as any wrestler I've coached, and I'm very excited to see what he can do next year!
Randy struggled to get his offense going and ultimately lost in the match to place. While it was hard to see Randy lose to a guy that I know he could have beat, I'm pleased with the excellent season that he had. Randy defeated multiple state-ranked opponents throughout the year and proved that he's more than capable of being on the podium. I think some off-season weight training, a weight class change, and more experience will get Randy where he needs to be for next season.
Gavin Kaminski – 5th Place
Gavin had a bit of a rollercoaster of a tournament. That said, I'm proud that he finished strong with a 5th place medal. Gavin started the tournament by dominating his first opponent and would then have Noah Cortez, the undefeated champion. He gave Cortez his best challenge of the tournament (and probably the whole year), barely losing by a few points and ending the match on top trying to turn Cortez, who wanted no more of Gavin's offense. On day two, Gavin eked out a win over Cuesta, lost a heartbreaker to Sac City, and finished strong by getting a revenge win over Rio Hondo for 5th place. If Gavin decides to return next season, there's no doubt in my mind that he will be prepared to win a state title.
Armando Rodriguez
Like Randy, Armando lost two hard-fought matches against formidable opponents from Fresno and Mt. SAC. I'm very proud of Armando's tenacity in each match, especially considering he injured his ribs at regionals and could not practice all week. He got after it in both matches and wrestled to win, but unfortunately, he could not pull off the victory against the Mt. Sac opponent he's wrestled numerous times this year. Armando wants to continue wrestling at the next level; I'm sure that if he does, he'll excel both athletically and academically!
Congrats to Armando for finishing his career as a two-year starter and two-time state qualifier!
My thoughts on this season:
I had a great first year as head coach. The team culture was excellent, we improved substantially, and now we have direction on where we need to be next year. It's safe to say that our coaching staff and athletes all agree that we need to be contenders at this time next season. I'm up for the challenge of getting us there! Palomar wrestling is on the rise.
I wanted to thank everyone who helped contribute this season, including assistant coach Simon Olguin, volunteer assistant coach Mike Box, team manager Gabriel Parr, the Palomar athletics department staff, our many fans and donors, and, of course, the team.
Cheers to a great season.