‘We look up at our banner and it’s empty.’ Quintet helping Gauchos close in on title.

El Capitan High coach John Petty calls them the five horsemen.

Seniors Josiah Araujo, Devin Holman, Evan Myrtue, Kevin Fernandez and Kyle Lee are five wrestlers who spent four years in the Gauchos wrestling program, including the past three seasons with Petty.

The quintet racked up 25 points on Tuesday night to help lead El Capitan to a convincing 53-9 win over Golden Valley in a battle of the Central California Conference unbeaten teams at the Stable Center. The Gauchos won 11 of the 13 contested matches.

The Gauchos (9-0 overall, 5-0 CCC) are rapidly closing in on their first conference championship.

“We look up at our banner and it’s empty,” Petty said.

El Capitan has worked hard to fix that and they moved a big step closer to putting their year next to a CCC championship on the wrestling banner hanging in the gym.

“We started from the bottom and made our way up,” said Myrtue, who won by fall with a second-round pin in his 160-pound match on Tuesday night. “When we came into the CCC people said this team is never going to win. This group has put in a lot dedication and hard work. I know I’ve put my heart and soul into this sport and it’s finally paying off.”

The “five horseman” have been the backbone of a team that is establishing El Capitan as a wrestling school.

Usually when the Gauchos wrestle at tournaments out of town, nobody has heard of El Capitan.

“We hear it all the time, where are you guys from? It’s usually when we get to the second or third round,” said Petty. “These guys have been putting El Capitan on the map.”

The Gauchos have won their first two tournaments in the program’s history this season with wins at the Dinuba Invitational and the Mike Tamana Invitational at Modesto Junior College.

The Gauchos turned heads earlier this season when upsetting Turlock 37-33 in a dual match.

“We’re trying to build tradition and a culture,” Petty said. “We want to be known as a wrestling school as much as anybody else around here. We don’t want to hear it’s because Turlock and Pitman aren’t in the league anymore. We proved that with our win over Turlock this year. We tried to get Pitman on the schedule.”

Holman, Myrtue, and Lee all pinned their opponents against Golden Valley. Araujo won by decision and Fernandez picked up a major decision.

Combined the five wrestlers have a 126-39 record this season.

“To go on and win CCC this year would be great,” Holman said. “Until this year, we don’t feel we received the acknowledgment we deserved. This year guys have really stepped up their game. Our bond is really strong. The five of us have been working together all four years, even going back to youth.”

Holman (32-5) and Myrtue (29-7) both advanced to the state meet last year as juniors. Their teammates look up to them in the wrestling room. They’re well aware they help set the tone for the program.

“We got to offseason tournaments, we hang out every day,” Myrtue said. “We have this brotherly bond that we’ve created. That spreads out to the team. When everyone else sees how hard we work, they want to work just as hard.”

Petty says Araujo, Holman, Myrtue, Fernandez and Lee are great kids off the mat as well. It would be hard to hand pick better role models for his program.

“It helps a lot because all five of them have been with me for three years,” Petty said. “They know our system. They’re helping create a culture. They’re also great students. They have no graders lower than a ‘B.’ They’re great kids. I would ask them to babysit if I had kids.”