El Capitan pins down road win over Pacheco

Josh Wickard has grown accustomed to the El Capitan High School wrestling team’s ebbs and flows.

With so many underclassmen in the lineup, the Gauchos’ dual meets can be a roller-coaster ride. Matches seldom go the distance, with flurries of pins leading to big momentum swings.

It went that way Tuesday night. With an equally young Pacheco squad hosting, 10 of the 14 matches were decided by falls. The last two went El Capitan’s way as it pulled out a 47-29 Western Athletic Conference victory.

“That’s pretty much what we expect,” Wickard said. “We’re a young team so we either get pinned or get a pin. We’re getting closer to being able to turn some of those pins into regular losses and saving us some points, but we’re not there yet.

“Our lightweights are definitely our strength, so the way the match was setting up, we felt good. We got good showings from some of our bigs and were able to pull it out.”

The Panthers made them earn it.

The Gauchos (2-2 WAC) started with a 12-6 decision by Michael Solorzano at 132 pounds and pins by Omar Govea (138) and Isaak Gonzalez (145) to take a 15-0 lead.

Pacheco (0-4) answered with four consecutive pins by Ruben Rocha (152), Erick Ramirez (160), Gabe Casarez (170) and Joseph Reinbold (182) to give the Panthers a 23-15 lead. It should have been 24 points, but a misconduct cost Pacheco a point.

“We felt like we had them,” Pacheco coach Michael Singh said. “It was the first time all season we’ve suited our entire squad. We had to give a forfeit at 195, but I felt like we were in a good place to win.

“There were some pins that definitely shouldn’t have happened. I’m sure they feel the same way. But we’re suiting up mainly freshmen and sophomores, with a few juniors mixed in, so that’s unfortunately going to happen sometimes.”

El Capitan’s big men put the Gauchos up for good. Jacob Fernandez pinned Anthony Quijano at 220, and Paul Leonardo recorded an 11-3 major decision at 285.

Anthony Velazquez pulled Pacheco back within 31-29 with a pin 1:05 into his 106-pound match, but the Panthers could never get in front.

Back-to-back pins by Nathan Gonzales and Alex Cuadillo sealed the win for El Capitan, and Mitchell Rasmussen capped the night with a major decision.

This story was originally published January 27, 2015 at 10:41 PM with the headline "El Capitan pins down road win over Pacheco."