From the sports archives: Luke Cruz crowned first CCS heavyweight champ in South City history

The “oohs” echoed from the rafters of Independence High School like something out of WrestleMania. Some were oohing “Luke” while others oohed “Cruz.”

Either way, Luke Cruz’s name culminated in South City boys’ wrestling history Saturday as the senior was crowned the Warriors’ first ever Central Coast Section heavyweight champion.

“I think it’s just support that’s accumulated over the four years,” Cruz said of his fans. “And I’m happy for it. … I love having all the support I can get.”

Cruz earned a 3-1 overtime win over Branham senior Lucas Peters. The two had never faced one another before and stood toe to toe for most of the regulation six minutes. The only points tallied in regulation were each wrestler scoring a 1-point escape.

In the first one-minute overtime, though, Cruz pressed for a double-leg takedown to claim the victory. The senior hopped to his feet, flexing his biceps while radiating a boyish smile towards the crowd in celebration of capturing the 285-pound division gold medal.

The fourth-year varsity star then raced over to his corner to share an emotional hug with longtime South City coach Steve Matteucci, then proceeded to hug it out with new head coach Temo Cervantes.

“He wrestled his perfect match,” Cervantes said. “That’s what we were looking for: a 3-1 victory. We knew the kid was tough, we knew he wasn’t going to put on a show. He went in there calm-headed, knew his game plan and knew what the outcome was going to look like.”

It was Cruz’s first overtime match of the year, he said. He faced plenty of them during his underclassman years though, and has trained on the scenario all season.

“It’s a scenario that we love,” Cruz said. “Every single day coach Temo Cervantes and I, we drill one-minute goes. And he just tells me the same exact thing: ‘CCS finals. State finals. You get into that overtime and we’re going to win that takedown.’ So it’s a scenario I’m very comfortable with. I was just excited to be there.”

While Cruz is winding down his high school career in fairytale style — he does advance to the state championships this weekend in Bakersfield — the CCS title is so much more personal than mere hardware.

It was a goal he shared with a now-deceased friend, Patrick Locsin, who committed suicide in 2013 the day prior to South City’s first dual meet when Cruz was a freshman.

Cruz and Locsin had been best friends since meeting in fourth grade at Monte Verde Elementary School. By the time they graduated to Westborough Middle School in South San Francisco, they had already planned to wrestle at South City, inspired by Locsin’s older brother Jordon and Cruz’s older cousin Roko Smiljanic, both of whom wrestled for the Warriors.

“We knew we were going to wrestle for South San Francisco,” Cruz said. “And the plan was, my senior year, we would be league champions and CCS champions.”

Locsin’s brother Jordan was in the crowd Saturday night. And soon after Cruz shared emotional hugs with his coaches, Jordan was one of the first people from the crowd to embrace the newly-minted CCS champion — like he and Patrick “P-Loc” Locsin had planned.

The sense of family runs deep between Cruz and Matteucci as well.

“This means so much, especially with Luke,” Matteucci said. “I’ve always been his dad since Day One … especially after what happened his freshman year.”

South City has had two previous heavyweights take third place at CCS. Matteucci’s son Tony was the last to do so in 2003. Andy Fuimaono was the first in 1982. The Warriors have had two other CCS champions in lower weight classes.

In the team competition Saturday, Gilroy High School earned its 15th straight CCS boys’ team title. Serra was the top San Mateo County team in ninth place.

In other individual competition, San Mateo County wrestlers landed two bronze medals, with Terra Nova’s Daniel Borrego taking third place at 113s; and Serra’s Evan Behrendt taking third at 182s. Finishing in fourth place was Serra’s Evan Jones at 138s; and Mills’ Sione Langi at 220s. Finishing in fifth place was Burlingame’s Kyle Botelho at 106s. Finishing in sixth place was Carlmont’s Dylan Adams at 145s; Half Moon Bay’s Jimmy Claitor at 170s; and San Mateo’s Tristen Helin at 195s.