‘I told you!’: Cap delivers on coach’s promise with PAL boys’ wrestling tournament championship

And Matteucci was happy to gather his team for a post-meet celebration, echoing the same “I told you!” sentiment, a rally call after he told his team at the beginning of the year they had the depth of talent to make it to the PAL mountaintop.

“I was really more worried about the dual meet, because we are a good tournament team,” Matteucci said. “We’ve been doing well this year. We’ve been through some tough ones. We took our core guys; we went to Fresno (for a tournament), just to win some matches, and that’s what they did. They got that confidence and said: ‘Hey, I can do this anywhere.’”

Cap finished the boys’ meet with 213 1/2 points, topping second-place Carlmont (195 1/2) after scoring a clincher in the 126-pound finals when junior Jesse Chavez pinned San Mateo junior Dylan Nagaya in the second round. San Mateo earned the girls’ tournament championship with 147 1/2 points, topping second-place Terra Nova (129 1/2).

Two first-time PAL champs for Cap

It was a triumphant victory for Chavez, after a disappointing PAL tournament last season. As a sophomore, Chavez reached the 115s finals to square off with Mills’ Jayden Xie. The two grappled into the third period, only for Chavez to get rolled with under 30 seconds on the clock to get pinned.

“Last year, I just knew I couldn’t let that happen again,” Chavez said. “I don’t like it when people take stuff from me.”

This time around, Chavez took care of business early in the second round, securing a nearside cradle to earn the pin. It was the second time Chavez pinned Nagaya this season, the first coming when the two met in a regular-season dual.

“I was just looking for the same thing today,” Chavez said. “Get a pin, put my team up on the board, and I got it.”

Cap earned two individual titles, both topping the podium for the first time in their varsity careers. Billy Ferreria, a senior who missed the PAL tournament last year due to an injury, captured the crown at 175s with a 3-1 decision over Carlmont senior Andrew Dent.

Ferreria’s decision came down to a fantastic finish, with the senior leading 2-1 as he reverse covered Dent, who nearly pushed up and out of the cover to earn a last-second escape point and force overtime. Ferreria, though, leveraged wide and forced his opponent back to the mat.

“When there was 10-15 seconds left, my coach was saying short time, so I really knew to give it all I’ve got,” Ferreira said. “Cause there was no wrestling after that if I did good.”

Cap tallied a pair of second-place finishes as well. At 138s, San Mateo senior Luis Gonzales Molinero won the title with a tech fall over Cap sophomore Ayden Osegueda. In the penultimate match of the day at 215s, Half Moon Bay senior Andres Haro toughed out an 11-6 decision of Cap junior Kaua Vasconcellos.

In the heavyweight finale, Woodside senior Carlos Latu scored a 7-1 decision over El Camino junior Davian Martinez to secure the crown. However, Matteucci raved about his heavyweight, junior Jordan Ferreira, Billy Ferreira’s younger brother, who earned 17 points on the tourney with a win in the fifth-place match over Carlmont senior Kenjiro Barajas.

“He’s a JV kid, but I put him in here,” Matteucci said. “I said: ‘Look, you win one match, that will be big for us.’ He put two guys on their back. That was big for us. ... I needed team points, and he got me team points.”

Other key Cap points came from: senior Alexis Sanchez, third place, 165s; junior Brenden Siu, third place, 132s; sophomore Daniel Casemiro, fourth place, 157s; senior Dimitrius Khoury, fourth place, 150s; senior Kekoa Kaiwi, fifth place, 144s; and sophomore Mason Arellano, sixth place, 100s.

The kid comes through for Mateo

San Mateo freshman Ruby Peraza stole a good-luck charm from her older sister Xitlaly, who competed for the Bearcats in 2019 when they won the co-ed PAL championship. Now that the tournament has been formally split into boys’ and girls’ tourneys, Peraza — who wrestled for the JV team most of the year — was surprised when she received a text three days before the event that said she’d be on the varsity squad.

“I was surprised because I’m not that good,” Peraza said. “Well, I don’t think I’m that good. And I was surprised.”

So, Peraza did what little sisters are prone to do. She stole a sweatshirt from Xitlaly. Specifically, it was her big sister’s 2019 PAL tournament hoodie.

The pilfered good-luck charm paid off as Peraza rallied for the individual championship at 145s, pinning Terra Nova sophomore Yeva Bochkova in the first round of the finals. It stands as the freshman’s first championship at any level of competition.

“She took second at the novice and made her way to a PAL champion,” San Mateo coach Isabel Cervantes said.

A first-year wrestler, Peraza recalled her fundamentals in the middle of the match by abiding by proper head position.

“She tried to roll the other way, so I didn’t let her roll the other way,” Peraza said. “I pushed my chest into her. ... I kept it there but I looked down, and I remembered to not look down on a pin. And I looked up, realized I had the pin, and I was happy.”

During the post-meet celebration, the big question was whether Xitlaly was ever going to get her sweatshirt back.

“No,” Peraza said.

Mateo earned three individual girls’ championships. At 120s, junior Hannah Villareale scored a tech fall over Half Moon Bay senior Lauren McClellan. At 170s, sophomore Rachel Shomaker recorded a pin in the second round of the finals against Burlingame senior Ashley Viana.

“We were neck-and-neck with [Terra Nova],” Cervantes said. “So, the fact that [Peraza] was able to pin her (opponent) really locked it into place for us.”

The top three placers in each boys’ weight class, and the top four placers in each girls’ class advance to the Central Coast Section Wrestling Championships, opening this coming Saturday.

Other boys’ individual champions ...

El Camino junior Niko Selianitis, 106s; Carlmont junior Gabriel Osorio, 113s; El Camino junior Sage Gon, 120s; Half Moon Bay junior Gabriel Garcia-Procopio, 132s; Menlo-Atherton junior Colin Chung, 144s; Carlmont junior Nicolaas Foks, 150s; M-A senior Asher Supple, 157s; El Camino junior Lucas Valdez, 165s; and Hillsdale junior Troy Roser, 190s.

Other girls’ individual champions ...

M-A junior Eva Bhattacharya, 100s; Oceana junior Angeline Galon, 105s; Terra Nova senior Sophia Darer, 110s; El Camino sophomore Mariah Lejender, 115s; Mills junior Melanie Feng, 125s; Half Moon Bay junior Kat Abramenko, 130s; Burlingame sophomore Nora Scopazzi, 135s; South City senior Khloe Meisenbach, 140s; Westmoor senior Nataly Cuculista, 155s; and HMB junior Pluto Halterman, 190s.

Outstanding Wrestler awards ...

San Mateo’s Villareale earned Outstanding Wrestler honors for the girls’ lower weights, while South City’s Meisenbach earned the award for girls’ upper weights. El Camino’s Selianitis was named Outstanding Wrestler for boys’ lower weights, and Woodside’s Latu was Outstanding Wrestler for boys’ upper weights.