Wrestling renaissance: Numbers trend up for PAL programs

It wasn’t much different than when he wrestled for the Knights. Gonzalez said throughout his wrestling career, the team numbered in the 20s — which included both varsity and junior varsity.

This season, 60 athletes turned up for tryouts and Gonzalez said his program has a varsity and JV roster in the low 40s.

“My experience (during my high school career) was good. I think we had about 20 kids throughout my career there. … It was such an incredible program for me, to build camaraderie with an eclectic group of guys from all walks of life,” said Gonzalez, who teams with another former Hillsdale football-wrestling standout in Evan Thodos as his assistant.

“I think there are always going to be a group of kids who will want to push themselves. Who really want to see what they’re about.”

Hillsdale wrestling program reflects a nationwide trend that has seen participation in high school wrestling surge over the last several years. The National Federation of State High School Associations reported that in 2021-22, the number of high school wrestlers — both boys and girls — went over the 300,000 mark. Last year, the number topped 350,000.

In talking with coaches and athletic directors around the Peninsula, Hillsdale is not the exception as several programs have seen increasing numbers in the last couple of years.

“It definitely is growing, if our novice tournament was an indicator,” said Ray Reyes, longtime coach at El Camino and currently the Peninsula Athletic League Director of Wrestling.

“When we had preregistration, it was 240 (boys) and 80 girls. You’d have to figure that’s at least half or more than half of the league, as it stands.”

Reyes said the tournament had four mats going this year — but had only two assigned referees. So there was a decision to be made.

“Either we have to coach ref (have coaches serve as a referees) or go to midnight,” Reyes said. He said since there is not a lot of pressure during the tournament, which is more about getting actual mat experience more than anything else, everyone was on board. So coaches and even some of the older, varsity wrestlers stepped in to officiating matches.

“It was like, ‘All hands on deck,’” Reyes said. “It circles back to community.”

Community and culture are a big part of the sport and it is community, especially, that is lifting all ships in the PAL. The PAL coaches’ list is filled with longtime wrestling contributors who are giving back to their community.

Joe Pantone was a longtime coach at Aragon, who has teamed up with former Serra and Gilroy coach Ricardo Garcia, to head up the Carlmont program. Steve Matteucci, who is essentially the dean of PAL wrestling after spending 15 years at South City and “retiring” in 2015, is now the head man at Capuchino.

Two of Matteucci’s former South City wrestlers, Jason and Temo Cervantes, are head coaches at San Mateo and South City, respectively.

Oceana coach, Josue Gazo, was a 2014 Central Coast Section champ for the Sharks, before serving as an assistant for five years before taking over for Mike Tang before the 2021-22 season. Sam Temko, who serves as co-coach with Ronnie Ekis at Half Moon Bay, was a 2007 CCS champ.

Manny Borrego was a standout at Terra Nova before starting up the Westmoor program last season. Aragon’s Angelo Goumenidis starred at El Camino, going on to wrestle collegiately at Skyline and Southern Oregon.

“It’s really big to have local guys (as head coaches). They’re the ones looking to continue the programs. … I don’t think the league would exist without them,” Gonzalez said, who is also a campus safety specialist and wears several other hats for the Hillsdale community.

“It’s really big to have these guys who have wrestled in the area, who know the area, who know the kids and their families … and know what kind of (wrestling) environment they need to have.”

In addition, many of these coaches are on campus or, at the very least, work in a scho0l’s district, which allows them to recruit the hallways and be a consistent presence to the athletes throughout the day.

“We have wrestling guys in school positions,” Reyes said.

And while having increased participation is great, it also helps with the competitive balance. While the Half Moon Bay boys’ team has won 10 straight PAL Bay Division dual-meet titles in row, the Ocean Division champion has rotated through seven different champions since 2013.

Balance was seen at the PAL championships last season as wrestlers from seven of the 16 teams won a weight-division title. Not only balance, but depth. Of the 42 wrestlers who made the podium — the top three finishers in 14 weight classes — 18 were seniors, who have since graduated. But there were also 13 juniors, six sophomore and five freshmen to make the podium, which indicates there is plenty of talent returning for the 2024-25 season.

There are several reasons for the increase in participation — Reyes believes people are more and more comfortable playing contact sports coming out of COVID, while Gonzalez attributes it to the proliferation of martial and mixed martial arts.

But there is a third reason — equity. Unlike many sports where certain physical attributes might give an athlete an advantage, such differences matter little in the sport of wrestling. The only physical attribute that matters is weight.

“The great thing with our sport, you get to know your body and what it’s capable of,” Gonzalez said. “Gone are the days of cutting weight. But you have to be able to commit to a weight.

“It’s a real big equity sport.”