Pioneer Valley High School boys’ and girls’ wrestling coach Kevin Ilac is well aware of how grueling his wrestling program is. And he’s quite upfront about it.
“We work insanely hard,” Ilac told the Sun. “We don’t cut kids, kids kind of cut themselves. To just make it through the season is an accomplishment on its own here.”
No one can say those methods don’t work.
On Feb. 6, the Pioneer Valley boys’ wrestling team made school history, and continued a storybook season, by winning the CIF dual championship—Pioneer Valley’s first CIF title in any sport. The sixth-seeded Panthers defeated top-seeded Righetti High School, 31-23.
“The boys defeated four different league champion teams from the surrounding counties, including Dos Pueblos and Thousand Oaks,” Ilac said.
It wouldn’t be long before Righetti had a chance for revenge because high school wrestling involves multiple end-of-the-season tournaments. There’s CIF duals, which is a team-oriented meet for the entire section; the league finals, a team event crowning the PAC 8’s top school; a CIF section meet for individuals; and then the state meet.
Pioneer Valley and Righetti squared off again on Feb. 13 as part of the PAC 8 league championships, with Righetti narrowly coming out on top.
“We just fell short,” Ilac said about a day when the competition came down to the very last match between the rivals. “If there’s a silver lining, we qualified all 14 of our wrestlers for state qualifiers this weekend, and it gives us a really good inside track to win the CIF championship at the individuals this weekend.”
Pioneer Valley is led by a quartet of dependable seniors: back-to-back PAC 8 champion Roman Garcia, heavyweight Ricardo Alonso, Rafael Delgado, and captain Pedro Sierra.
“They’ve been our mainstays,” Ilac said. “They lead by example inside and outside of the wrestling room. They are big, quality guys who are all four-year wrestlers. We’re reaping the benefits now of them being in the program that long.”
Alonso told the Sun he’s proud of the effort put forth during the grueling stretch of wrestling tournaments.
“We worked hard this whole weekend,” Alonso said. “I knew I had given my all because I wanted to be a league champ.”
Alonso did his part to try to make that happen, beating his rival, Antonio Ramirez of Righetti, in overtime, albeit in a somewhat strange way.
“I won because he hit me in the face, and I got an extra point for the penalty,” Alonso said. “I’ll see him again in CIF finals. He’s like my rival.”
Alonso gives credit to the Pioneer Valley coaching staff for enabling him and his teammates to find success in the sport.
“We all put in the work,” he said. “Conditioning sessions—I hate them. But my conditioning coach pushes me, and then we’re able to go 10 periods and not be tired. They give us the best support in the world.”
Everything involved in training for wrestling has taught Alonso discipline, and not just on the mat.
“Wrestling makes me a tougher person,” he said.
Not to be overshadowed by the boys’ team, Pioneer Valley girls’ wrestling is also busy collecting accolades. The Panthers won a PAC 8 league title on Jan. 30, and on Feb. 13, wrestlers Tiffany Santana, Jessica Bautista, and Carolina Molina qualified for the chance to compete in the prestigious state championships.
Bautista, a senior whose go-to move is the front headlock, told the Sun she’s excited to go to the state meet on Feb. 27, but that after many consecutive weekends of wrestling, she’ll be happy to use the upcoming weekend off to recuperate.
“It was a tough weekend,” Bautista said. “I’m really sore.”
Bautista reflected on the many ways wrestling has impacted her personal growth.
“Wrestling’s taught me a lot,” she said. “Hard work, dedication, sacrificing, and cutting weight and knowing the consequences of a big meal. They gave us a nutrition class at the beginning of the year.”
She expressed appreciation for the Pioneer Valley coaching staff and how well they’ve supported her and her teammates.
“They are really helpful and encourage us—we’ve been taught well,” she said. “Coach Ilac’s taught me a lot wrestling-wise and he keeps me on track with my grades. He cares about that as well.”
Ilac is in his 12th season as head coach of the wrestling program. His own love for the sport started when he was in seventh grade, and he knew coaching the sport was going to be a part of his future while he was attending Cal Poly.
Today, Ilac is grateful to be able to teach the students at Pioneer Valley, and believes that the continuity of his program, practices, and coaching staff is the reason for his teams’ sustained success.
“It’s a commitment to one vision,” Ilac said. “I’m the longest running head coach at Pioneer Valley. Finding people to help me enact that vision really helps too.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Feb 18-25, 2016.