After falling behind rival Palma 31-0 on Wednesday night in Hollister, a deficit that began when San Benito lost seven straight matches to open the dual meet, the Balers began to close the gap when Robb Rodriguez defeated Josh Gonzalez by fall at 119 pounds, setting off a string of five straight wins for the Balers that led up to Christenson's 145-pound bout against Chieftain Eddie Farfan.
Although San Benito still trailed 31-24 at that point, a forfeit at 152 pounds was already in the books, meaning whoever won at 145s would provide their team the dual-meet victory.
"I didn't pay any attention to the score," Christenson said afterward. "I knew it was close. I knew if I won we'd have a chance, but I didn't know the exact score."
All that was needed was a win - anyhow, anyway. After Christenson scored a takedown with two seconds left in the first round, he then recorded three more takedowns en route to a 9-3 decision over Farfan, while San Benito picked up an improbable, come-from-behind 33-31 victory over Palma in the process.
"All he needed to do was win," San Benito head coach Brian DeCarli said of the senior Christenson, who hadn't wrestled since his freshman year after taking two years off from the sport to focus on baseball.
"A tale of two halves."
Wednesday's dual meet was San Benito's second of the season. The Balers lost 48-27 last week to Bellarmine, a match in which San Benito trailed 24-0 before cutting the deficit to 12 points.
But that's as close as they would get to the Bells.
On Wednesday, Palma built a 31-0 lead, mostly through the heavier weights, before San Benito began to march back into the match at the lower weights.
"It's our Achilles heel until we figure out how to stop it," DeCarli said of the heavier weights. "It hurt us against Bellarmine and it hurt us again (on Wednesday).
"But we're improving. I'm really happy the lighter guys were able to string it together."
Starting at 160 pounds, Palma began to build its lead when Ryan Sarmiento defeated Jonathan Arballo by fall at 3:19; Nick Abulencia defeated Justin Raine by a 5-4 decision; Mike Sarmiento beat Matt Meyer by fall at 1:01; Bob Bianchi pinned Martin Miguel Del Campo at 1:21; and Brandon Pulealii edged Adam Davis by a 4-2 decision at the heavyweight bout.
Davis trailed for most of the match when he scored an escape with 10 seconds remaining in the third round to tie the bout at 2-2. But Pulealii recorded a questionable takedown in the final seconds.
"But it was really good to see him get back out there," DeCarli said of Davis, who was out with an illness during last week's match with Bellarmine.
Palma picked up two more victories at 103 and 112 when Hunter Rehbein and Greg Stefani defeated Jennifer Espinoza and Isabella Sanchez, respectively. But San Benito finally found the spark it'd need when Robb Rodriguez pinned Palma's Josh Gonzalez at 3:16.
"If we're down, it's just more intense. We've got to wrestle harder," said the freshman Rodriguez, whose Balers trailed 31-0 prior to his match at 119 pounds. "I was pretty confident going into my match. I wanted to wrestle. I had a good warm-up and I was pumped."
San Benito then opted for Junior Davila, who was listed at both 125 and 130, to go up against Palma's Sam Eastman. Davila won by fall in 1:43.
"One of their tougher kids came out at 125s, so we sent Junior out," DeCarli said.
San Benito then picked up another surprising victory when freshman Jay Garcia pinned Christian Palacios in 4:51, while teammate Nikko Espinoza followed with a narrow 3-2 decision over Noah Short - the 135-pound Baler scored a reversal with 35 seconds remaining.
"That says a lot of the freshman, being able to step up," DeCarli said of freshmen Rodriguez and Garcia.
At 140 pounds, Edgar Ortega closed the previously 31-point deficit to just seven after he defeated Alec Reyes by a 6-3 decision, setting up Christenson's win-or-lose bout at 145 pounds.
"That was a big victory that we needed," DeCarli said.
San Benito officially sealed the two-point win when Mikey Soto won by forfeit at 152 pounds, and the Balers leapfrogged Palma as a result.
The Balers will now compete in the two-day Coast Classic Wrestling Tournament at Scotts Valley High beginning on Friday at 9 a.m. The tournament will continue into Saturday.
San Benito 33, Palma 31
160 - PALM, R. Sarmiento def. J. Arballo by fall (3:19); 171 - PALM, N. Abulencia def. J. Raine by dec., 5-4; 189 - PALM, M. Sarmiento def. M. Meyer by fall (1:01); 215 - PALM, B. Bianchi def. M. Del Campo by fall (1:21); 275 - PALM, B. Pulealii def. A. Davis by dec., 4-2; 103 - PALM, H. Rehbein def. J. Espinoza by dec., 5-2; 112 - PALM, G. Stefani def. I. Sanchez by major dec., 14-1; 119 - SANB, R. Rodriguez def. J. Gonzalez by fall (3:16); 125 - SANB, J. Davila def. S. Eastman by fall (1:43); 130 - SANB, J. Garcia def. by fall (4:51); 135 - SANB, N. Espinoza def. N. Short by dec., 3-2; 140 - SANB, E. Ortega def. A. Reyes by dec., 6-3; 145 - SANB, T. Christenson def. E. Farfan by dec., 9-3; 152 - SANB, M. Soto by forfeit.
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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WRESTLING: Balers steal victory from Palma's grasp 
