Central Catholic wrestler Abbate pleases brothers with seventh place

The next time Danny Abbate sits at the dinner table with brothers Joey and Steven, he’ll own the major talking point.

Joey and Steven each reached the CIF State Wrestling Championships twice, compared with Danny’s one-time shot this year. But Danny, a Central Catholic senior and the middle brother, possesses something they don’t:

A state medal.

Danny (138) campaigned hard through consolation Saturday and sealed seventh place with a 3-2 decision over Ethyn Ewing of Canyon.

Steven (126), a respectable 3-2 here as a junior, rooted Danny on from the seats while Joey, a wrestler at Duke, followed the meet from a distance. Joey and his friends especially enjoyed Danny’s dramatic 7-6 win over Clovis’ Dylan Martinez in the thankless “blood round.”

“We talked afterward, and Joey told me I was the best Abbate,” Danny said. “It was pretty emotional.”

Abbate’s gutsy 6-2 run at Rabobank Arena again demonstrated the event’s toughness factor. Abbate pushed through the disappointments, including a hard-fought 6-3 loss to state finalist Navonte Demison of Bakersfield on Friday. Abbate’s headlock and near-fall vs. Martinez, which many fans thought was a pin, eventually was enough.

“This tournament kills people’s dreams,” Abbate said, “but it also makes dreams from reality.”

Dreams often die in Saturday’s opening consolation round, where wrestlers must win to clinch a medal or are eliminated. The Stanislaus District, which started with 25 state qualifiers, was left with seven to navigate the win-it-to-stay-in-it round.

Danny Abbate, Pitman’s Adam Velasquez (120), Oakdale freshman Ricky Torres (126) and Delhi heavyweight Jesse Flores won at the right time. Not so fortunate were Oakdale’s four-time state qualifier, Trevor Williams (132); Buhach Colony senior Brandon Mendoza (113); and Oakdale’s Sac-Joaquin Section Masters champion, Bronson Harmon (152).

Velasquez took home a fifth-place medal, while Flores was seventh and Torres eighth.

Velasquez, 5-2 this weekend, doesn’t mind the bump-and-grind of a close match. Stuck at the bottom of the 120s draw with two-time state champion Justin Mejia of Clovis and two-time state medalist Robert Garcia of Selma, the Pitman star had nothing handed to him. A 3-2 loss to Garcia in the quarters forced Velasquez into his long second day.

It was capped by a predictably difficult fifth-place match against Jared Luty of American. Velasquez needed a takedown in the final 20 seconds to tie, leading to a 4-3 decision in double overtime.

“Every match at the state tournament is a barnburner,” Velasquez said. “The close ones are fun. Whoever works the hardest wins.”

Flores, the first Delhi athlete in the school’s still-young history to qualify for a state competition in any sport, delighted family and friends with his 5-2 performance. He closed with two takedowns for a 5-2 win over Nicolas Iversen of Ukiah for seventh.

“I’ve wrestled since I was 6. It was always a dream for me to get here,” Flores said. “When I’m on the mat, I feel like I’m the center of attention.”

Torres eliminated Dos Palos’ Adrian Marrufo with a takedown in the final seconds to clinch a spot in the medal rounds. Though Torres lost his final two, he probably will atone in the near future.

“His weight class was loaded. He did a heck of a job,” Oakdale coach Steve Strange said. “To come away with a medal was a great job.”

As for Abbate, he realized Saturday may have been his wrestling farewell. If true, he’s good with it.

“I just wanted it to be 110 percent and without any regrets,” he said.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Central Catholic wrestler Abbate pleases brothers with seventh place."