Last year, Pitman’s Brayden Silva, a freshman, was called up to varsity for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Team Duals. He was one of eight freshmen who helped the Pride outscore their opponents — Stagg (Stockton), Linden and Tracy — by a combined total of 193 to 33. 

“We were just cruising, and I thought, ‘Man, I don’t really like section duals. It’s kind of boring,” he joked.

As a sophomore this year, Silva admitted he may have spoken too soon, as the Pride experienced arguably their toughest test of the 2023-2024 team season on Saturday at this year’s section tournament at Lincoln High School in Stockton. After shutting out Stagg 83-0 in the first round and dominating Linden 63-3 in the semifinals, they were able to come from behind to defeat Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) by a 37-34 score to clinch their second consecutive blue banner and their fifth in school history.

And Silva was right in the middle of the action.

With three matches left, the Pride found themselves down 34-25. 134-pound senior Angel Villasenor was able to cut the deficit to three after securing a third period pin. Silva took the mat next at 140 pounds, giving his team the lead 35-34 with a major decision. The last match of the day featured 146-pound sophomore Mika Ontiveros, who battled his opponent to a 4-4 draw in regulation. In sudden-death overtime, Ontiveros secured a single-leg takedown to clinch the title. He immediately turned to his teammates and coaches to let out a series of thunderous roars while pounding his chest.

“It felt wonderful. The emotions just burst out of me. I never do that,” Ontiveros admitted. “But it felt so good for my team to win it because I know how much they sacrificed for this… I had to get it for our team, because of the sacrifices and for how hard we trained.”

Pitman head coach Adam Vasconcelos praised the performances of Villasenor and Silva to set up Ontiveros’ heroics.

“Angel was wrestling a really close match, and when he ended up getting the fall in the third period, it really sparked those next two guys. Brayden was up next and was fired up going out there and got that major decision. He dominated the match and was so close to getting the fall multiple times… And thank goodness Mika was next, because he has the heart of a champion and pulled it out for us in overtime.”

Villasenor shared that it was Silva who encouraged him during his match to pull off a fall, despite the grueling back and forth affair.

"I'm wondering, ‘Am I just (going to) win this by decision? Or am I going to get a pin?’ But then Braydon comes up to me like, ‘Yo, you have to get a pin right now and I can do what I need to do.’ I was able to get back out there on the mat and get it done.”

“I knew it was going to be a tough match for me coming up, so we needed that pin for the points in order for us to have a shot at winning it,” Silva added.

Silva also gave an abundance of praise to all members of the coaching staff, who have helped him develop and manage his weight.

Villasenor agreed, while also reflecting on his journey on the wrestling mats, sharing that he had doubts of achieving success at the varsity level early in his high school career.

“To win the section, it’s a good feeling. I couldn’t have done this without all the people who pushed me because I always wondered how I would be able to get to this point. At the beginning of the year, I was 150 pounds, and I didn’t know if I would be in the varsity (lineup) because there were other guys that weighed the same who are dominant,” he said, referring to teammates like Ontiveros, Abriel Padilla (152) and Xadian Padilla (159). “But Adam and Cody (Vasconcellos) and the rest of the guys pushed me. They push all of us to get our diets in order and to train the right way.

“I guess the message is that, if somebody believes that you're capable of doing something, don't undercut yourself. Don't say you can't do it. I didn’t know how far I could go, but if someone actually fully believes in you, then you should push for it. Go out, do your best.”

Several underclassmen who haven’t typically competed at the varsity level this year also made the trip to Stockton to compete for the Pride. Vasconcelos explained that the experience could help elevate their hunger for the years to come.

“Every year, we try to get some of our younger kids experience in those early rounds of the tournament. So a lot of our guys that aren't our normal starters wrestled in that first match,  that way they know next year what to expect. It's good for them to get a taste of it. And then they were able to experience the dogfight at the end, so this just gives them a better understanding of our expectations as a program and can motivate them to get to that level in these coming years.”

Next up on the wrestling schedule are the Central California Athletic League individual championships on Friday at Turlock High School. A handful of Bulldogs will be competing alongside the title-winning Pride, with action kicking off at 9 a.m.

“This is the hard part now, because almost all of our kids have the goal of competing at the state level, but they need to take it day by day. It's about focusing on the little things that are right in front of you. Right now, it's about working as hard as you possibly can to make small fixes and then you go out there and place as high as you can,” Vasconcelos said.