The Campbell Reporter

Sports

Panthers pin down division wrestling title

By Kevin Sparrer

Endurance can be the deciding factor when it comes to a wrestling match, especially when a team is involved in a tri-meet and each wrestler must take part in more than one match. In that case, endurance is truly called into question, and the Prospect wrestlers have it by the truckload.

The Panthers defeated both James Lick 73-6 and Lincoln 63-15 on Jan. 30, proving that Prospect deserves its championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

The Panthers dominated James Lick with eight pins, two coming in the first minute of action. Sohei Takagi defeated his opponent at 135 pounds in only 36 seconds, and David Silver pinned in 53 seconds at 145s.

Ethan Snyder, at 215s, put his opponent's shoulders to the mat in 1:12, and it took Michael Bricker only 1:16 at 125s and Kyle Vennell just 1:22 at 152s to register falls.

At 189 pounds, Chris Sierra downed his opponent in 1:36, and 119-pounder Janik Santana pinned his in 1:45.

Zac Cook's pin at 160s was the only fall that didn't come in the first round of the match. Cook finished off his opponent in 4:56.

Brian Santana won by a major decision of 18-6 at 140s, and Justin Estores also won a major decision of 16-2 at 112s.

The same night, Prospect also took down Lincoln with seven pins.

Again Prospect came out quickly with six of the seven pins coming in the first round of the matches. Vennell had the fastest pin against Lincoln in 1:27, while Sierra was close behind in 1:32 and Snyder followed at 1:36.

It took J. Santana 1:47 to put his opponent on the mat, while Bricker took 1:52 and Cook did it in 1:55.

Scott Campbell put his 171-pound opponent's shoulders down in the third round at 4:25.

B. Santana also won his second match of the night on a 5-2 decision and David Silver took six team points in a forfeit.

"This team puts in a ton of hard work," said Prospect head coach Shawn Henebry. "They train year-round to be the best, and it really shows when we step on the mat and 'Dictate and Dominate,' which has been one of our team mottos."

Prospect's list of accomplishments on the mat this year includes more than just league competition. The Panthers were the Silicon Valley Cup champions in the silver division, they took third in the San Marin Invitational and they were third in the Jim Root Classic. Henebry also expects his Panthers to finish among the top three teams at the BVAL finals on Feb. 16.

Prospect has nine wrestlers that are currently ranked in the Central Coast Section in their weight classes. J. Santana and Cook are both seventh, Takagi is eighth, Silver and Campbell are 15th, both Vennell and Chris Walter are 18th, and Bricker, B. Santana, Sierra and Snyder are all 20th.

Kelly Kusumoto is also the top-ranked female wrestler in the state in her weight class and has won five titles so far this year.

"We look forward to qualifying as many wrestlers to CCS and hopefully to state for the postseason tournaments," said Henebry.

Prospect finished the Santa Teresa Division season 7-0 in dual meets and 13-2 overall.