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Rothman is 'most outstanding'
Conley, Puder reach finals at Bianchini Memorial tourney
By DICK SPARRER
There was no wrestler better than Jarrod Rothman of Monta Vista at the 15th annual Gary Bianchini Memorial Tournament last Saturday.
Or was it Peter Le of Santa Teresa?
Or was David Galant of Del Mar the best?
The questions are impossible to answer, because all three wrestlers were outstanding when the best teams in Northern California converged on the mats at Cupertino High School for what is considered to be the best one-day high school tournament in the state.
And all three have the plaques to prove it.
Rothman, Le and Galant each won individual titles, and each one was named as an outstanding wrestler award winner at the Saturday tournament.
Rothman was the champion at 125 pounds, securing the outstanding wrestler award in the lower weights. Le was best in the middle weights with a title at 145 pounds, and Galant was tops in the upper weights with an individual crown at 189 pounds.
Rothman helped the Mats to a third-place finish in the team standings behind Vacaville and Bellarmine. Vacaville won the team crown with 159 1/2 points with the Bells second at 155 1/2 and Monta Vista third at 142.
Daniel Puder finished second at 215 pounds and Matt Krieger was third at 160 to help the Mats to one of their best ever finishes at the Bianchini.
Galant and Cody Wilkinson each won titles for Del Mar in the rugged tournament. Galant took the 189-pound championship and Wilkinson was the winner at 130 pounds.
Anthony Baza of Fremont, Anthony Pease of Los Gatos and Tony Oka of Westmont were other area winners at the Bianchini.
Baza was first at 135 pounds to top a list of three Firebirds to place at the event. Steven Knight was second at 119 pounds for Fremont and Gilbert Sanchez was third at 152.
Pease won a title at 140 pounds for the Wildcats with David Serwitz third at 135 pounds and freshman Brian Miguel fourth at 130.
Oka led the Westmont showing with a championship effort at 171 pounds for the Warriors, pinning twice and winning a couple of major decisions at 171. Supporting with fifths were Juan Jimenez at 112 pounds and Adam Antolin at 125, and Dat Dinh was sixth at 119.
Host Cupertino failed to have a champ of its own, but the Pioneers did have a wrestler reach the finals and had two competitors finish in the top four.
Joey Conley was second at 160 pounds for the Pioneers and Anthony Nguyen came through with a third at 119.
Rothman, a perennial superstar for the Matadors, won four straight matches to claim the title at 125 pounds and claimed an outstanding wrestler award for a second straight year.
The Monta Vista senior has had an outstanding career for the Matadors, and the Bianchini offers a snapshot of those great high school years.
He started his career with a sixth-place finish at 103 pounds at the 1997 Bianchini. A year later, as just a sophomore, he gave notice of the big things that would follow with an individual title at 112 pounds.
Last year, Rothman won a title at 119 pounds and was selected as the outstanding wrestler in the lower weights. He matched that achievement this year, but at 125 pounds.
Le came through with the prestigious outstanding wrestler award in the middle weights by defending the 145-pound title he had won the year before. Le and Rothman were the only wrestlers to repeat as Bianchini champions this year.
Galant was second at 171 pounds last year and returned to win a title and an outstanding wrestler award this season.
Wilkinson joined his Del Mar teammate as a comeback Bianchini placer. Wilkinson was third at 125 pounds last year and won the 130-pound crown last weekend.
Oka and Baza each matched Wilkinson's effort.
The Westmont sensation was third at 171 a year ago before winning the division title this season. And the Fremont star was third at 130 in '99 and finished first at 135 this year.
Pease won his championship after finishing sixth in the tournament a year ago.
Mats win a pair
Rothman, Puder and Chris Ng each won twice to lead the Monta Vista wrestlers to back-to-back wins in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week.
The Matadors opened the league season with a tight 30-27 win over Los Altos, and they backed that up with a lopsided 36-10 win over Wilcox.
Pins by Arpit Uppal, Marcus Contro and Kyle Kingsbury drove the Matadors to the three-point win over the Eagles.
Lawrence Tsang started the Mats off with a 4-0 win at 112 pounds before Uppal pinned at 119.
Ng came through with a 7-3 victory at 125, Rothman won 7-0 at 135 and Contro pinned at 145.
Despite the wins in the lower weights, the Matadors entered the final two weight classes trailing 27-21.
Puder won 5-1 at 215 to cut the LA lead to 27-24, then Kingsbury iced the win for Monta Vista with a pin at 275.
Things weren't nearly as dramatic last week against Wilcox.
Tryg pinned in the third round at 189 and Puder pinned in 45 seconds at 215, but the Mats had all but locked up the team win over Wilcox before the two ever stepped on the mat.
Ng came through the first win of the night for the Matadors with a 7-3 victory at 126, and Rothman backed that up when he won by technical fall 17-0 at 130.
Nima Nejat won 11-5 at 135 and Billy Bybee posted a 7-3 win at 140.
After a loss at 145, Norman Hsich won 9-0 at 152 to start a string of five Monta Vista victories.
David Sproule won 9-5 at 160 and Krieger won 5-1 at 171 before Koren and Puder each won by fall.
The strong start comes as no surprise to Monta Vista head coach Matt Erdmann
"We have 14 seniors, plus a few sophomores with a lot of experience," said Erdmann. "We should have a successful season if we have no injuries or illness."
The coach figures his club for a top-three finish in the division, and rates Fremont, Los Gatos, Los Altos and Cupertino as other top title contenders.
Pioneers tie
Cupertino opened the league season by fighting Wilcox to a 31-31 tie in De Anza Division competition.
Pins by Mitch Conley, Nguyen and Ben DiGregorio got the Pioneers off to a strong start in the match, and J. Conley won by fall later in the night.
M. Conley pinned with a second left in the first round at 103 pounds to start Cuperitno off right. Nguyen pinned at 1:49 of the first at 125 and DiGregorio pinned with just 21 seconds left to wrestle at 130.
Daniel Lebus nailed a 6-0 win at 135 pounds before J. Conley pinned in the second round at 159. Nick Iden rolled to a 14-4 major decision win at 171.
But Wilcox won the last three matches to pull out the tie.
Veteran Cupertino coach Jay Lawson likes the looks of his squad this season, but he also knows now tough the De Anza Division can be.
"We will have a good team with a lot of experience," he said, "and we should be solid all the way through the line-up."
"Once again, however, the rest of the league is extremely good this year," he added. "Any of the seven teams in the division could win it all."
J. Conley, Nguyen and Patrick Cannon (112) are all top returners for the Pioneers this winter, and Rory Conley (103) is a JV champ moving up to the varsity. David Balcazar, Iden and Matt Perry are other top newcomers for the Cupertino varsity.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
