The Cupertino Courier

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Cupertino's Eric Hawkins battled his way to an individual title at 105 pounds.

Three Pioneers pin mat titles

Rothman wins crown for Mats

By Dick Sparrer

If there's one thing that Jay Lawson knows well, it's wrestling--and more specifically, wrestling in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

So when the veteran Cupertino mat coach was sizing up things prior to the SCVAL finals at Palo Alto last weekend, observers were paying close attention to what he had to say.

And as it turns out, Lawson really knew what he was talking about.

The Cupertino boss picked Los Gatos, Los Altos, Monta Vista and his own Pioneers as the top four teams in the rugged league tournament, and that's just the way things turned out--though not exactly in the order Lawson expected.

He had picked Los Gatos as the title favorite, but it was Los Altos that became the surprise winner in the league tourney. Los Gatos was second, with Cupertino third and Monta Vista fourth. Only 30 points separated the top four teams in the tourney standings.

Los Altos, champs of the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, won the tourney crown with 177 points. Gatos, the De Anza Division champion, was a close second at 170, with Cupertino third at 152 and Monta Vista fourth at 147.

Champs Eric Hawkins, Bobby Adams and Joey Conley sparked 'Tino to the team third. Cupertino had an impressive 13 placers in the 14 weight classes, eight of them qualifying for the upcoming Central Coast Section finals.

Monta Vista sophomore Jarrod Rothman won an individual title and headed up a crew of nine Matadors who placed in the league tournament.

The top five SCVAL placers in each weight class move on to the CCS finals on Feb. 20-21 at Santa Clara High.

Hawkins, Adams and Conley starred for Cupertino in the finals. Hawkins won a title at 105 pounds, with Adams first at 132 and Conley a champ at 147.

Billy Hershey ended up second at 147 pounds for the Pioneers, with Gabe Scarpelli third at 191, Steven Munoz fourth at 142, Daniel Barczi fourth at 173 and Scott Shaw fifth at 121.

Sixths went to Anthony Nguyen at 114, Yih Woei Saw at 127, David Steinwedel at 162, Ray Shelly at 217 and Jay Scott at heavyweight.

Rothman led the Matadors to a team fourth with his individual championship at 114 pounds. The young Monta Vista sensation defeated a wrestler from Milpitas in the finals.

Patrick Cannon, Steven Togami and Dustin Hempstead each lost to Cupertino wrestlers in the finals to settle for second in the tourney.

Cannon lost to Hawkins in the 105-pound finals, Togami lost to Adams at 132 pounds and Hempstead lost to Conley at 147. All three advance to CCS as SCVAL runner-ups, though, along with teammate Ken Montanez, who finished second at 154.

Jeffrey Lum was third at 137 pounds for the Mats, with Jason Lin third at 137, Daniel Pruder fourth at 191 and David Park fifth at heavyweight.

[ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ]