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Conley, Reynolds lead Pioneers to second
By DICK SPARRER
If there was any question heading into the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League wrestling finals which division was tougher, De Anza or El Camino, there certainly was no question by the night's end.
The seven De Anza Division teams took the top seven spots in the team standings at the SCVAL finals held last Saturday at Palo Alto, confirming the power of the upper division.
And the best of those De Anza teams, Los Gatos, confirmed its place as the rightful owner of the league championship this winter.
The Wildcats, who capped a 6-0 division record with a convincing 41-12 victory over Cupertino in a dual match last week, rolled through the SCVAL field to run up 244 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Cupertino (197.5).
Individual champions Bobby Pease and Richard Escobar sparked Los Gatos to the team title at the finals. The two top a list of 14 Wildcats--one in each weight class--who have qualified for the Central Coast Section tournament coming up Feb. 22-23 at Independence High School in East San Jose.
Mitch Conley and Ben Reynolds each won titles for Cupertino, and they will lead a contingent of 10 Pioneers to the CCS tourney.
Fremont put the most wrestlers on the top step of the medal stand at the league tournament. Chris Osian, Alvin Cacdac and Daniel Atondo each won titles to lead the Firebirds to a team third at the finals with 152 points. Fremont will send eight wrestlers to CCS.
The Montanez brothers, Paul and Dan, each won individual crowns for Monta Vista and will lead a contingent of seven Matadors to the next level.
Troy Follmar of Saratoga and Gabe Tseng of Lynbrook were other local wrestlers who won SCVAL titles on Saturday. Tseng and two other Vikings will head to CCS this weekend and Follmar will be one of two Falcons to make the trip.
Los Gatos, Cupertino and Fremont finished one-two-three at the league tournament, just as they had finished in the dual match season. Gatos won the division title with its 6-0 record with Cupertino second at 5-1 and Fremont third at 4-2.
Conley and Reynolds sparked the Pioneers to their second-place finish in the tourney. Conley won the title at 112 pounds and Reynolds beat rival Chris Smith of Los Gatos to take the crown at 189 pounds.
Rounding out the list of Cupertino placers at the SCVAL meet were Brett Haraguchi, second at 130; Kayn Ramirez-Baker, second at 152; Andrew Reese, second at 171; Patrick Bialoglouski, second at 277; Ben DiGregorio, third at 135; David Kullmann, third at 160; Jaime Mejia-Beher, third at 215; and Alex Wu, fourth at 103.
The Montanez brothers starred for Monta Vista at the league tournament. Paul Montanez, a senior, was the champion at 152 pounds, and Dan Montanez, just a freshman, won the title at 145 pounds.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
