"This could be a break-out for him," said Cupertino co-coach Jason Barbeau, following Plotnikov's 11-4 win over Brian Brownell of St. Francis for the 130 title on Saturday.

Plotnikov placed third in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League tournament last season as a junior, then went 0-2 in the Central Coast Section tourney. The year before, as a sophomore, Plotnikov won one of three CCS bouts after taking fifth in the SCVAL tourney.

Plotnikov entered Saturday's tourney ranked eighth among CCS 140-pounders, based primarily on a top eight showing at last month's Coast Classic in Scotts Valley. But after winning four straight for the Memorial crown on Saturday, "he will stay at 130 now," Barbeau explained. "This could give him the confidence he needs."

Plotnikov started the tourney with an 11-7 win over senior Andrew Cominsky of Foothill of Pleasanton. After pinning Evergreen Valley senior Isaac Solidarios in the first round of his next match, Plotnikov scored a 13-4 major decision in the semifinals against top seed Travis Sakamoto of Gilroy.

Plotnikov was the only individual champion for the host Pioneers, who finished fourth with 113 points. For the second year in a row, Del Oro of Loomis took home the first-place trophy. Del Oro's 235 points was well ahead of runner-up Fremont's 175.

The Firebirds' finish was on the strength of five individual winners, junior Boris Novachkov (103) and seniors Filip Novochkov (119), Kurtis Ogasawara (140), Greg Crane (160) and Tommy Staats (189).

St. Francis finished third in the 19-team event with 170.5 points. Foothill totaled 108.5 for fifth, just behind Cupertino. The King's Academy, led by 145-pound champion Stephen Thalin, placed 10th with 52. Monta Vista tied Gilroy for 13th with 42.5 points. Homestead was 17th with 21.

Crane, who scored first-round pins in all three of his bouts and needed just 36 seconds to win his title bout, received the Outstanding Wrestler award for the upper weights (160-275 pounds). B. Novachkov earned the top honor for the lower weights (103-130), and Thalin picked up the top honor for the middle divisions (135-152).

Saturday's tourney, along with Friday's Cupertino 2nd Man Tournament, were contested in memory of Gary Bianchini, Danny Ruppel, Clay Henry and Sam Lawson, all who were contributors to the Cupertino wrestling community.

The two-day wrestling event was dedicated to Dave Levens, a Los Altos businessman who is in his fourth year as a volunteer assistant coach at Fremont. Levens, who wrestled at Los Altos High and Foothill College in the 1960s, was a volunteer coach at Monta Vista, prior to his current stint at Fremont.

Cupertino sophomore Shameer Erfianian (103 pounds), Monta Vista junior Alex Kadokura (125) and Homestead junior Paul Howard (130) earned third-place medals.

Erfianian needed just 41 seconds to score a pin in his third-place bout. Kadokura, whose only loss was to eventual winner Beaux Blackwood of St. Francis, won three of four bouts, including a 7-2 decision for third place. Howard also won a decision for third, 6-2 over TKA sophomore Matt Thalin.

Fourth-place finishers included three Cupertino wrestlers, senior Renato Linares (152), junior Jason Mok (140) and junior Aris Haratununyan (145). Monta Vista junior Grant Kadokura took fourth at 112.

Cupertino seniors Philip Chang (112) and Emmanuel Otieno (135) and freshman teammate Jason Nguyen (119) won fifth-place medals. Homestead senior Bryan Yoon (140) and Monta Vista junior Daniel Lu (135) placed sixth.

Eighteen teams competed in the Cupertino 2nd Man Tournament on Jan. 6. San Benito, which did not send a team to Saturday's varsity event, beat out 17 other teams with 188 points. St. Francis (150.5) was second, Homestead (134) third, Cupertino (132) fourth, Silver Creek (99.5) fifth and Lynbrook (98) sixth.

Individual champions included Homestead sophomores Andy Chin (103) and Trevor Ryan (152) and junior teammate John DaSilva (140). Cupertino sophomores Kirby Haraguchi (130) and Scott Marvin (275) also were winners.

Lynbrook shines in El Camino

Lynbrook's wrestling team is off to a good start in the SCVAL's El Camino Division. The Vikings improved to 2-0 with a 42-40 victory at Santa Clara on Jan. 5.

Senior Kim Knudsen, who has a black belt in judo, pinned her opponent just 26 seconds into the 103-pound clash. Other Vikings who won by fall against the Bruins included sophomores Vincent Huang (112) and Andre Shmakov (275) and juniors Kevin Rehbar (160), Nick Walters (171) and Darrin Weng (119).

Senior Basil Weng, who reached the 215-pound finals of the Cupertino 2nd Man tourney, picked up a forfeit win against Santa Clara. Other key performers for Lynbrook's varsity team are senior Reese Williams (145) and sophomore Bobby Esquivel (189).

Coach Rudy Retuta is pleased that 28 athletes are in his program this season. "That's more than we've had in quite some time," said Retuta, who is in his 13th season at the Lynbrook helm.