The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Harutyunyan wins title at Cupertino Memorial
By Mike Barnhart
For Aris Harutyunyan this month's 22nd annual Cupertino Memorial Wrestling Tournament was the best one yet.
The 5-foot-10 senior, who spent much of the fall as a defensive back taking down opposing ball carriers for Cupertino High's football team, has scored plenty of takedowns during his four-year wrestling career for the Pioneers. But none may have been more significant than those he made in the Gary Bianchini Memorial varsity event on Jan. 6.
In his home gym Harutyunyan captured the 145-pound championship, scoring a second-round pin against Gunn junior Nic Giaccia in the final. It was the first tourney title of his career, and it earned him the Outstanding Wrestler award for the upper weights.
Senior Naveed Bagheri of Los Gatos was named Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weights after winning the 125-pound crown and leading the Wildcats to their first team championship in 21 appearances at the Cupertino event.
Los Gatos, ranked No. 2 in the "California Wrestler Newsletter" Central Coast Section rankings as of Jan. 10, scored 182 points and finished nearly 40 points ahead of runner-up Saint Francis (142.5).
Interestingly, Los Gatos' team title came in the year that the Cupertino Memorial staff honored the Wildcats' former head coach and current assistant principal, Scott Downs. The Bianchini varsity tourney and the Danny Ruppel 2nd Man competition, held on Jan. 5, were dedicated to Downs.
"Scott has been one of the many reasons why wrestling in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League has been so successful over the years," praised Ken Perrotti, who took over the program along with Co-Head Coach Arno Dominguez in the fall of 2005. "He has provided guidance and counsel to countless coaches in our league."
Gunn was third in the 28-team field with 138.5 points. Salinas (133) was fourth, followed by a partial Gilroy team at 122, sixth-place Santa Teresa (121) and Rodriguez of Fairfield (118). Valley Christian (106.5), host Cupertino (105) and West of Tracy (103) rounded out the top 10.
Cupertino's ninth-place finish was highlighted by Harutyunyan's triumph at 145, but other Pioneers also won medals. Cupertino nearly had a second champion in junior Shameer Erfanian, who lost 1-0 in the 112 final to Gilroy freshman Rodney Balajadia.
Senior Paul Kim earned a fourth at 160 for the Pioneers, while sophomore teammates Mohammed Sharfi (103) and Brandon Lum (125) scored fifths. At 171, David Hernandez was the Consolation A winner.
"We're ranked 14th in the CCS, primarily because of Aris, Shameer and Kim, but our real strength is our youth," said first-year Cupertino head coach Chris Moore. "In dual meets, out of the 14 weights, we use five or six freshmen and sophomores on varsity, and our junior varsity is undefeated in league (3-0)."
Cupertino's youth was on display at the Ruppel 2d Man tourney on Jan. 5. Although the Pioneers did not have an individual champion, they had eight placers and finished third out of 25 teams.
Sophomores Tony Cho (189) and Harlan Huyhn (215) reached the championship round, before dropping decisions and placing second. Freshman Brian Arita placed third at 112 and freshman Arturo Arias was fourth at 135.
Monta Vista's two new co-head coaches, Tim Knight and Josh DeSherlia, also are excited about the freshmen and sophomores in their program. The Matadors did not compete in the Bianchini varsity event, but placed seventh in the 2nd Man tourney.
Freshman Nate Park was the top Matador, pinning his first three challengers, before winning 9-8 in the 130 finale. Sophomore Jay Voigt (119) and freshman Chris Chui (140) also reached the championship round, but lost in the finals.
Tino tops Mats in dual
Monta Vista forfeited five of the seven upper weights, plus the 103-pound match, and Cupertino won enough of the remaining contests to claim an SCVAL-De Anza dual meet victory on Jan. 11.
With the victory, Cupertino keeps the Lawson Cup for one more season. The perpetual award, started in 2004, is named after Jay Lawson, who started the wrestling program at Monta Vista and later coached at Cupertino.
Erfanian and Cho both scored pins for the Pioneers and junior teammate Kirby Haraguchi edged Daniel Lu, 6-5, in the 140 bout. Harutyunyan, ranked No. 2 in the CCS at 145, and Kim (No. 6 at 160) picked up forfeits, along with teammates Roger Liang, Hernandez, Huyhn and Sharfi.
Monta Vista's best wrestlers, seniors Grant Kadokura (119), Alex Kadokura (130) and Nate Fung (135), all registered pins against Cupertino. The Kadokura brothers are both ranked fourth in the CCS and Fung is rated eighth.
Junior Konstantin Rovner (125) and sophomore Graham Paterson (285) also won by fall.
