Wildcats top mat pack at league finals

By Dick Sparrer

It's been pretty obvious for many years how much tougher the De Anza Division is than the El Camino Division when it comes to wrestling in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

But if anyone needed proof of that fact, it was in the final standings at the SCVAL finals held last Saturday at Milpitas.

The top finishers in the standings were all teams from the De Anza circuit. Only host Milpitas failed to finish among the leaders, as six of the seven De Anza teams finished ahead of El Camino competitors.

Los Gatos, the dual match champions of the De Anza Division, topped the pack with 202 points. Fremont was second at 192 with Monta Vista (153) third, Los Altos (130) fourth, Cupertino (101) fifth and Wilcox (95) sixth.

"Before we went in, according to the seedings we were expected to end up third," said Gatos head coach Jeff Garlick. "But just about everybody came through."

Individual champions Dae-Jin Joseph and Andrew Pease sparked the Wildcats to the team title at the league meet. Joseph was the champ at 119 pounds, and Pease took the title at 140.

Adam Morganthaler, Brian Miguel and Richard Escobar also reached the finals before losing. Morganthaler ended up second at 112 pounds, with Miguel second in the league at 130 and Escobar second at 171.

Nailing third-place finishes for the Wildcats were Matthew Nudelman at 103, David Serwitz at 145, James Pease at 152 and Jerry Yuhara at 160.

Ian Carpenter finished fourth at 275 pounds for the Cats, with Matt Kanzler fifth at 189 and Evan McDonald fifth at 215.

"Before the medal round, we were 20 points behind," said Garlick. "But [the coaching staff] put the challenge before them, and they responded."

Los Gatos wrestlers took seven of nine third-place matches and won two of five bouts in the finals. "We won it, and that's two years in a row," added Garlick. "And that's a very tough league."

The Wildcats wrapped up the dual match season with a 50-22 victory over Wilcox. The Cats expected to beat the Chargers, but the win was still important because it gave them a 6-0 record in league competition.

Ted Ross, Escobar, Kanzler and Carpenter each won by fall to lift the Wildcats to the lopsided win.

Ross pinned 21 seconds into the third round at 127 pounds for the Cats, and Escobar won by fall with seven seconds remaining in the first round at 173.

Kanzler pinned with just seven seconds left in the second round at 191, and Carpenter pinned in just 56 seconds at heavyweight.

Serwitz won by technical fall 18-3 at 147 pounds, and Miguel nailed a 6-0 decision win at 132. Adding forfeit wins were Joseph at 121, A. Pease at 142 and J. Pease at 154.

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