Los Gatos wrestler comes close at state mat tourney

By Dick Sparrer

Anthony Baza of Fremont and Andrew Pease of Los Gatos have been wrestling rivals all season long at 147 pounds.

And nothing changed when the two senior wrestlers competed in the state tournament last weekend at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Baza and Pease, two of the top wrestlers in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, each put themselves in position to place at the state meet. But only one of them brought home a medal--and the difference was Brad Martin of Elk Grove.

Pease lost to Martin 13-6 to fall out of the medal round. Martin went on to face Baza for the fifth-place hardware, and it was the Fremont star pulling out a 10-1 victory to clinch fifth.

Baza had a great first day for the Firebirds, winning three straight matches. But he lost his first two bouts on Saturday to drop into the fight for fifth. He came back with an impressive win over Martin, though, to secure a medal.

Pease lost his first match of the tournament 10-7 to Dustin Tillman of American, but he fought back with three straight wins before he was eliminated by Martin.

Pease edged Tim Kniefel of Napa 7-6, then won by fall over Christopher Crow of Moreau Catholic. On the second day of the competition, Pease started things off right with a tight 2-0 win over Jason Murphy of La Habra, but he lost his next match to Martin.

Pease was one of four Los Gatos wrestlers to qualify for the state tournament. Brian Miguel, David Serwitz and Richard Escobar all won state berths for the Wildcats.

Serwitz made it to the second day by winning two of his first three matches. The 162-pounder edged Rodney Pebley of Ponderosa on a tiebreaker after tying 6-6 in regulation, then beat Larry Ozawara of Etiwanda 7-4.

He lost 14-2 to Matt Bardsley of Hoover in his last match on Friday, then lost his Saturday opener when he was pinned by Buckey Leigh of Brawley.

Miguel, at 137 pounds, lost his first match 12-2 to Chad Dey of Carona, but came back with a 7-4 win over Anthony Gonzales of Merced. He was eliminated after a tough 6-5 loss to Adam Baxter of Hollister.

Escobar lost his first two matches at 173 pounds, falling 21-7 to Willie Parks of Calvary Chapel and 9-5 to Moises Luna of Mendota.

Rogerson 4th at CCS

Bellarmine senior Thomas Rogerson, a longtime resident of Los Gatos, placed fourth at the Central Coast Section wrestling finals to earn a berth in the state tournament.

Rogerson, whose fourth at 152 pounds helped the Bells win the CCS team title, won one of three matches at the state tourney last weekend. Rogerson clinched his state berth with a 4-1 win over Jerry Yuhara of Los Gatos at the CCS finals, but he lost 7-2 to Alexcis Lara of Gilroy in the fight for third place.

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