By Dick Sparrer
Top wrestlers from throughout Northern California will be spinning, pinning and winning on the Cupertino mats this weekend when the Pioneers host the annual Gary Bianchini Wrestling Tournament.
Tournament action will begin at 10 a.m. on Jan. 11 with the championship finals to get under way at 6:30 p.m. in the Cupertino High School gym.
Talented seniors Bobo Do and Lewis Mendez will lead the Cupertino contingent into the tournament. Do and Mendez were each league champions and Central Coast Section placers last season. Freshman Chuck Temple is another top prospect for the Pioneers.
Fremont, Lynbrook, Monta Vista, Santa Clara and Wilcox are other Santa Clara Valley Athletic League teams entered in the rugged tourney along with other top local teams, including Oak Grove, Bellarmine, St. Francis, Leigh, Prospect, Gunderson, Lincoln and Westmont.
Hollister is another top wrestling school set to compete in the tourney, which also includes Monterey, Gonzales and Palma. Bear River, Centennial, Del Oro, Mills, Nevada Union, Turlock, Vacaville and Will C. Wood round out the rugged field.
Senior Charlie Laverdi tops the lineup that Monta Vista will send to the tournament. Laverdi, a league champ a year ago, was a Bianchini finalist last season. Juniors Dustin Hempstead, Jeff Lum and Brian Woo are other top Matador wrestlers.
Defending league champion Paul Choi will head up Lynbrook's hopes at the tourney. Choi, Fred Ramirez and Steve Horner are top senior wrestlers for the Vikings.
Senior Tim Heinrich, a CCS finalist last season, will head up the Westmont attack at the tourney. Andrew Wadler is another top senior wrestler for the Warriors. Sophomore Phat Dinh and juniors Luong Vuong and Jeff Innamorato are other outstanding Westmont wrestlers.
Senior Son Nguyen, juniors Justin Bryant and Sdin Salkonosiu and sophomore Joel Mannina will lead the Prospect effort.
A day before the Bianchini, 21 teams will participate in the Danny Ruppel Second Man Tournament at Cupertino. Wrestling begins at 3 p.m. with the finals that evening.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 8, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.