Oka wins Bianchini crown

Cheng leads Falcons to a win and a tie

By Dick Sparrer

There was no wrestler better than Jarrod Rothman of Monta Vista at the 15th annual Gary Bianchini Memorial Tournament last Saturday.

Or was it Peter Le of Santa Teresa?

Or was David Galant of Del Mar the best?

The questions are impossible to answer, because all three wrestlers were outstanding when the best teams in Northern California converged on the mats at Cupertino High School for what is considered to be the best one-day high school tournament in the state.

And all three have the plaques to prove it.

Rothman, Le and Galant each won individual titles, and each one was named as an outstanding wrestler award winner at the Saturday tournament.

Rothman was the champion at 125 pounds, securing the outstanding wrestler award in the lower weights. Le was best in the middle weights with a title at 145 pounds, and Galant was tops in the upper weights with an individual crown at 189 pounds.

Rothman helped the Mats to a third-place finish in the team standings behind Vacaville and Bellarmine. Vacaville won the team crown with 159 1/2 points, with the Bells second at 155 1/2 and Monta Vista third at 142.

Daniel Puder finished second at 215 pounds, and Matt Krieger third at 160 to help the Mats to one of their best ever finishes at the Bianchini.

Galant and Cody Wilkinson each won titles for Del Mar in the rugged tournament. Galant took the 189-pound championship, and Wilkinson was the winner at 130 pounds.

Anthony Baza of Fremont, Anthony Pease of Los Gatos and Tony Oka of Westmont were other area winners at the Bianchini.

Baza was first at 135 pounds to top a list of three Firebirds to place at the event. Steven Knight was second at 119 pounds for Fremont and Gilbert Sanchez third at 152.

Pease won a title at 140 pounds for the Wildcats with David Serwitz third at 135 pounds and freshman Brian Miguel fourth at 130.

Oka led the Westmont showing with a championship effort at 171 pounds for the Warriors, pinning twice and winning a couple of major decisions at 171. Supporting with fifths were Juan Jimenez at 112 pounds and Adam Antolin at 125, and Dat Dinh was sixth at 119.

Host Cupertino failed to have a champ of its own, but the Pioneers had a wrestler reach the finals and had two competitors finish in the top four.

Joey Conley was second at 160 pounds for the Pioneers, and Anthony Nguyen came through with a third at 119.

Rothman, a perennial superstar for the Matadors, won four straight matches to claim the title at 125 pounds and claimed an outstanding wrestler award for a second straight year.

The Monta Vista senior has had outstanding career for the Matadors, and the Bianchini offers a snapshot of those great high school years.

He started his career with a sixth-place finish at 103 pounds at the 1997 Bianchini. A year later, as just a sophomore, he gave notice of the big things that would follow with an individual title at 112 pounds.

Last year, Rothman won a title at 119 pounds and was selected as the outstanding wrestler in the lower weights. He matched that achievement this year, but at 125 pounds.

Le came through with the prestigious outstanding wrestler award in the middle weights by defending the 145-pound title he had won the year before. Le and Rothman were the only wrestlers to repeat as Bianchini champions this year.

Galant was second at 171 pounds last year and returned to win a title and an outstanding wrestler award this season.

Wilkinson joined his Del Mar teammate as a comeback Bianchini placer. Wilkinson was third at 125 pounds last year and won the 130-pound crown last weekend.

Oka and Baza each matched Wilkinson's effort.

The Westmont sensation was third at 171 a year ago before winning the division title this season. And the Fremont star was third at 130 in '99 and finished first at 135 this year.

Pease won his championship after finishing sixth in the tournament a year ago.

Warriors fall

Despite a couple of wins by Dinh and Oka, the Westmont wrestlers have dropped their first two league decisions. The Warriors lost 47-28 to Santa Teresa and dropped a 35-33 heartbreaker to Silver Creek.

"That was one of the best dual matches I've ever been involved in," said Westmont coach Mitch Vierra of the battle with Silver Creek.

Dinh came through with the win of the night when he upset a wrestler ranked No. 4 in the state with a 6-3 win at 119 pounds.

"It was pretty impressive," said Vierra of Dinh's victory.

John Baumann had gotten Westmont off to a strong start with a second-round fall at 103 pounds, and Jimenez pinned at 1:05 of the first at 112 pounds.

Dinh's win gave the Warriors at 15-0 lead in the team poll, but four straight wins--two by forfeit--gave the Raiders the lead.

Garreth Gorman pinned with 30 seconds left to wrestle at 145 to stop the string of Creek victories, but the Raiders won the next two bouts to take control of the match.

Oka came through with a late pin at 171 to start a string of Westmont victories. L.J. Valcazar won 4-1 at 189, and Jason Lucas nailed a 10-4 win at 215.

But Silver Creek finished the night with a win to claim the team victory.

The Warriors won just four bouts on the mat in the loss to the Saints.

Oka pinned at 1:47 of the first round at 171 pounds, and Dinh pinned with a minute left to wrestle at 125. Antolin came through with a second-round pin at 119, and Jose Blanco chipped in with a 12-4 victory at 160 pounds.

Jimenez won by forfeit at 112.

The Warriors, now 0-2 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, will visit powerful Overfelt on Jan. 13, 6:30 p.m., for a league match before heading to Roseville this weekend for a two-day tournament.

Panthers split

The Prospect wrestling team opened the West Valley Division season with a 44-25 win over Yerba Buena, but the Panthers lost 54-24 to Pioneer last week.

Tony Barba, Chris Lucero and Richard Tapia rank among the top wrestlers for the Panthers this winter.

Falcons win, tie

David Cheng pinned twice to lead the Saratoga wrestling team to a win and a tie to open the season in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Cheng's quick 50-second pin at 152 pounds sparked the Falcons to a 35-24 win over Palo Alto last week.

A week earlier, Cheng won by fall at 1:13 of the first round to help the Falcons pull out a 35-35 tie against Lynbrook.

Allen Wong, Monte Kawahara and Jarod Usher were other Falcons who posted wins in each match.

Keith Follmar came through with a quick 58-second pin at 171 pounds against the Vikings. Matt Chaudry pinned in the third round at 125, and David Donohue pinned in the first round at 135.

Thief steals over $5,000 worth of cds from local libraries

Nicknames, even cheesy ones, serve a purpose

Obituaries

Saratoga Sampler

Sports Briefs

High school wrestling

High school basketball

Baseball and softball league signups