By Dick Sparrer
Westmont met its match last week.
And the match ended in a tough 35-31 loss to Del Mar for the Warriors in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Warriors and Dons took matching 4-0 records into the crucial bout, and the squads matched seven wins apiece in the 14-match bout. But Del Mar came through with three pins and a forfeit pin to outpoint the Warriors.
The Dons opened the match with a win, but Westmont battled back with back-to-back pins by Tien Dinh and Ruben Rodrigues. Dinh pinned in 1:23 of the first round at 112 pounds and Rodrigues won by fall in the third round at 119 pounds.
Del Mar responded with three straight pins, though, to take a 22-12 lead in the team score.
But Kevin Walker picked up a decision win at 140 and Tim Heinrich nailed a 15-2 victory at 145 to cut the Del Mar lead to 22-19.
The Dons added a forfeit win at 152 but could just manage a 4-2 win at 160 pounds where Jeff Innamorato battled tough before losing to his Del Mar foe by two points.
The Warriors got right back into the match with a 5-2 win by Brian Ortega at 171 pounds and a tight 12-11 victory by Mat Meade at 189 pounds.
Westmont trailed just 31-25 with two matches to wrestle, and the Warriors knew they would pick up a forfeit win by Shantez Sumler at heavyweight. So with the score in a 31-31 lock, the match came down to the 215-pound bout, and Del Mar pulled out a 10-0 win for the team victory.
Westmont, now 4-1, was coming off a resounding 77-3 win over Andrew Hill. Five pins and six forfeits helped the Warriors to the lopsided victory.
Winning by fall were Dinh at 130, David Rodriguez at 135, Heinrich at 140, Walker at 145 and Innamorato at 152. Ortega won by technical fall at 171 pounds.
Panthers fall
Jim Giangregorio and Ivan Rodriguez each nailed pins, but Prospect dropped a 58-18 decision to Lincoln in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.
Giangregorio pinned with 22 seconds left in the first round at 103 pounds for the Panthers, and Rodriquez won by fall with 18 seconds remaining in the second round at 171 pounds.
Son Nguyen added a forfeit win at 112 pounds for Prospect's only other victory of the day.
Vikings pin win
Tony Chen set the tempo, and his Lynbrook teammates added the chorus to help the Vikings beat Milpitas 54-18 in wrestling action in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Chen is the senior leader for the Vikes, and he proved it with a quick first-round pin against Milpitas.
Chen, a league finalist in each of the past two seasons, pinned with 30 seconds remaining in the first round at 130 pounds. Chen was second in the league finals as a sophomore and a champion as a junior, both times at 112 pounds.
The talented senior was one of five Vikings to record pins in the win over the Trojans.
Gary Chen pinned with 30 seconds left in the second round at 103 pounds, and Paul Choi won by fall with 25 seconds left in his match at 119 pounds.
Steve Mayer was a pinner with 27 seconds left to wrestle at 145 pounds, and Fred Ramirez won by fall just 33 seconds into his match at 215 pounds.
Jonah Vinciguerra chipped in with a 7-2 victory at 112 pounds for Lynbrook. Gordon Kwan manhandled his opponent at 125 pounds for a 15-0 win and David Ramirez won 10-5 at 152 pounds.
Forfeit wins went to freshman Brian White at 160 pounds and junior Steve Horner at 289 pounds.
The Vikings improved to 2-0 in the division with the victory.
Pioneers top Mats
Cupertino pounded Monta Vista 46-17 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.
Matadors won four of the first six matches wrestled before Cupertino kicked it into high gear with eight straight wins.
Robert Lum got the Mats off to a hot start with a 12-0 win at 103 pounds and Dustin Hempstead was an 8-0 winner at 112 pounds.
Junior Brian Woo went into overtime before pulling out a thrilling 9-7 win over Mendez, and Charlie LaVerdi pinned 57 seconds into the first round at 135 to get the Matadors back in control.
But then the Pioneers started winning and didn't stop.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 31, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved