Saratoga News Delorio helps Panthers pin mat win One victory enough for Prospect win By Dick Sparrer Matt Delorio was the only winner for the Prospect wrestling team in a dual match last week. And it was enough to lead the Panthers to a rousing 60-17 victory over Lincoln in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Delorio virtually single-handedly led the Panthers to the win. He was the only Prospect wrestler to actually step on the match for a match, and he brought home a victory. Prospect would have won the bout with or without Delorio's victory, however. Lincoln forfeit in nine of the 14 weight classes to hand the Panthers 54 team points. But Delorio made it 60 with just second-round pin at 160 pounds. The senior pinned with 11 seconds left in the round, giving Prospect its only real victory of the day. The win evened up Prospect's season dual match record at 3-3 and left the Panthers 2-3 in the division. Westmont, meanwhile, rolled to a 39-25 victory over Independence to finish 4-1 in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. Dat Dinh got the Warriors off to a solid start when he pinned with 15 seconds left in the first round at 103 pounds, and David Jimenez followed with a 9-5 victory at 112. After a couple of losses, veteran Phat Dinh came through with a lopsided 19-4 win at 130 pounds to get the Warriors back on top. Independence won a couple of more matches to take the lead, but four straight Westmont wins all but clinched the team victory for the Warriors. After a pair of forfeit wins, Brodie Gorman and Tony Oka came through with decisions to give Westmont a commanding lead. Gorman breezed to a 12-2 major decision win at 160 pounds, and Oka pulled out a tight 5-3 victory at 171. Independence won two more matches, but they surrounded a forfeit win by Greg Woodland at 215, and that extra six points was just a little insurance in the 39-25 team victory. In other local action, Saratoga wrestlers came through with three pins and a major decision win, but the Falcons lost a 47-22 decision to Cupertino. The Pioneers clinched the title in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with the win. Saratoga helped Cupertino by forfeiting in four weight classes to give the Pioneers 24 team points. The Falcons actually led the match after the first six bouts. After a forfeit at 103, Monte Kawahara 22 seconds into the third round at 112 pounds. The Pioneers won at 119, but Matt Chaudry posted a 12-4 major decision victory at 125. Cupertino won again at 130, but Jarad Usher followed with a first-round pin at 135 pounds. Usher's pin with six seconds left in the first round gave the Falcons a 16-12 edge in the team score. Keith Follmar would later nail a pin with 33 seconds left in the second round at 171 pounds, but that was the only bout the Falcons could win in the second half of the match. Cupertino won in seven of the last eight weight classes, three of the wins by forfeit. The Falcons will now advance to the SCVAL wrestling championships Feb. 12 and 13 at Monta Vista. The league junior varsity meet is set for Friday with the varsity finals on Saturday. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.