Saratoga News

Heinrich, Rodriguez win state berths

By Dick Sparrer

"Hey, Emmit Smith of the Dallas Cowboys--you just won the Super Bowl . . . what will you do now?"

"I'm going to Disneyland!"

Smith is one of the more recent athletes to announce his plans for a Magic Kingdom holiday following a major athletic achievement.

But a few more sports stars were making their travel plans after outstanding performances at the Central Coast Section wrestling championships last weekend at Santa Clara High.

So the question was, "Hey, Tim Heinrich of Westmont--you just placed at CCS . . . what will you do now?"

"I'm going to Stockton."

Stockton? Well, it may not be as much fun as a trip to Disneyland, but it should prove to be just as exciting for Heinrich and the other wrestlers who placed in the top four in their weight divisions at CCS. Because Stockton is where the CIF state wrestling championships will be held on March 1-2.

The top placers from the Central Coast Section will get together with other section placers to battle for state honors in the tournament at the University of the Pacific.

Westmont's Heinrich and Rueben Rodriguez will be among those local wrestlers making the trip to the San Joaquin Valley after solid performances at the CCS finals.

Heinrich earned his state berth by placing second at 135 pounds for the Warriors. Rodriguez ended up fourth at 103.

Heinrich, a 6-4 winner over Amir Noble of Los Altos in the tournament quarter-finals, lost 16-5 to Gabe Araujo of Independence in the section title match. Two weeks earlier, Heinrich had fallen to Araujo in the championship match at the Blossom Valley Athletic League finals.

Heinrich pinned Ray Gutierrez of Salinas in 1:47 of the first round and Dominic Nolfi of Riordan at 4:23 of the third in his first two matches at CCS. He edged Noble 6-4, then nipped Jerry Garcia of Oak Grove 4-3 to advance to the finals.

Rodriguez battled his way into the top four at 103 pounds with an impressive win over Nick Nussbaumer of Gilroy in the quarter-finals. Rodriguez pinned Nussbaumer 17 seconds into the second round to move on in the tourney.

But Rodriguez lost in the semi-finals, then lost by injury default to Matt Segura of Independence to settle for fourth overall. But it was still good enough for a state trip.

Rodriguez beat Mike Stratton of Soquel 9-3 and Joe Lee of Bellarmine 12-0 before taking Nussbaumer. He lost to Kurt Lorenz of Oak Grove in the semi's.