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Oka clinches CCS mat crown
Westmont nails impressive 12th in team standings
By Dick Sparrer
Westmont had a tough time competing in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League during the dual-match wrestling season.
But that didn't alter Mitch Vierra's belief that his Warriors ranked among the top teams in the Central Coast Section.
And the Warriors proved it last weekend when they finished 12th overall at the CCS wrestling championships held at Independence High School.
Westmont finished behind league powerhouses Independence (seventh at 87.5) and Oak Grove (11th at 78), but the Warriors came through with a solid 12th-place finish, running up 75.5 points to wind up right behind the tough Eagles and ahead of league champion Overfelt.
CCS individual champion Tony Oka led the Warriors to the solid team finish. Oka won by disqualification over Dan Eller of Aptos to claim the crown at 173 pounds.
Dat Dinh supported with a third-place finish at 121 pounds to help Westmont get into the top 15 in the team poll.
Del Mar's David Galant and Cody Wilkinson helped get the Dons into the top 20 on the team charts by reaching the finals at CCS.
Galant won a title at 191 pounds for the Dons, beating Heath Ferreira of Valley Christian 14-0 to clinch the title.
Wilkinson ended up second at 132 pounds when he was pinned in the final seconds by Adrian Velasquez of San Benito.
Westmont's Oka and Dinh and Del Mar's Galant and Wilkinson will go for bigger and better things when they compete in the state tournament to be held March 3-4 at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. The top six placers there advance to the nationals, to be held the following week in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Oka and Galant cruised to titles at the CCS meet, each wrestler winning five straight matches to claim a crown.
Oka opened with a pin 59 seconds into the second round against Walter Turner of Monterey, then he pulled out a 5-2 win over Nick Eliopoulos of North Monterey County.
The Westmont senior pinned Mark Allen of Serra a minute into the second round a match later, then beat Niel Gregor of Gilroy 6-1.
Oka clinched the title when Eller was disqualified in the second round because an illegal throw.
Dinh won three straight matches for the Warriors before losing.
Dinh pinned Charles Baron of Palo Alto in 54 seconds, then beat Anthony Nguyen of Cupertino 7-3. The Westmont junior edged Dominic Paz of King City 4-3 before losing on a technical fall to Matt Sanchez of Bellarmine, the ultimiate division champion.
Dinh fought back with a couple of wins, including a 7-4 victory over Truong Nguyen of Overfelt, to clinch third place and a trip to the state meet.
Joining the four on the state trip will be Robert Lee of Lynbrook, who finished fourth at 132 pounds.
Lee rolled to a 10-2 win over Minh Chuong of Silver Creek before pinning Jon Vineyard of Mitty 43 seconds into the third round. But he lost a close 7-4 nod to Chris Chames of Watsonville to slip into the consolation bracket. Lee split in his last two bouts to wind up fourth overall.
Warriors 12th
It was an impressive finish for the Warriors, who had finished fifth in the Mt. Hamilton Division but 12th overall at CCS.
Westmont's Johnny Baumann (105), Adam Antolin (127), Garreth Gorman (147), Billy Stouffer (154) and Jose Blanco (162) also competed at CCS and helped the Warriors climb into the top 15.
Prospect's Richard Tapia (154) also competed at CCS.
Falcons finish first
Saratoga wasn't among the top contenders at CCS, finishing deep in the team standings.
But the showing did little to diminish Saratoga's outstanding showing in the 1999-2000 season.
The Falcons won the title in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with a 5-0 record and later qualified a half dozen wrestlers for the CCS finals.
Warren Wong (114), Ori Karahawa (121), Ausaff Chaudry (127), David Lin (147), Jarrod Usher (154) and Troy Follmar (173) all competed for Saratoga at the section meet.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
