As it turns out, the top three finishers in the 189-pound weight class turn out to be neighbors.

Not much separates the three—like maybe about five miles or less. Because while the CCS may span the miles from South San Francisco to King City and all points in between, the leaders at 189 pounds are from high school that share school district borders.

Walter, the champion, is a junior at Saratoga High School; Batinich, the runner-up, is from Los Gatos; and Antolin, the third-place finisher, hails from Westmont.

All three qualified for the state meet by finishing in the top three in their respective weight classes at the CCS tournament held last weekend at Independence High School in East San Jose.

They'll make the trip to state on March 5, and maybe they'll even have room in the car for 152-pound champion Bobby Pease of Los Gatos and 160-pound runner-up Todd Woodward from nearly Del Mar.

It was no real surprise to find Walter and Batinich fighting it out for the 189-pound title at the CCS finals, even though Ky Hollenbeck of Capuchino and Antolin entered the tournament as the top two seeds. Los Gatos coach Scott Downs had predicted the match-up after the two had split wins in a league dual match and at the league finals.

"I'm sure they're going to meet against at CCS, unless something weird happens," said the coach after the league tournament the week before. "I'd like to see them in the finals."

He got his wish.

Walter won three straight bouts and Batinich took four straight to get into the CCS title bout at 189 pounds. But it wasn't quite the thriller the two had waged at the league finals.

"It was a very lackluster match," said Downs of Walter's 5-1 win over Batinich. "Brent was just a little more aggressive [than Batinich]."

It turned out to be the difference. Walter, who had beaten Batinich 9-4 in a dual match before losing 5-4 in the final seconds at the league tournament the week before, pulled out the decision win and won a CCS championship as a junior. He was the only junior to win a section title—10 others were seniors with one freshman and one sophomore.

Walter got off to a quick start with a first-round bye, then pulled out a 5-1 decision win over Tommy Staats of Fremont. He made short work of Oak Grove's Anthony Avellino with a win in 2:25 of the second round, then upset No. 1 seed Hollenbeck 11-5 to get into the finals.

Batinich won his first four matches to get into the finals. The Gatos senior pinned Jose Alvarez of Alvarez High School at 1:36 of the first round in his first match, but that was his only win by fall in the tournament. He beat Scott McLaughlin of Terra Nova 7-1, Jose Linares of Greenfield 6-4 and Antolin 8-6.

The loss could have devastated Antolin, but it didn't. He fought back to beat Nykolas Ramirez-Baker 10-1 to get into the third-place finals, then nailed a surprise pin in just 47 seconds against Hollenbeck.

Antolin had opened the tourney with a pin against Blake Schindler 44 seconds into the third round. He won by fall at 1:52 of the first round against John Wenstrand of Bellarmine, then edged Pedro Herrera of Riordan 3-2 before losing to Batinich.

At 160 pounds, Dan Montanez of Monta Vista entered the tournament as the odds on favorite to win the crown. After all, Montanez was one of just two undefeated wrestlers in the tourney, and he was the No. 1 seed at 160 pounds. He was everyone's pick to win it all—but Woodward had other ideas.

The Del Mar junior upset Montanez in the tournament semifinals and went to claim second place and a berth in the state meet.

Rounding out the list of local placers was Westmont senior Tyler Porras, who finished sixth at 215 pounds. And, like Woodward, Porras defeated a No. 1 seed to finish in the medals.

Porras opened the tournament in impressive fashion with three straight pins. He dropped Thomas Franklin of San Mateo in 3:37 of the second round, nailed a quick 56-second pin against Ruben Lerma of North Salinas and won by fall at 2:20 of the second round against No. 1 seed Ernesto Ancona of Fremont.

But Porras was pinned 30 seconds into the third round by Dustin Black of Scotts Valley, who went on to finish second.