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For most high school wrestlers, the season will end next month. But Saratoga's Brent Walter has his sights set a little higher.
The talented senior wrestler figures to still be on the mat when March rolls in, and if he is that means he'll be in the field for the state finals set for March 45 at the Centennial Garden & Convention Center in Bakersfield.
Why wouldn't Walter expect to make it to the state meet? After all, he earned a state berth as a junior after winning the Central Coast Section title at 189 pounds. And he seems to be winning his way through another wrestling season this winter.
Walter has opened the league season by pinning in back-to-back matches, helping the Falcons to two team wins to open the year in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
And last Saturday night he won a title at 189 pounds to drive the Falcons to the team championship at the San Ramon Valley Invitational.
The Falcons rolled up 126 team points to edge host San Ramon Valley (124.5) for the tourney title. The next closest finisher from the CCS was Live Oak, seventh at 93.5. El Camino Division rival Gunn of Palo Alto was eighth at 81.5.
Walter rolled to a 9-4 victory over Vince O'Brien of Petaluma in the finals to win the 189-pound crown. Teammate Spencer Sevilla was second at 140 pounds, losing 18-10 in the championship round to David Christian of San Ramon Valley.
The tourney crown came just two days after Saratoga manhandled Homestead 66-3 in a league match.
Pins by Walter (wrestling up at 215 pounds), Sevilla (140), Tim Usher (125), Scott Surrette (135) and Kyle Stoffers (189) accounted for 30 of Saratoga's 66 team points.
Derek Macklin (145) and Mike Block (160) battled for decision wins in the match and Jeff Nguyen (103), Allen Chen (112), Doug Macklin (119), Steve Chu (130) and Johnathon Venuti (171) each won by forfeit.
Saratoga had opened league action with a convincing 63-12 win over Santa Clara. Pins by Chen, Chu, Usher, Surrette, Sevilla, De. Macklin, Stoffers and Walter sparked the Falcons to the victory.
The Falcons, now 2-0 in the division and 8-4 in dual matches, will continue league competition Jan. 13 when they host Milpitas, 5:30 p.m. Saratoga will compete in the Jim Root Invitational tournament on Jan. 15 at West Valley College.
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