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There have been many great moments for the Saratoga High School wrestling team this winter. Last Thursday night, though, wasn't one of them.
The Falcons challenged Gunn in Palo Alto for the dual match championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League but were met with disappointment in more ways than one.
Saratoga lost the match 34-24 to the Titans, but the Falcons lost much more than that—they also allegedly lost some cash and a cell phone.
Parents filed a report with the Palo Alto police following the match indicating that the belongings of the Saratoga wrestlers had been tampered with, and that at least $60 in cash and a cell phone had been stolen.
Beyond that, the match was "marred by unsportsmanlike behavior" on the part of the Gunn wrestlers and their fans.
In the end, the Falcons lost a tough team decision despite splitting in the 12 matches contested at six wins apiece. Two forfeits in the upper weights proved costly for Saratoga.
The win gave the Titans the league dual match title with an 8-0 record and the Falcons slipped into second place at 7-1. But it wouldn't take long for Saratoga to get its revenge.
Just two nights later at the SCVAL finals, the Falcons finished first among El Camino Division teams and even topped two teams from the De Anza Division by placing sixth behind De Anza powers Los Gatos (252.5), Fremont (192.5), Wilcox (150), Cupertino (111) and Monta Vista (108.5).
Behind an individual championship by Brent Walter at 191 pounds, the Falcons (108) were able to outpoint Los Altos (104), Gunn (101) and Palo Alto (93) in the team standings. Los Altos is the school that replaced Saratoga in the De Anza Division this season and Paly is also in the top division.
Walter topped a list of seven Saratoga placers at the league tournament and will now advance with his teammates to the Central Coast Section finals set for Feb. 2526 at Overfelt. Top qualifiers there advance to the state finals on March 45 in Bakersfield.
Joining Walter on the medal stand at the league tourney were Tim Usher, second at 127 pounds; Kyle Stoffers, third at 173; Scott Surrette, third at 137; Doug Macklin, fifth at 121; Jeffery Nguyen, sixth at 105; and Cody Teerlink, seventh at 154.
Saratoga placed four wrestlers a day earlier at the SCVAL junior varsity tournament. Danny Gold was third at 137 pounds with Stephen Chu fifth at 132, Danny Lulu fifth at 142 and Ryan Stoffers eighth at 114.
The successful weekend, though, was preceded by the disappointing night at Gunn on Feb. 10. The 12 team points lost because of forfeits at 217 and 277 pounds proved very costly for the Falcons, who lost the match by just 10 points.
Things started Thursday at 173 pounds, and the Falcons jumped out to a quick start when Stoffers won 9-4 at 174 and Walter pinned 44 seconds into the third round at 191.
But the 9-0 Saratoga lead quickly slipped away when the Titans picked up 12 points on the two forfeits in the upper weights. Then Saratoga lost three straight bouts when Nguyen was pinned at 105, Allen Chen lost 11-5 at 114 and Macklin dropped a 9-6 heartbreaker at 121.
Usher got the Falcons back on track with a quick pin at 1:26 of the first round at 127 pounds, but Chu lost a tough 4-2 nod at 132 and the Titans went up 27-15 on the scoreboard.
Surrette and Gold won back-to-back matches to cut the Gunn lead to 27-21 with three matches left to wrestle. Surrette nailed an 8-4 decision at 137 and Gold won 12-7 at 142.
But Derek Macklin lost 8-0 at 147 pounds and Teerlink lost a 2-1 thriller at 154 to give the Titans a commanding 34-21 lead heading into the final bout.
Michael Block won that one, blanking his opponent 3-0 at 162 pounds, but it was too little, too late for the Falcons.
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