Baza, Pease to defend titles at annual Bianchini match
Anthony Baza of Fremont and Andrew Pease of Los Gatos are each looking for a repeat this weekend.
A year ago, both Baza and Pease won individual titles at the Gary Bianchini Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Cupertino High. And when the 16th annual Bianchini is contested on Jan. 6, they'll be looking to do it again.
Baza was first at 135 pounds and Pease was a champion at 140 in last year's tournament, and they're each expected to move up a weight class for this year's tournament. Baza had finished third at 130 at the 1999 Bianchini and Pease was sixth in the same weight class.
Cupertino, in conjunction with the Cupertino Host Lions Club, hosts the Danny Ruppel and Gary Bianchini tournaments each year. The Ruppel, a second-man junior varsity tournament, will be held on Friday at Cupertino with the Bianchini a day later. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. Saturday with the finals to get under way at about 6 p.m.
The Bianchini attracts many of the top teams in Northern California for what is considered to be the best one-day high school tournament in the state.
Vacaville enters the 2001 tournament as the odds on favorite to win the team title, at least if past performances is any indication. Since 1997, the Bulldogs have won every Bianchini crown. Bellarmine has finished second for the past two years.
Sending teams to compete in both tournaments, along with Bellarmine and host Cupertino, will be Del Mar, Dos Pueblos, Fremont, Hollister, Homestead, King's Academy, James Lick, Los Gatos, Lynbrook, Mills, Monta Vista, Palo Alto, Piedmont Hills, Prospect, St. Francis, Santa Teresa, Valley Christian and Westmont.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
