The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Fremont's Baza, Kashitani third at Bianchini Jarrod Rothman was one of the top wrestlers in the state in his weight class as a sophomore last year. And guess what? Not much has changed for the Monta Vista wrestler... except now,he's a junior. Rothman figures to be a top contender for a state medal again this season, and if performance thus far is any indication, he should reach that goal. Rothman, a top placer in December at the rugged Coast Classic, won the 119-pound division championship at the recent Gary Bianchini Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Cupertino and was named the outstanding wrestler in the lower weights (103-125) at the prestigious event. It marked the third straight time that Rothman has placed at the local tournament. He was sixth at 103 pounds as a freshman, and he won a title at 112 pounds as a sophomore. Vacaville ran up 172 points to win the team title at the Bianchini with Bellarmine second at 142.5. And it was a Bellarmine wrestler who Rothman beat in the finals to clinch his 119-pound crown. Del Oro (129.5) was third in the 29-team tournament with Hollister fourth (128.5), Turlock fifth (109.5), Westmont sixth (95), Monterey seventh (89.5), Palma eighth (87), St. Francis ninth (86) and Dos Pueblos 10th (83.5). Rothman helped Monta Vista clinch 11th in the team standings with 83 points. Oak Grove was 12th (81.5), with Los Gatos 13th (80.5), Cupertino 14th (73) and Fremont 15th (59.5). Rothman topped a list of four Monta Vista placers in the tournament. Junior Daniel Puder was fourth at 215 pounds, senior co-captain Ken Montanez was fifth at 160 pounds and junior Kyle Kingsbury was fifth at heavyweight. Patrick Cannon starred for Cupertino in the tourney, nailing third at 103 pounds. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 20, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.