Just ask Fremont High sophomores Filip Novachkov and Greg Crane. That's exactly what they did at San Jose's Independence High School last weekend, winning section titles and earning berths into the California State meet March 5­6 in Bakersfield.

But don't ask Fremont senior Ernesto Ancona or Monta Vista senior Dan Montanez. Oh, they earned trips to the state meet, too, but they did it the hard way. Ancona and Montanez, top seeded in their respective weight classes, suffered surprising setbacks in the CCS quarterfinals on Feb. 20, then had to win four in a row Saturday to capture third place.

Another Fremont senior, Joseph Seo, also finished third. The top three placers at the CCS meet move on to the state event.

Fremont finished second behind Gilroy in the team competition, just ahead of Santa Clara Valley Athletic League rival Los Gatos. The Firebirds scored 139 points, 9.5 more than the Wildcats, who had won the SCVAL meet the week before. Monta Vista was 26th with 38.5 points. Cupertino and The King's Academy tallied 29 points apiece and shared 30th place with Gunn and Evergreen Valley. Homestead finished with 24 points and in a tie for 42nd with Serra.

Novachkov made quick work of the 103-pound class, pinning all five of his foes in the first round. His longest effort was in the title bout, pinning Terra Nova's Parker Sha with 13 seconds left in the first round.

Crane, the second seed, pinned his first opponent in less than a minute, then won by scores of 12-3 and 15-4. A pin in the semi-finals moved Crane into the title match, where he outdueled top-seeded Octavio Lucatero of San Benito 7-6.

Ancona pinned his first 215-pound challenger in 14 seconds and then won by injury default. But he was pinned in the quarterfinals by Tyler Porras of Westmont. The next day, knowing a loss would eliminate him from any chance of a state berth, Ancona responded by winning four straight.

Montanez, one of just two undefeated wrestlers entering the meet, saw his streak end in the 160-pound quarterfinals when Del Mar's Todd Woodward won a 4-2 decision. As Ancona did at 215, Montanez powered past four opponents the second day.

Seo won all three of his 130-pound bouts on Friday before losing in the semifinals Saturday. Seo then scored a first-round pin before cruising in the third-place match 14-0.

Fremont sophomore Kurtis Ogasawara placed fourth at 135, falling only to the eventual champion and third-place finisher.

Homestead's Ittai Barzilay (145) and Cupertino's Nykolis Ramirez-Baker (189), both seniors, and King's sophomore Stephen Thalin (130) all grabbed fifth-place honors.

Barzilay won three matches Friday, but lost his first two Saturday before knocking off Bellarmine's Pat Gillick 15-6 for the consolation title. Ramirez-Baker, who sandwiched pins around a 6-4 defeat on day one, won four out of five consolation bouts on day two. Thalin posted a 5-2 record during the two days, losing only to Seo and the eventual fourth-place finisher.

Contributing to Fremont's second-place team finish were sophomore Tommy Staats, who posted a 4-2 record at 189 pounds, and senior Joel Tran, who won two bouts at 125.

Junior Steven Shimizu of King's won four bouts at 112 and senior teammate Billy Thalin won three in the 160 class.

Monta Vista's Nate Fung (119), Brandon Greenwood (125) and Taylor Oberhelman (171), Cupertino's Bronson Farr (215), Homestead's Mark Zosky (171) and Lynbrook's Eugene Berson (135) all won two bouts before being eliminated.