Why not? Their Firebirds finished 13th as a team thanks to the performances of five state qualifiers--Filip Novachkov, Greg Crane, Novachkov, Kurtis Ogasawara and Tommy Staats. And they are all underclassmen.

Juniors F. Novachkov (second) and Crane (fifth) each won medals for Fremont at the state tourney, and all five of the Firebirds won two matches or more.

The effort earned the Firebirds a place in the top 15 in the team standings. Poway of San Diego ran up 167 points to take the state title with Bakersfield a distant second at 111. Gilroy was the top Central Coast Section finisher, sixth with 68 points, and Fremont was 13th with 54 points, only 4.5 points out of 10th. The Firebirds were hot on the heels of Calvary Chapel (10th at 58.5), Turlock (11th at 57) and San Ramon Valley (12th at 54.5).

F. Novachkov led the Fremont effort with his runner-up finish at 112 pounds. The junior battled three-time defending state champion senior Brian Moreno of Foothill right to the wire before losing a tough 5-3 decision.

Novachkov took the early lead with a first-round takedown, but Moreno fought back with an escape and a takedown to lead 3-2 at the first buzzer.

Moreno started the second round on the bottom and reversed Novachkov to go up 5-2. Novachkov escaped before the end of the round, though, to trail just 5-3 heading into the final round.

But Moreno was able to ride out Novachkov through a scoreless third round and hang on for the 5-3 victory.

The Fremont star opened the tournament with four straight victories to get into the championship match. He pinned junior Anthony Frank of Laguna Hills at 4:41, beat up senior Keith Gibson of Mt. Whitney 11-4, won on a 16-0 technical fall over sophomore Chad Perez of Galt and handled junior Justin Paulsen of Calvary Chapel 10-2 to earn the shot at Moreno.

Crane supported Novachkov's effort with a fifth-place finish at 152 pounds. The talented junior won three straight matches in the championship bracket before losing two straight. He came back with a vengeance, though, pinning senior Cory Beeson of Temecula Valley at 1:44 of the first round in the battle for fifth place.

Crane opened with a 18-2 technical fall against senior Eric Blackwell of Royal, then beat senior Jesse Banaga of Granite Hills 7-1 and junior Travis Wood of Modoc 5-3. Crane lost 10-5 to freshman Louie Bland of Central Catholic, then fell 7-5 to senior Austin Cronan of Turlock before beating Beeson for fifth place.

Boris Novachkov won three bouts and Kurtis Ogasawara and Tommy Staats each won a couple of matches for the Firebirds at the state tourney.

B. Novachkov opened the tourney with a 10-3 win over junior Freddie Vigil of South High School at 103 pounds. The sophomore lost a tough 5-3 nod to soph Justin Durham of Ponderosa, but fought back through the consolation bracket to blank senior Rolando Martinez of Dinuba 13-0 and beat junior Edwin Martinez of Chatsworth 11-6. The younger Novachkov was eliminated a match later, though, when he lost 10-2 to Vacaville senior Anton DeLeon.

Ogasawara lost by fall in his first match at 140 pounds to senior Kipp Bowman of Temecula Valley, but came back with a tight 8-6 victory over senior Justin Kelhi of El Modena and a 4-2 win over freshman Brad Pace of Ponderosa. The junior lost 4-2 a match later to junior Lucas Espericueta of Shafter.

Staats also lost by fall in his first match at 189 pounds to junior Mark Ryan of Analy, but battled back to beat freshman Josh Boger of Coalinga 8-7 and senior bobby Cearley of Lincoln of Stockton 7-3. The Fremont junior then lost 14-6 to sophomore Clayton Jack of Vacaville.

Stephen Thalin of The King's Academy also made the state trip and managed to win a match before facing elimination at 135 pounds. The junior opened with an 18-6 loss to sophomore Justin Danz of Ponderosa, but fought back to beat freshman Daniel Montelongo of Madera 12-7 in the consolation bracket. But he lost his last match 9-2 to senior Jose Serratos of Santa Ana.