Firebirds Greg Crane, Filip Novachkov and Boris Novachkov, individual winners at the Central Coast Section championships, Feb. 24-25, have loftier perches in the state rankings than teammates Kurtis Ogasawara and Tommy Staats and TKA's Stephen Thalin, but all six Sunnyvale athletes are striving for their first state title.

More than 500 wrestlers from throughout California, 38 in each of 14 weight classes, will converge on Radobank Arena. For seniors F. Novachkov and Crane, three-time CCS champs in three different weight classes, it will be the third trip to State. Novachkov (119 pounds) lost a 5-3 decision in last year's 114 final, while Crane (160) placed fifth at 152.

B. Novachkov, a 103-pound junior, earned his second state trip by winning his first CCS crown last weekend. In 2005, after a second-place medal at CCS, he posted a 3-2 record at state. Currently ranked No. 1 by California Wrestler Newsletter, B. Novachkov likely will receive the top seed at 103. F. Novachkov and Crane, ranked No. 2 in their classes, should get high seeds, too.

Thalin, Ogasawara and Staats, seniors rated honorable mention in the state rankings, all won at least one bout at state a year ago. This time around, after impressive showings at CCS, each of the three is confident he will be in the medal mix. Thalin (145) finished second, after losing the title match in overtime. Ogasawara (140) and Staats (189) also were defeated just once en route to third-place medals.

Sparked by their five state qualifiers, Fremont claimed second in the team standings behind Gilroy. Led by five individual champions and four other qualifiers, the Mustangs racked up 274.5 points and easily joined Oceana (1983-'86) as the only teams to win four consecutive team titles. Fremont scored 170.5, while third-place Los Gatos totaled 124. Bellarmine was fourth with 120.5, four more than fifth-place Silver Creek.

B. Novachkov pinned his first four foes before whipping Gilroy's Martin Gonzalez 9-2 in the 103 finale. At 119, F. Novachkov pinned Silver Creek's Andre Gonzales 59 seconds into the title bout. Except for an 18-1 technical fall in his second bout, Crane won all of his bouts by fall, including a pin 1:30 into the title match against Los Gatos' Jeff Wysuph.

Ogasawara earned third place at CCS for the second year in a row. He finished 5-1, including a 15-7 triumph over Los Gatos rival Adam Nudelman in the third-place bout. The win gave Ogasawara a little revenge since he had lost to Nudelman in the league finals. Ogasawara's only loss was a semifinal pin against Gilroy's Armando Gonzalez, who later became the third wrestler in CCS history to win four section crowns.

Staats lost a 9-5 quarterfinal decision to Devonte Carr of Oak Grove, but roared back to win four bouts in a row Saturday afternoon and secure third place. Staats finished with a 6-1 record, and he avenged his loss with a 6-4 decision over Carr in the third-place bout.

Thalin, who took fourth place in the 135 division as a junior, barely missed the 145 crown Saturday night. He bowed 6-5 in overtime to Monterey's Chris Minafo. Thalin spent more time on the mat than any other finalist, as all five of his bouts went the distance and the last two went overtime. In the semifinals, Thalin had topped Joel Shaw of Saint Francis, 6-4.

In their first CCS competition, Fremont sophomores Donny Mena and Daunte Mills were still wrestling on day two. Mena finished 2-2, after reaching the 215 quarterfinals with two pins on Friday. Mills impressed at 135, pinning three of five opponents and losing a pair of one-point decisions.

Six other Firebirds competed at CCS. Juniors Mark Scandalis (125) and Atcheson Brittle (171) and senior Michael Alpers (152) all won consolation bouts before bowing out with 1-2 records. Sophomores Brandon Baza (112) and Jimmy Staats (275) and freshman Kenny La (145) finished 0-2.

S. Thalin was the only TKA wrestler to reach day two, but teammate Evan Winslow nearly joined him. Winslow, a senior 130-pounder, followed up a loss to Los Gatos standout Dylan Gavin with a tough 6-5 win over Monta Vista senior Michael Lipp and a 17-1 romp, but suffered an overtime defeat to Bellarmine's Brandon Octavio.

Freshmen Matthew Thalin (135) and Travis Johnson (189) went 1-2 for the Knights.

Homestead junior Matt Ott finished 1-2 in the 145 bracket, and sophomore teammate Andy Chin (103) was 0-2.