The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Novachkov does it again--he's a state champ
By Mike Barnhart
Mission accomplished!
Fremont's Boris Novachkov, who won a state wrestling championship as a junior in 2006, captured another state crown last Saturday night at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena.
Competing three weight classes above the 103-pound division he conquered last season, the Firebird phenom won two matches Saturday to claim the 125-pound title. He beat David Prado, a senior from Freedom of Oakley, 7-1 as a crowd of more than 7,000 watched the finals.
Prado, who had lost 5-3 to Novachkov early in the season at the Walsh Ironman Tournament in Ohio, could not keep up with the Fremont senior in the state finale.
Novachkov scored a takedown in the first period, then went up 5-0 in the second with an escape and another takedown. In the final period, wrestling straight up, the Firebird posted another two-point takedown. Prado's only point came late in the third, when Novachkov let him up for an escape.
Novachkov finished the season with a 43-1 record. His only loss came in December, during the Reno Tournament of Champions. R.J. Pena, a sophomore from Sprague, Ore., earned a close decision. Pena recently won the Oregon state championship.
After the match concluded, Novachkov let loose with a backflip. He had just become the first Santa Clara Valley Athletic League wrestler to win two state titles.
Last year, Novachkov, his older brother, Filip, and Greg Crane became the first Fremont wrestlers to win state crowns.
The only other SCVAL athletes to win state titles were from Cupertino High. Matt Olejnik was the first, back in 1981 and Aki Yoshikawa did it 10 years later. Two-time Central Coast Section champion John Hall of Palo Alto could have joined the elite group Saturday night, but lost in the 189 finale.
Novachkov reached the championship bout with a dominating effort in the semifinals Saturday morning. He scored a first-round pin over Kody Klaus of Vacaville.
The match was barely a minute old when Novachkov pulled Klaus to the mat for a takedown. Then, after using an armbar, Novachkov scooped Klaus head with a figure four leg-lock. With 28 seconds left in the period, Klaus was pinned and Novachkov had a berth in the state finals.
Novachkov opened the state tournament on Friday with three victories. He scored decisions over Robert Wetzel of Canyon Springs 4-1 and Blake Nichols of College Park-Pleasant Hill 6-0 before pinning Josh Reyes of McFarland midway through the third round.
Novachkov's final two challengers, Klaus and Prado, handed Los Gatos' Naveed Bagheri his only defeats of the weekend. Bagheri lost to Prado 6-5 in the quarterfinals and 6-3 to Klaus in a consolation semifinal. Bagheri placed fifth.
Fremont junior La Quintin Cathey also made the trip to Bakersfield after qualifying fourth out of CCS. Cathey lost his first contest 16-1 to Matt Manuel of Nevada Union. In his next match, Cathey was pinned in the second round by Porfirio Madrigal of Healdsburg. Madrigal went on to finish seventh.
Baseball
After opening the season with three losses, Homestead won two in a row, behind fine pitching efforts from junior Evan Marshall and senior Kevin Labadie.
Marshall allowed a first-inning RBI hit to Brent Bethel, but shut out The King's Academy for the final six innings in a 7-1 win. Marshall, who helped himself with three hits and two runs batted in, struck out 14 Knights.
Labadie also pitched a complete game, permitting only two hits and whiffing eight batters during a 3-2 win over Capuchino of South San Francisco. Brian Labadie helped out his twin brother with three hits and two RBI.
Before its defeat to Homestead, The King's Academy (1-1) had captured its season opener 4-0 over visiting Monta Vista. Corbett Clarke fired a 2-hitter and Evan Chaney had three hits for the Knights.
Fremont's Rob Ramer joined the pitching parade, twirling a 3-hitter in a 3-2 win over Palo Alto. Kenny Pope delivered the game-winning RBI for the Firebirds (2-4), who overcame a 2-0 deficit with single runs in each of the final three innings.
Softball
Samantha Ellis blasted a grand slam home run in the fourth inning, leading Fremont to a 4-2 win over Monta Vista in the season opener for both squads.
Meanwhile, Homestead and The King's Academy both began the season with shutout losses.
The Mustangs received a solid pitching performance from junior Becca Gularte, but managed just one hit and lost 2-0 to Leigh.
Alex Viveiros had two hits, but the Knights totaled just four and lost 5-0 to Santa Clara.
