The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by John Medina Battering Ram: Willow Glen's Jesse Hendricks drives his opponent in an early season match for the Rams. Hendricks is a transfer at Willow Glen who is expected to help the Rams win a league championship this winter. Rams plan to pin championship Willow Glen among favorites to win league wrestling title By Dick Sparrer It's been a long time since Willow Glen won a league wrestling championship--30 years to be precise. But Phil Luna thinks this could be the year. "This is the most experienced team we've had in years," said Luna of his 1999 crew. "We're returning 11 of 14 varsity wrestlers from last year's team." And that was a team that posted a 4-2 record to finish second in the league. This year, says Luna, the Rams should win it all. "We should dominate our league," he said, "and this team should qualify five or six wrestlers to CCS." Willow Glen lost two seniors to graduation and one other wrestler to a transfer, but Lupe Duran and Henry Chavez lead a solid crew of returners this season. Duran (119) is back for his fourth varsity season, and returns after a fourth-place finish in the league finals last year. "He'll be one of the top wrestlers in our league at 119 pounds," said Luna of the talented senior. Chavez (140) is a senior returning for his second year on the Willow Glen varsity. He was eighth in the league a year ago. Juniors Fernando Betancourt (215) and Jesse Hendricks (189) are other top prospects, along with senior Greg Barone (130). Betancourt and Barone each won league titles on the junior varsity level for the Rams last winter. Hendricks is a transfer from New Mexico, where he was a state placer. Willow Glen hasn't won a league title since 1969, but Luna expects the Rams to win it all this year, with most of their competition to come from Leigh and Prospect. The Rams will battle Yerba Buena in a league match this week, hosting the Warriors on Jan. 7, 6:30 p.m. Willow Glen will then head to the Lonestar Invitational at Live Oak on Jan. 8 and 9. Panthers fall Sara Werner bombed 16 points, but the Presentation girls basketball team dropped a 56-45 decision to St. Francis to wind up sixth in the Mitty New Year's Classic. Werner ended up winning a place on the all-tournament team for the Panthers. The Panthers lost their opener 68-38 to unbeaten Campolindo, but came back to beat Menlo-Atherton 74-52 to move into the fifth-place game against the Lancers. But only Werner could score in double figures against St. Francis as the Panthers fell by 11. Cheyene Brown supported with nine points for Presentation. The Panthers, 7-7 for the year, lost to Campo in the tourney opener. Rams open The Willow Glen girls will open league play in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this week. The Rams host San Jose on Jan. 5, 5 p.m., and Silver Creek on Jan. 7, 7 p.m. Mustangs win The Pioneer girls pulled out a 41-30 nonleague win over Fremont last week to finish the preseason with a solid 6-3 record. Maryanne Wahhab tossed in a team-high 17 points to lead the Mustangs to the victory. Amy Thornhill joined her in double figures with 12 points. Soquel Winter Classic The Pioneer boys, meanwhile, lost two straight games at the Soquel Winter Classic, losing to unbeaten Santa Cruz before falling 65-62 to Watsonville. Greg Haskell and Jeff Luu poured in 17 points apiece to lead all Pioneer scorers in the battle with Watsonville. Haskell buried five three-pointers, and Luu hit a pair. Kevin Mack canned three threes on his way to 12 points in the game. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, January 6, 1999. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.