The Willow Glen Resident Photograph by George Sakkestad Game Face: Willow Glen's Brigette Boney moves in to play some tough defense against Pioneer's Audra Sexauer. Copas sparks Rams to win Willow Glen wrestlers push record to 3-0 By Dick Sparrer Adam Copas doesn't have much experience as a wrestler. In fact, the extent of the experience for the high school sophomore has been the last six weeks he's spent on the mat for the Willow Glen Rams. But Copas didn't let a little thing like lack of experience get in his way last Wednesday night. Because he looked like a seasoned wrestler as he battled his way to a 16-10 victory at 160 pounds to help the Rams to an important 40-30 win over Prospect. The win helped Willow Glen improve to 3-0 in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. "That was the biggest win of the night for us," said Willow Glen coach Phil Luna of Copas' victory. "And it was a surprise win." Copas should really compete at 152 pounds, but he moved to the 160-pound class to complete the Willow Glen line-up. Luna was hoping that Copas could avoid a pin so that the Rams could lock up the match in the heavier weights. But Copas did much better than that. "That was a huge win for us," said Luna. "That gave us the lead, enough that we didn't have to worry about things in the upper weights." "He wrestled very smart in this match," added the coach, praising Copas. "He's really showing me something right now." Willow Glen went on to win three more matches to clinch the team win over the Panthers. Sophomore Steven Kline won 10-5 at 171, Jesse Hendricks pinned at 189, and Fernando Betancourt won by fall at 215 to help the Rams secure the victory. Senior captain Lupe Duran pinned at 119 pounds, and sophomore Henry Chavez won by pin at 135. Daniel Lopez rolled to an 18-10 victory at 112 pounds. Jeff Ramirez gave the Rams an emotional lift when he moved up from 145 to 152 to compete against the Panthers. Ramirez lost a 6-4 heartbreaker, but his performance was "a big inspiration to us," said Luna. The Rams will try to make it four straight in league dual matches when they host Gunderson on Jan. 20, 6:30 p.m. They'll head to Del Mar on Friday for a junior varsity tournament, and to John F. Kennedy in Fremont on Saturday for a varsity tourney. Lopez and Betancourt each placed at the Jim Root Classic at West Valley Community College in Saratoga last weekend. Lopez was fourth at 112 pounds, and Betancourt nailed a fifth at 215. A week earlier, the Willow Glen junior varsity finished sixth in a 27-team field at the Lone Star Invitational at Live Oak in Morgan Hill. Chavez finished first in the 135-pound weight class, then returned to the mat a day later to compete in the varsity tourney. He ended up sixth at the varsity level. "He wrestled 10 matches in two days," said Luna of Chavez. "It was a great effort." Shane O'Hare was third at 112 pounds for the Rams, and Kline was third at 171. Adding fourths were Joe Persi at 119, Paul Yarbrough at 140 and Memo Rivera at 160. Holt leads Rams Nich Holt buried three three-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points, but the Willow Glen boys basketball team lost a 58-51 decision to Mt. Pleasant last week. The loss left the Rams 2-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL and 7-8 for the season. Holt topped a list of four Rams who hit in double figures in the game. Guy Beahm chipped in with 13 points, and Manny Myers added 11. Ben Fuller hit 10 points, including two three-pointers. Rams drop two The Willow Glen girls opened the league season with back-to-back wins, but the Rams lost two last week to slip to 2-2 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL. Willow Glen lost 56-36 to Lincoln, then fell 52-32 to Pioneer. The Rams are now 4-10 for the year. Sophomore Christine Ha buried 12 points, including a pair of threes, but the Rams lost by 20 to the Lions. Kelly McCloskey chipped in with seven points, Mary Bennett hit five, and Angel Ocampo, Melissa Allen and Andrea Rojas had three each. Sandra Corpus, Courtney Livak and LaTesha Trumbo each had a point in the loss. Bennett pitched in eight points to lead the Rams, but they lost by 20 to the Mustangs two days later. Ha had a pair of threes to finish with six points, Rojas and Allen hit five apiece, and Corpus, Livak, McCloskey and Brigitte Boney added two each. The Rams will try to get back to their winning ways this week when they visit Andrew Hill on Jan. 19, 5 p.m., and host Overfelt on Jan. 21, 7 p.m. Panthers win The Presentation girls nailed their first league win with a 58-35 victory over Leigh in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. Sophomore forward Sara Werner pumped in 16 points, including two three-pointers, and sophomore Katherine McLaughlin added 10 points, including two threes, to lead the Panthers to the 13-point victory. Stacey Caldman had three threes to finish with nine points for Presentation, and soph Katie Passalacqua hit eight points in the win. The Panthers improved to 1-2 in the division with the win, and they're 8-9 for the year. Soccer wins The Willow Glen boys and Presentation girls each cruised to soccer wins in BVAL action last week. The Rams knocked off James Lick 4-2 before fighting Independence to a 1-1 tie last week. Junior Juan Rivera knocked in two goals, one unassisted and another on a penalty kick, to lead the Willow Glen boys to the win over the Comets. Joel Cibrian scored off a Ramon Duran assist, and Hugo Sigala scored off a Rudy Ochoa assists for the Rams. A first-half goal by Alejandro Angeles off a Michael Lawrence assist helped the Rams pull out a 1-1 tie with the 76ers later in the week. Willow Glen, now 1-2-2 in the Santa Teresa Division and 2-9-2 for the year, will visit Lincoln on Jan. 22 and host Valley Christian on Jan. 25 in a pair of 3:15 p.m. bouts. The Panthers, meanwhile, blanked Independence 3-0 and tied Mitty 2-2 to improve to 5-0-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division. Presentation is 9-2-1 overall. Erica Timiraos drove home a goal and assisted Kelly Pryor on another goal to lead Presentation to the win over the Sixers. Jamie Moore scored off an Adrianne Rizzo assist to round out the Presentation scoring. Alison Bertholi and Jenny Field each scored off assists from Timiraos in the 2-2 tie against the Monarchs. In other local action, the Willow Glen girls lost twice last week, falling 2-1 to Mt. Pleasant and 2-0 to Oak Grove. The Rams are now 1-5 in the Santa Teresa Division and 3-7-1 for the year. Kellie Arnone scored off a Melissa Ybarra assist for Willow Glen's lone goal in the loss to the Cardinals. The Rams will try to return to their winning ways when they host Westmont on Jan. 20 and visit Pioneer on Jan. 25 in a pair of 3:15 p.m. games. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, January 20, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.