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Rams pinned two wins against 'big boys' in P.A.
By Dick Sparrer
Phil Luna learned something about his Willow Glen wrestling team last week.
"We can wrestle with the big boys," said the WG boss after his Rams knocked two Central Coast Section powers.
The Rams beat Palo Alto in the final round of the Monta Vista Duals in Danville, then came back a few days later to whip Overfelt 51-25 in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
"Those two wins gave us a lot of confidence," said Luna. "The kids have really stepped it up."
Luna's hoping that his Rams keep stepping over opponents as they visit Santa Teresa for a league match on Feb. 7, at 6:30 p.m., and return to Santa Teresa on Saturday for the BVAL finals.
Willow Glen is 3-2 in the division and 12-7 for the year heading into the match against the Saints. The Rams could clinch third place in the division in the dual match standings with a win over the Saints.
The win over the Royals last week was especially impressive for the Rams, who had never beaten Overfelt before.
Pins by Mike Blanda (147), Jason Grossman (173), Adrian Morales (191), Joel Drescher (217), Amir Faraj-Perry (277) and Sam Olivas (105) sparked the Rams to the win over Overfelt.
Mike Jaramillo (142) won by technical fall and Rueben Rodriguez (132) won a major decision. Richard Salaz (160) picked up a forfeit win.
The Rams were coming off an 11th-place finish at the Monta Vista Duals, thanks to a clutch win over Palo Alto in their final match.
Willow Glen lost 51-25 to Arroyo to open the tournament. After that, the best the Rams could hope for was 11th place. And that's just where they finished, with a 49-23 win over Arroyo, a 52-25 win over Amador Valley and a tiebreaker win over Paly.
The Rams trailed the Vikings 39-36 heading into the final match, and A. Faraj-Perry trailed by three points with just over 20 seconds left in his match at 277 pounds. But Faraj-Perry reversed his opponent to his back to pull out a victory that gave the Rams a 39-39 tie.
"It was just amazing," said Luna.
Because Willow Glen won eight matches to six for Paly, the Rams were awarded the team win. Olivas, Blanda, Steve Lopez, Hernandez, Grossman, Morales and Drescher also had wins for the Rams.
"It was a good, exciting match," said Luna. "The guys just sucked it up."
A key match for Willow Glen came when Salaz refused to be pinned against a CCS-ranked Palo Alto wrestler at 160 pounds. Because of his effort, the Rams saved enough team points to nail the team win.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
