Grant Murdock was an unlikely candidate to earn a trip to state wrestling meet.
Sure, the senior from Pioneer was a talented wrestler and a rabid competitor. But the numbers were stacked against him.
Only the top four placers in each weight class at the Central Coast Section finals advance to state competition. Murdock had qualified for CCS as a fourth-place finisher in his league, so to expect him to climb over the other top placers from the other leagues entered at CCS was asking a lot.
But that's just what he did.
Murdock, the fourth-place finisher at 191 pounds at the Blossom Valley Athletic League tournament, placed third at CCS finals, winning a tight 3-2 decision over Mike Narducci of Los Gatos in his last match.
The Pioneer star gave himself a shot at a state berth by winning three straight bouts on the first day of the tournament. He blanked Josh Earnest of Santa Cruz 7-0 in his first match, edged an Aragon opponent 7-4 in his second match and handled a foe from Salinas 7-0 in his third match.
Murdock was one of four unbeaten wrestlers in the 191-pound semifinals on Saturday, and he needed just one more win to clinch a trip to state.
It wouldn't come in his fourth bout. Murdock lost a tough 11-6 decision to No. 2 seed Jake Helveston of Mt. Pleasant to slip into the consolation bracket.
But Murdock whipped Ray Ramirez of St. Francis 7-3 to secure his state berth, then edged Narducci 3-2 in the battle for third place.
Murdock, also a sensational football player for the Mustangs, was one of three Pioneer wrestlers to qualify for CCS. Danh Nguyen at 121 pounds and freshman Matt Mallon at 162 also competed in the section tournament.
Nguyen lost his first match by fall to Joaquin Vasquez, but fought back for a 7-4 victory over Daniel Perea of Milpitas. Nguyen was elminated in his third bout, though, when he lost 7-3 to Yuichi Kurosawa of Saratoga.
Mallon opened with a forfeit win at 162 pounds, but then was pinned by both Steve Hather of Santa Clara and Ricky Curstis of Menlo-Atherton.
Murdock claimed the CCS honors after winning a spot on the CCS honorable mention list in football last fall. He was the defensive player of the year in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Another top football player topped a list of four Willow Glen wrestlers who qualified for the CCS tournament.
Fernando Betancourt, a solid two-way lineman for the Rams last fall, joined teammates Lupe Duran, Daniel Lopez and Henry Chavez at the big CCS show.
Betancourt, a Willow Glen junior, split four matches at the section tourney. He won his first match by forfeit at 217 pounds, but lost his second bout by fall to Peter Borba of Watsonville to slip into the consolation bracket.
Betancourt battled back with an 8-2 victory over David Diaz of Santa Clara, but he lost by fall a match later to face elimination.
Duran came through with a solid showing at 121 pounds for the Rams. He lost a tough 11-9 decision to Jameson Dequina of St. Francis in his first match, but fought back with a couple of wins before losing a couple of matches short of the fifth-place bout.
Duran beat Kenny Bertron of Oak Grove 11-4 and roughed up Erik Lau of Mills 17-3 before falling to Drew Fredenburg of Live Oak 11-6. Fredenburg went on to place fifth overall in the division.
Willow Glen finished 16th as a team at the league finals after winning the dual-match championship in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
