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It's one of the tougher wrestling tournaments in the area. And when the Willow Glen Rams placed second in the 30-team Ray Andree Memorial at Westmont on Dec. 7, they proved that they're one of the tougher wrestling teams in the area.
Senior Adrian Morales won a division title and four other Rams finished second to help Willow Glen run up 160 points to finish close behind first-place Greenfield (161 1/2).
"We're pretty solid this year," said head coach Phil Luna. "We're pretty excited about what we see."
Morales won a title at 171 points and he was joined in the finals by teammates Amir Faraj-Perry, Eugene Martinez, Daniel Cousino and Sam Olivas. Ruben Rodriguez finished fourth, and Ricardo Hernandez added a fifth.
Morales won four straight matches to take the 171-pound title, pinning Cupertino's David Kullman in the finals.
Faraj-Perry, a senior, was second at 215 pounds, losing in the title match to state-ranked Tony Barrow of Mitty, and "super soph" Martinez was second at 135.
Cousino, a senior team captain, posted a 4-1 record to nail second at 160 pounds. He was unseeded but defeated the No. 2 and 3 seeds before losing to No. 1 seed Paul Do of Overfelt in the finals.
"That was a real confidence booster for him," said Luna. "We're real proud of him."
Olivas, a junior, came through with a second at 125 pounds for the Rams, with juniors Rodriguez (fourth at 130) and Hernandez (fifth at 140) also placing.
Senior Jason Grossman, just out for the team, didn't place but won a couple of key matches at 152 points to pick up important team points for the Rams.
In the Willow Glen junior varsity dual match tournament the same weekend, the Rams posted a 2-2 record. Robert Oropeza was 4-0 at 171 pounds.
The Rams rolled over Valley Christian 53-15 in a varsity dual match last week. Pinning for Willow Glen were Phuc Nguyen, Martinez, Hernandez, Grossman and Oropeza, and Rodriguez won on a technical fall.
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