The Campbell Reporter

Sports

Linares nails spot in top 4

By Mike Barnhart

S ince placing sixth at the state high school wrestling meet last winter, Los Gatos senior Geoff Doss has been on a mission to become a state champion.

This weekend, Feb. 29-March 1 at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena, he will get another shot.

Doss earned a trip to the CIF State Wrestling Championships by impressively beating five challengers at the Central Coast Section championships, Feb. 22-23, at Independence and Overfelt. With four pins and a 16-5 major decision over San Benito senior Fernando Lucatero in the final, Doss captured the gold medal for the 154-pound weight class.

"I'm chasing a state title, so this was just one step in the process," explained Doss, who never looked back after taking down Lucatero with an ankle pick that earned a quick 5-0 lead. "This was just taking care of business."

Some would say it was business as usual for the determined Doss, who continues to build upon his school takedown record each time he takes the mat.

"He's relentless and very self-motivated," said Los Gatos coach Ken Perrotti, after Doss improved his season record to 43-2 and became the first Wildcat since Bobby Pease (2003-04) to win at CCS two years in a row.

It certainly was business as usual for Gilroy, which claimed the team championship for the sixth straight season. With four individual winners and nine state qualifiers, the Mustangs scored 249.5 points, well ahead of second-place San Benito (151). St. Francis was third with 140.5 and Los Gatos took fourth with 140.5. In all, 76 schools were represented in the two-day meet. The top four finishers in each of the 14 weight classes qualified for state.

Los Gatos teammate Calvin Hawkes, who for two seasons has been doing everything in his power to "be like Geoff" on the wrestling mat, now has his shot too.

After a second-period escape and takedown, Hawkes held on to beat San Lorenzo Valley sophomore Cody Rodebaugh 3-2 for the 137-pound title and a chance to be a state medalist.

"When we were sophomores, I saw him place at CCS and I was just a JV league champion," recalled Hawkes, who will take a 46-4 record to the state meet. "From that moment, I started to play catch-up, putting in a lot of work."

Although Los Gatos fell short of its team goal to replace Gilroy as team champion--the Mustangs, with four individual winners, won their unprecedented sixth consecutive team title--Doss and Hawkes gave the Wildcats two CCS champions in the same year for the first time since 1970.

No other local athletes captured gold at CCS, but Saratoga junior Nathan Nguyen (105 pounds) and Westmont senior Abe Matsui (132) reached the championship round, before losing to No. 1 seeds.

In the first match of the finals program, Nguyen lost 4-0 to Overfelt's talented Joshua Go.

Matsui, the Blossom Valley Athletic League champion and the No. 6 seed, led his title match against Watsonville senior Emmanuel Lanuza 5-3 and had his eyes on an upset when he started the third round in the bottom position. But Matsui was penalized twice in the final period for stalling, forcing a 5-5 tie and overtime. Lanuza scored a takedown to win 7-5.

Matsui, who finished in the top eight at CCS as a junior, will be joined at the state meet by Westmont teammate Chris Sutton, who placed fourth at 137 pounds with a 5-2 record.

Del Mar's Daniel Linares, who lost to Doss in the 154 semifinals, qualified for state by pinning Bellarmine senior Eli Sanchez in the third-place bout. To reach the third-place bout, Linares pinned Fremont senior Daunte Mills, who finished sixth with a 5-3 record.

Sanchez's first bout of the tourney was a 4-2 decision against senior Daniel Lu of Monta Vista.

Another local state meet qualifier was Lincoln senior Bacilio Monterroso, who was fourth at 114.

Matsui reached the final by beating Fremont senior La Quintin Cathey 15-7 in one of the 132 semifinals. Cathey bounced back to win two matches to earn third.

Monterroso scored a 17-0 technical fall, an 11-2 major decision and a 6-5 decision, before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Jesse Delgado of Gilroy. He beat Jordan Yamat of Silver Creek to reach the third-place bout, before falling 5-4 to Corwin Learned of Half Moon Bay.

Los Gatos senior Sean Goodison reached the 162 semifinals before finishing sixth with a 3-3 mark. Del Mar's Eric Tilbury, who lost to Goodison in the quarterfinals, had a top eight finish with a 3-2 record.

Mills reached the final eight with four straight wins after losing his first match 9-2. Mills' fourth win was a pin of junior Matt Thalin of The King's Academy, who finished 2-2.

At 132, Pioneer senior Brian Nichol and Prospect junior Shohei Takagi each finished 2-2. Willow Glen sophomore Dominic Ruffin went 1-2.

No local 119 competitors reached the second day, but Prospect senior Janik Santana almost did. He suffered a tough 5-4 defeat in his first bout against No. 5 Tyler Naman, then won three straight and made it to the final 12 before bowing out.

Also at 119, Leigh junior Trevor Borello went 2-2 with a couple of pins.

At 127, Prospect senior Michael Bricker (1-2) lost in the first round, before scoring a win in the consolation bracket.

At 142, Bellarmine senior David Jensen and Prospect junior David Silver both went 2-2 at 142. Willow Glen senior Bobby Lopez finished 1-2.

Sophomore 162-pounder Sebastie Chene of Leigh finished in the top 12 with a 3-2 record. After Gilroy's Ethan Ogle pinned him, he put three straight consolation challengers on their backs, before bowing 4-2 to sophomore Rob Riedler of King City. Junior Brian Butrice of Westmont went 2-2.