Just ask Fremont High sophomores Filip Novachkov and Greg Crane. That's exactly what they did at San Jose's Independence High School last weekend, winning section titles and earning berths into the California State meet March 5­6 in Bakersfield.

But don't ask Fremont senior Ernesto Ancona or Monta Vista senior Dan Montanez. Oh, they earned trips to the state meet, too, but they did it the hard way. Ancona and Montanez, top seeded in their respective weight classes, suffered surprising setbacks in the CCS quarterfinals on Feb. 20, then had to win four in a row Saturday to capture third place.

Another Fremont senior, Joseph Seo, also finished third. The top three placers at the CCS meet move on to the state event.

Fremont finished second behind Gilroy in the team competition, just ahead of Santa Clara Valley Athletic League rival Los Gatos. The Firebirds scored 139 points, 9.5 more than the Wildcats, who had won the SCVAL meet the week before. Monta Vista was 26th with 38.5 points. Cupertino and The King's Academy tallied 29 points apiece and shared 30th place with Gunn and Evergreen Valley. Homestead finished with 24 points and in a tie for 42nd with Serra.

Novachkov made quick work of the 103-pound class, pinning all five of his foes in the first round. His longest effort was in the title bout, pinning Terra Nova's Parker Sha with 13 seconds left in the first round.

Crane, the second seed, pinned his first opponent in less than a minute, then won by scores of 12-3 and 15-4. A pin in the semi-finals moved Crane into the title match, where he outdueled top-seeded Octavio Lucatero of San Benito 7-6.

Ancona pinned his first 215-pound challenger in 14 seconds and then won by injury default. But he was pinned in the quarterfinals by Tyler Porras of Westmont. The next day, knowing a loss would eliminate him from any chance of a state berth, Ancona responded by winning four straight.

Montanez, one of just two undefeated wrestlers entering the meet, saw his streak end in the 160-pound quarterfinals when Del Mar's Todd Woodward won a 4-2 decision. As Ancona did at 215, Montanez powered past four opponents the second day.

Seo won all three of his 130-pound bouts on Friday before losing in the semifinals Saturday. Seo then scored a first-round pin before cruising in the third-place match 14-0.

Fremont sophomore Kurtis Ogasawara placed fourth at 135, falling only to the eventual champion and third-place finisher.

Homestead's Ittai Barzilay (145) and Cupertino's Nykolis Ramirez-Baker (189), both seniors, and King's sophomore Stephen Thalin (130) all grabbed fifth-place honors.

Barzilay won three matches Friday, but lost his first two Saturday before knocking off Bellarmine's Pat Gillick 15-6 for the consolation title. Ramirez-Baker, who sandwiched pins around a 6-4 defeat on day one, won four out of five consolation bouts on day two. Thalin posted a 5-2 record during the two days, losing only to Seo and the eventual fourth-place finisher.

Contributing to Fremont's second-place team finish were sophomore Tommy Staats, who posted a 4-2 record at 189 pounds, and senior Joel Tran, who won two bouts at 125.

Junior Steven Shimizu of King's won four bouts at 112 and senior teammate Billy Thalin won three in the 160 class.

Monta Vista's Nate Fung (119), Brandon Greenwood (125) and Taylor Oberhelman (171), Cupertino's Bronson Farr (215), Homestead's Mark Zosky (171) and Lynbrook's Eugene Berson (135) all won two bouts before being eliminated.

Soccer playoffs

An excellent soccer season for the Lynbrook boys and the Monta Vista girls ended last week with first-round defeats in the CCS playoffs.

Lynbrook, champs in the SCVAL El Camino Division, lost 1-0 to Overfelt in a Division II matchup. The Vikings ended the season with a record of 9-5-4.

Monta Vista, the SCVAL El Camino runner-up to Mountain View, fell 3-1 to Leigh in a Division I girls contest. Jill Blake-Burke scored the Matadors' lone goal. It was her team-leading 16th goal of the season. The Matadors finished 16-5.

Stout Mat defense

Although Monta Vista's boys squad wasn't one of the 32 teams competing in the CCS playoffs last week, the Matadors had "a great season," said coach Matt Johnstone, "exceeding all of my expectations and pre-season predictions."

The Matadors posted shutouts in seven of their 12 SCVAL El Camino matches and lost just once during league play. They finished second behind Lynbrook with a 7-1-4 mark.

Junior goalkeeper Ben Lovelace, a starter since he was a freshman, "set the tone" for a defense that permitted just six goals during the 12 league games, Johnstone said. Junior Natsuki Hamada and senior Kevin Camilleri were the marking backs, senior David Hodges the stopper and senior Kevin Laumann the sweeper.

Hodges did "a great job clogging the middle and wins most 50-50 balls with his aggressive style," and Laumann is "very quick to the ball," Johnstone said.

"Our defense was the key for our success," added the coach. "When you know going into the game that it is going to be difficult for the other team to score, it takes a good deal of pressure off our offense."

The offense was led by senior Donald Chang, who scored five goals and had a league-high six assists. Seniors Nick Bedell and Mike Butler, junior Essam Ashkar and freshmen Daryl Tom and Derrick Ley also made scoring contributions.

Monta Vista, along with Lynbrook, will be moving to the De Anza Division next season. "I look forward to the challenge," Johnstone said. "We will be losing six starters from this year's squad, but we should be able to field a very competitive team.

"The style of play we use may not always be pretty or glamorous, but it definitely got the job done for us this year."