It was no Valentine's Day massacre, but the Wildcats came out on top to clinch a
6-0 league record.

In 2002, things shape up pretty much the same in the De Anza Division. Los Gatos and Cupertino appear to be head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the pack, and they'll meet to determine the dual match crown.

But they'll get together long before Valentine's Day—in fact, they'll meet before Christmas day. Because the Wildcats and Pioneers will collide on Wednesday night with the league championship on the line.

"It'll be a barnburner—it's a shame it has to come this early in the season," said Los Gatos coach Scott Downs of the Dec. 18 match that should determine the division title. The clubs will collide at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cupertino.

"We'll find out a whole lot of what we are as a team this week against Cupertino," added Downs. "They're always tough to wrestle in their gym."

Making the task even tougher for the Wildcats this winter is the fact that the match comes early, and many football players are getting a late start on the mat since the Cats advanced to the finals of the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs.

Brian Miguel, who placed fifth in the SCVAL last season and in the top 16 at CCS, is one of the key matmen getting a late start because of football. Devin Lopez, Ivan Batinich, Eric Chen and Cameron Fee, who returns to the mat this year after a year's layoff, are other football players still making the adjustment to wrestling.

Still, Downs is confident about his Cats, thanks to the leadership of standouts like Adam Morganthaler, Matthew Nudelman and Bobby Pease.

"I feel really good about where we are right now," said Downs. "But a lot depends upon how quickly our football players get into wrestling shape."

Morganthaler and Pease are certainly in "wrestling shape." The two are each off to 10-0 starts in the young season, and each won titles at the Newark Ironman tournament last weekend.

Pease, a defending league champ who finished in the top eight at CCS, has seven pins among his 10 wins at 145 pounds. He pinned an opponent from Ukiah in 2:44 in the Newark finals.

"He's very impressive right now," said Downs of Pease, a junior.

The coach is also impressed with Morganthaler, who has six pins in his 10 wins at 135 pounds. The senior, who was third in the SCVAL a year ago and went on to place fourth at CCS, won 11-1 in the title match at Newark.

Nudelman, a senior who was second in the league and fifth in CCS a year ago, missed the second day of the Newark tourney because of the SAT exam.

"Those three guys really got a lot out of their off-season," said Downs of Pease, Morganthaler and Nudelman. "They did what they had to do."

The trio, along with Miguel, attended wrestling summer camps to improve their skills.

Morganthaler and Pease were joined in the Newark finals by teammates Bryan Ceglio and Matt Miguel.

Ceglio, a junior who was third in the league and in the top 12 at CCS, ended up second at 112 pounds, losing in the finals to the wrestler ranked No. 2 in the state. Ceglio is 8-2 this year.

M. Miguel, a junior, is 9-1 this year with nine pins. He lost his last match at Newark to the wrestler ranked No. 2 in the North Coast Section at 119 pounds.

Chen pushed his season record to 8-2 at 171 pounds with a third-place finish at Newark.

Senior Jeff Oleson and junior Kevin Cho are other comeback league placers for the Wildcats. Oleson was fifth in the SCVAL and in the CCS top 16 a year ago, and Cho was fourth in the league.

Los Gatos won three of seven matches in the Newark Ironman Duals, despite giving up 24 points on four forfeits a match the first day and 36 points on six forfeits a match the second day.

The Cats beat College Park 40-28, Irvington 47-30 and West High 48-18, but lost to Antioch 38-37, Oak Grove 40-28, Newark-Memorial 42-39 and Mission San Jose 55-31. On the mat, the Wildcats won more matches than any of their opponents.

The same day, the Los Gatos junior varsity competed in the Harbor Tournament. Dylan Rosen, Mike Wysuph, Jeff Wysuph, Adam Nudelman, James Alva and Gary Wozniak all won individual titles at Harbor, and Bashir Olangian finished third. J. Wysuph boasts a 10-1 record this year with M. Wysuph at 9-2 and Wozniak at 8-2.

Following the Wednesday key dual match against Cupertino, the Los Gatos varsity will be off to Scotts Valley to compete in the Coast Classic tournament. The Cats finished fourth in the event a year ago.

"I think we have more guys who can go deeper into the tournament," said Downs. "I think we can do fairly well."