So if that's true, what's that make Bobby Pease of Los Gatos? Because Pease won an individual championship last weekend at the rugged Cupertino Memorial Tournament. And where does that leave Los Gatos? Because the Wildcats finished fifth in the tough Jan. 11 field, with Bellarmine the only Central Coast Section team to finish ahead of them in the team standings.

Turlock won the team title in the tourney, which featured many of the state's top mat squads. Gilroy was second, with nationally ranked Vacaville third and Bellarmine fourth.

Seven individual placers sparked Los Gatos to a team fifth at the tough tourney. Fremont, with four placers, finished seventh overall, and host Cupertino, also with four placers, nailed 11th on the team list.

Pease led the Los Gatos effort with his championship at 145 pounds. Matt Nudelman was third at 135 pounds, with Brian Miguel fourth at 140, Adam Morgenthaler fifth at 130 and Bryan Ceglio sixth at 103. Holden Groves at 125 and Ivan Batinich at 215 each won consolation championships, and Kevin Cho was eighth at 119 pounds.

"That was a pretty good day for us," said Los Gatos coach Scott Downs, whose Cats ran up 128.5 team points to Bellarmine's 139.5.

Pease was the star of the day for the Wildcats with two pins to open the tournament, an 11-3 win in the semifinals and an overtime win over Justin Carskadon of Wilcox in the finals.

"It was a very exciting match between two very good wrestlers," said Downs of the 145-pound final. "[Pease] didn't just beat another guy; he beat a champion. This was a real big one for Bobby."

Nudelman was third at 135, his only loss coming against a defending Central Coast Section champion. The senior opened with a technical fall and an 11-3 win before losing 3-0 in the semifinals. He came back with a 9-4 win over a Bellarmine foe to clinch third.

"He was on fire," said Downs of Nudelman. "He's the real deal, and each week he goes out there to prove it."

Miguel, who came out late because of football and was then promptly sidelined with an injury, battled for a fourth at 140.

Morgenthaler was fifth at 130 pounds, and Ceglio nailed sixth at 103.

Groves and Batinich both lost their first match on Saturday, but each one battled back with three straight wins to nail consolation titles. Cho lost his first bout, then won two straight before losing in the consolation finals.


Cats crush Mats

The Wildcats were coming off of a lopsided 56-8 win over Monta Vista in a dual match in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League earlier in the week.

The Cats opened up a 56-0 lead against the Matadors before losing at 152 and 160 pounds.

The match began at 171 pounds, and Eric Chen got the Cats going with a 12-6 victory. Senior Cameron Fee nailed his first win of the year with a 9-3 decision at 189.

After Batinich (215) and Devin Lopez (275) claimed forfeit wins, Los Gatos reeled off eight straight wins on the mat.

Freshman Dylan Gavin rolled 11-1 at 103 pounds, Ceglio cruised to a 17-5 nod at 112, Cho whipped his foe 14-6 at 119 and Groves won 11-1 at 125.

Morgenthaler pinned at 1:20 of the first round at 130 pounds, and Nudelman won 18-3 on a tech fall at 135. Miguel pinned in the third round at 140, and Pease followed with a pin at 1:33 of the first round at 145.

Mike Ross lost to Monta Vista standout Dan Montanez at 152, and Mike Girsback dropped a close 6-5 nod at 160.

The win evened Los Gatos' dual match record at 1-1 in league competition. The Cats will now host Wilcox on Jan. 15, 6:30 p.m., in a key league match.

"This is a big one at home," said Downs. "They have a full squad, so this is probably for the junior varsity championship."


JVs win title

The Los Gatos JVs rolled over Monta Vista 70-0 last week, and the young Cats won the team title on Friday at the Cupertino Memorial Second-Man Tournament.

"It was pretty dramatic," said Downs. "We won it by almost 40 points."

"The JV group is really doing a great job," he added. "It's nice to know that the cupboards are full."

Nine Los Gatos wrestlers placed at the tournament, and three won individual titles.

Gavin was a champ at 103 pounds, Gary Wozniak was first at 135 and Chen was first at 171. Jeff Wysuph also reached the finals, finishing second at 152.

Thirds went to James Alva at 112, Dane Diefendorff at 119 and Girsback at 160. Nolan Nguyen was fourth at 130, and Liam Smith was fifth at 189.

The team title came just a week after Los Gatos had placed 11 wrestlers and won six titles at the Soquel Frosh-Soph Tournament.

Gavin (103), Dylan Rosen (130), David Bitter (135), Wozniak (140), Mike Wysuph (145) and J. Wysuph (152) were each champions at the tourney. Kevin Gallagher was second at 171, thirds went to Adam Nudelman at 112 and Alva at 119, and fourths went to Smith at 189 and Jordan France at 125.

The young Wildcats will now chase gold medals in their own tournament. Los Gatos will host the 25-team Wildcat Invitational Frosh-Soph Tournament on Jan. 18 in Helm Gym. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the finals to begin at about
5:30 p.m.

"All the best teams will be there," said Downs.


Fourth at Briggs

The Los Gatos varsity finished fourth at the Jim Briggs Memorial Tournament held Jan. 4 in Tracy.

Groves (125), M. Nudelman (135) and Miguel (140) each finished second, and Matt Miguel (119) and Jeff Oleson (160) were each third. Ross was fourth at 145, and Chen was seventh at 171.

At the Coast Classic in Scotts Valley before Christmas, Nudelman was fourth at 135, Pease was fifth at 145 and Oleson was sixth at 160.