At least, until last month. Diefendorff finally got his shot in a couple of varsity events in December, and he made the most of the opportunity.

The senior won an individual title at the Briggs Memorial Tournament in Tracy, then came back a week later to post a 4-0 record and help the Wildcats to a team championship at the Silicon Valley Challenge Cup tournament at Santa Clara University.

"The early story of the season for us is this guy," said Los Gatos co-head coach Scott Downs of Diefendorff. He won the 125-pound title at the Briggs, then came back with four big wins at Silicon Valley.

Diefendorff rolled to a 16-2 major decision victory in the 38-32 win over San Benito in the championship match, and he had pinned in the 45-20 win over St. Francis in the semifinals.

"That was huge," said Downs of the Diefendorff pin. "It was a real momentum builder for us."

Diefendorff had pinned in a key Los Gatos win over Silver Creek in the tourney opener, and he won a tight 7-6 decision in a 53-12 win over Independence.

Diefendorff was one of four undefeated wrestlers for Los Gatos at the Silicon Valley event. Dylan Gavin at 112, Jordan France at 119 and Matt Miguel at 130 were each 5-0 for the Cats.

Jake Schonig at 103, Mike Ross at 145, Eric Chen at 171 and Ivan Batinich at 215 all posted 4-1 records in the tournament.

It was a pin by Gavin the final match that lifted Los Gatos to a 33-26 tournament victory over a powerful Terra Nova team.

"The place just exploded and so did we," said Downs of Gavin's pin. "I think they might be the toughest dual match team in the Central Coast Section."

It was just part of a great weekend for Gavin. "He was on fire," said Downs of the sophomore 112-pounder.

Los Gatos won the tournament without the services of senior standout Bobby Pease at 152 pounds. Pease sat out the tournament so that he wouldn't compete in too many matches in the preseason.

But Pease made up for lost time when he competed for Gatos at the Sierra Nevada Classic. Los Gatos finished 10th in the 90-team tournament, and Pease finished third at 152 pounds.

The talented senior posted a 7-1 record to clinch third, winning 3-0 in his last match over a wrestler from North Medford, Ore. Pease is now 18-2 for the year.

"Bobby had a really good tournament," said Downs.

Schonig also placed in the tourney. The junior nailed a 4-3 record to finish eighth overall.

Chen was 5-2 at 171, Batinich was 4-2 at 189 and Mike Wysuph was 4-2 at 160, but all missed the medal round by one match.

Diefendorff (125) and Carlos Alonso (160 pounds) were individual champions for the Wildcats when Los Gatos finished sixth at the Briggs Memorial tourney.

David Bitter was second at 145 pounds and Kevin Gallagher was fourth at 189. Alan Howard at 112 and Dylan Rosen at 140 were each fifth and Naveed Bogheri at 103 was seventh.

The Cats face a busy week. They host Cupertino on Jan. 8, 7 p.m., in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division match before setting a team to the Cupertino Second-Man Tournament on Jan. 9 and another team to the Cupertino Memorial Tournament on Jan. 10.

"It's one of the toughest one-day tournaments in the state," said Downs of Saturday's Cupertino Memorial. "It draws a tough group of people."

The coach, who along with co-head coach Arno Dominguez will take the team to the tourney, added that one of the toughest weights Saturday will be 152 pounds, where Pease will attempt to defend the championship he won a year ago.

"This has been just the end of the beginning for us," said Downs, who gives much of the credit for the Gatos success to coaches Dominguez, Howard May, Richie Figueroa and Richard Escobar. "That was our first season, and we're about to embark on the second season, which is the one that really matters."

Los Gatos opened the league dual match season with a win over Palo Alto before winter break, and the Cats will go after win number two this week against Cupertino.

"They're OK, but they're rebuilding," said Downs of the Pioneers.

Boys soccer

Junior Kyle Bakken and senior Andrew Perkins each scored goals to lead the Los Gatos boys soccer team to a tight 2-1 non-league win over Mitty last week.

Bakken scored off a Sean Bardes assist and Perkins scored off an Alex Fincher assist in the first half to give the Cats a 2-0 edge at intermission. The Monarchs got one back in the second half, but goalkeeper Nathan Swartley and the rest of the Gatos defense held off Mitty to clinch the win.

Los Gatos, 4-4-2, will return to play in the De Anza Division this week when the Cats host Gunn on Jan. 6 and visit Palo Alto on Jan. 8 in a couple of 3:30 p.m. games.

Girls soccer

The Los Gatos girls opened De Anza Division play with a win and a tie before taking time off for the holidays. The Wildcats edged Los Altos 2-1 after tying Homestead 1-1. Los Gatos is 1-0-1 in league play and 5-2-1 for the year.

Monica Rude scored off a Cheryl Parkman assist in the 32nd minute against Los Altos and Carly Stavis scored what proved the game winner in the 47th minute.

Ashley Benson's goal off a Brittany Shand assist in the 11th minute helped the Cats to a 1-1 tie with the Mustangs.

Early in the month, Los Gatos trailed Mountain View 2-0 early in the game but fought back for a 3-2 non-league victory.

"This one displayed the team's mental toughness," said head coach Jan Eric Nordmo of the "come-from-behind win."

Jacqui Kemp scored off a Samantha Mason assist in the 25th minute to cut Mountain View's lead to 2-1, then the Cats tied it in the 58th minute when Morgan Branon scored off an assist from Melissa Shawhan.

It was an unassisted goal by Branon off a deflection that gave the Wildcats the victory.

Los Gatos had beaten San Mateo 5-1 in the third round of the Burlingame Tournament. Rude, Ashley Dix and Sofie Lynn each had a goal and an assist in the win.

Stavis and Katie Bonadies also scored goals for the Cats and Mason and Stacy Adams each had assists.