Bobby Pease has earned his rightful place among that multitude. But after what he's accomplished, he's likely earned a wall of his own.

Pease capped an outstanding Los Gatos wrestling career by placing second at 154 pounds at the State High School Wrestling championships held March 5­6 in Bakersfield.

Not only did Pease become the first wrestler in Los Gatos history to reach the state finals, but he set season and career records that will likely stand the test of time.

Pease won four of five matches at the state tournament, losing only to No. 1 seed Ryan Williams of La Costa Canyon 5-0 in the finals.

"It was amazing," said Scott Downs, the Los Gatos co-head coach along with Arno Dominguez. "The big deal was that he made it into the finals. That was huge."

"The anticipation and the magnitude of the whole thing was incredible," said Downs.

Pease becomes the first Los Gatos wrestler to ever reach the championship round at the state tournament. Jimmy Walker and Gary Lynn had each finished third, but no Wildcat had ever wrestled for a title.

The Los Gatos senior did it by besting Jerry Doud of Notomas High School 4-0 in the semifinals. Doud had beaten Pease at a tournament earlier in the season and was the No. 2 seed in the weight class.

"It was kind of tense, but it was really one of his easier matches of the tournament," admitted Downs. Pease nailed a takedown in the first period to take a 2-0 lead, then added insurance points with a second-period reversal.

"There were a couple of scrambles," said Downs, "but Bobby's so good in a scramble."

The win pushed him into the finals against Williams, who had finished fourth at state as a sophomore and third as a junior.

"It was a very tense, very defensive match by Williams," said Downs. "He never put [Bobby] on his back."

Pease, who will wrestle at Stanford University on a scholarship next year, had opened the tourney with a pin at 1:47 of the first round against Steven Kende of Hilltop. With the pin, Pease took over the single season record for falls by a Wildcat.

"Bobby's very aware of that kind of stuff," said Downs. "He came off the mat with a big smile and said, 'That does it, huh?' "

It did, but just to prove his point, Pease went out and pinned again, winning by fall with a second left in the second round against Eric Sanchez of Madera.

That set up a quarterfinal bout with a very muscular Rafael Reynolds of San Fernando.

"He's a real tough kid, and he's carved out of marble," said Downs of Reynolds. "Bobby beat him in a real tough one 5-3."

Pease went on to win his next match to win his second straight state medal. A year ago, he finished fifth at 147 pounds at the state meet.

The two pins gave him 32 for the year, breaking the mark of 30 set in 1969 by Guy Greene. Pease finished with 95 career pins, crushing the record of 74 set by Jay Slivkoff in 1980.

His 157 career wins bettered the mark of 118 set by Rohner Segnitz in 1998 and he joins Walker and Lynn as the only two-time state placers in school history.

Pease finished the season with a 46-6 record, two wins short of his own single-season win record of 48.

Pease made the state trip along with senior teammate Ivan Batinich. But Batinich lost two straight at 191 pounds. He finished the year with a 36-12 record.

"I was thrilled that he got as far as he did," said Downs of Batinich. "I'm elated that he qualified for state and thankful for what he did for our team in terms of leadership and the points he got for us."