One week after losing their 2015 league wrestling opener, the defending champion Monta Vista Matadors have re-established themselves as title contenders in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Rebounding from a season-opening 39-24 loss to Wilcox, the Matadors eked out a thrilling 39-38 decision over the previously unbeaten Fremont Firebirds last Thursday at Monta Vista.
“Monta Vista wrestled well. It was a smart match on their part,” said Fremont assistant coach Daniel McCune. “Having three starters out hurt us.”
Pivotal wins at 126 and 145 pounds were crucial to the Monta Vista victory.
Owen Malone turned near-defeat into a stunning victory when he escaped from being pinned by Samuel Ibanez, a junior varsity wrestler filling in due to a varsity injury, by rolling him on to his back for a fall at 3:07 of their 126-pound match.
At 145, Nicholas Kolesov, ranked seventh in the Central Coast Section, earned a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Fremont’s Christian Reyes, ranked sixth in CCS.
In another key match-up between ranked opponents, the Matadors’ Max McCann, ranked second in CCS, pinned seventh-ranked David Tran in 3:45 at 138.
Others posting victories for the Mats were Austin Wu in a pin over Taniela Feliciano-Takafua at 152, Kenji Kadokura by fall over Javier Contreras at 170, Adam Rizk by fall over Michael Alva at 220 and James Mifgdal by forfeit at 182.
For Fremont, Joshua Aceves pinned Timothy Cho at 132 pounds, Dominick Huerta pinned Leon Rovner at 160, Jisiah Ybarra edged Benjamin Ellis 5-3 at 195, Angelo Reyes pinned Jacob Borenstein at 106, Ryan Lee won by technical fall, 15-0, against Kishora Adimulam at 113, Robert Reyno pinned Joshua Tai at 120 and Jeremiah Holbrook triumphed by forfeit at 285.
“The bottom line was we didn’t pin when we had them on their back,” noted McCune. “Our young wrestlers still need to develop.”
It was Fremont’s first dual meet loss after six straight wins to start the 2014-15 season and left the Firebirds at 1-1 in the De Anza standings.
Monta Vista also won the junior varsity match between the two schools, toppling Fremont 39-31 with the aid of forfeit wins at 106, 132, 138, 170 and 195.
Sahaj Mahesh nipped Henry Perez 4-0 at 145 for the Mats.
The Firebirds received a win by fall from Martin Villegas over Shayan Eslamian at 220, a 14-2 major decision from Louis Gueziec over Andrew Burke at 113, and a 6-2 decision from Alex Estrada over Connor Sullivan at 152.
In other De Anza Division action, Cupertino raised its record in league competition to 2-0 by crushing Palo Alto 52-22 thanks to five pins, including a fall at 195 by Matt Kelly, ranked 16th in CCS at 182 pounds but wrestling up a weight class.
In the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, Lynbrook easily got past Los Altos 51-28.
Last Saturday in Gilroy, the host Gilroy Mustangs, the defending CCS champions and top ranked team again this year, captured the title at the prestigious Mid-Cal Championships, outscoring runner-up Dinuba 232-213.
Although their teams failed to finish in the top five, wrestlers from Fremont, Monta Vista, Homestead and Lynbrook all performed admirably.
Ezra Clark, who missed Fremont’s league match against Monta Vista due to an injury, returned to action with a strong second-place finish at 134 pounds for the Firebirds, dropping a tough 3-1 decision to a Clovis West wrestler in the tourney finals.
Dominic Huerta picked up a fifth at 162 and Reyes captured a sixth at 108 for Fremont.
Monta Vista, meanwhile, collected a pair of third-place finishes from McCann at 140 and Rizk at 222.
Homestead’s Zechariah Asselin placed sixth at 172, and Lynbrook’s Gavin Dersh-Fisher took seventh at 184.
Over 80 schools were represented in the annual event.
