Gunn wrestling pins down success Gunn wrestling pins down success (January 19, 2005)

Four boys' basketball teams remain unbeaten in league play entering this week

by Keith Peters

It wasn't too long ago that the Gunn High wrestling team wasn't strong enough to compete against rival Palo Alto. The Titans had only eight athletes filling 14 weight divisions just two years ago and the program came perilously close to being eliminated.

Under the guidance of new coaches Chris Horpel and Matt Struckmeyer, Gunn bounced back with a 10-0 record last season an the school's first league wrestling title in 28 years.

Last week, the Titans took another big step on the comeback road with a 38-28 dual-meet victory over visiting Palo Alto to improve to 4-0 this season.

"Just beating Palo Alto was something we weren't supposed to do yet," said Horpel, who coached the Stanford wrestling for 25 years before returning to Gunn. "But, there's a lot of team spirit. They're very excited about wrestling."

Winning will do that for a program.

That success continued Saturday for Gunn at the annual Jim Root Classic at West Valley College in Saratoga. Gunn senior Adam Juratovac kept his record spotless this season (14-0) by winning the 275-pound division. Juratovac, seeded No. 1 in his division, won his first two matches by pin (in 1:10 and 1:20) before posting an 8-3 decision in the championship match.

Gunn's Kiyoshi Kawano finished third at 112 pounds. Kawano helped the Titans pin down the dual-match victory over Palo Alto with a (what else?) first-round pin.

Perhaps the key match of the showdown came at 135 pounds when Gunn sophomore Chris Gumbrecht rallied to pin Robert Miller.

"That was a pivotal match," Horpel said.

Paly had won the first two matches and won the next three after Gumbrecht's victory to grab a 24-6 lead. Had Miller been able to pin Gumbrecht, the Vikings would have gone on to lead by 30-0 and likely would have won, 38-32.

Gumbrecht, however, kept his team's turnaround theme alive with a crucial triumph that had his teammates jumping out of their chairs.

Jay Villafana (160) and Derek Austin (171) followed up Gumbrecht's effort with decisions, Juan Cativo produced a pin at 215, Juratovac and Justin Reyes (103) earned forfeits and Kawano got his pin to finish things off.

Palo Alto sophomore Jon Leape posted a 13-1 victory to close the match, then moved on to the Jim Root Classic on Saturday and finished second in his weight class. Paly's John Hall was fourth at 189. Gunn's Austin and Cativo both finished eighth, while Menlo-Atherton was represented by Phillip So (third at 103) and Kyle Trammell (sixth at 215).

Boys basketball

Palo Alto, Menlo School, Mid-Peninsula and Sacred Heart Prep all kept their respective winning streaks alive last weekend and took unbeaten league marks into this week.

Palo Alto (3-0, 16-1) overpowered visiting Gunn, 65-37, in SCVAL De Anza Division action behind a 25 points and seven rebounds from senior Brian Baskauskas. Junior Cooper Miller added 10 points and junior Jeremy Lin contributed nine points and nine assists. The Vikings played at Homestead (2-2) on Tuesday in a tuneup for Friday's showdown with co-division leader Milpitas (3-0) in the Vikings' gym at 7:30 p.m.

Menlo School (5-0, 11-2) helped itself and received some help last Friday. The Knights knocked off visiting El Camino, 46-41, in a key PAL North Division game to drop the Colts to 3-2. At the same time, Terra Nova (3-2) was being routed by South San Francisco, 62-40, to also fall two games off the pace.

Menlo, which hosted Terra Nova on Tuesday with an opportunity to further strengthen its division lead, got solid games from Beau Heidrich and Matt Curtis to hold off El Camino. Heidrich scored seven of his 11 points in the second quarter to help the Knights to a 30-20 halftime lead and Curtis hit three big baskets in the third quarter to hold off the Colts' rally and help Menlo win its seventh straight.

Mid-Peninsula (4-0, 11-5) kept pace with Eastside Prep in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League race following an 80-20 romp over visiting Liberty Baptist. The Dragons attempted no free throws, but made 39 field goals. Reggie Demery (19 points), Bruce Grady (11) and Walter Washington (10) led Mid-Peninsula to its fifth-straight victory.

Sacred Heart Prep (7-0, 11-5) continued to roll in the Private Schools Athletic League with a 56-42 win at Fremont Christian last week. The Gators, winners of five straight, have won 53 consecutive PSAL games since losing the second league game of the 2002 season.

The schedule is now in SHP's favor with the Gators playing seven of their final PSAL games at home.

Elsewhere, Menlo-Atherton (3-2, 8-7) remained in a three-way tie in the PAL South Division following a 64-44 win at Carlmont last Friday. Dan Trautman's 22 points led the Bears, who host Aragon (3-2) on Wednesday at 3;15 p.m. and visit Woodside (4-1) on Friday night.

Girls basketball

Pinewood (3-0, 11-5) roared through three victories last week by the average score of 79-13, topped by a big 62-19 nonleague romp over visiting Notre Dame-Salinas on Saturday night.

Freshman Aly Geppert scored 55 points in the three wins, including 22 in a 76-15 rout of host Valley Christian-Dublin, while senior Daniela Roark produced 47. Sophomore Sami Field-Polisso tallied 16 against ND-Salinas. The Panthers made 31 three-pointers in the three wins.

Palo Alto (2-1, 12-6) remained within reach of SCVAL De Anza Division leader Los Gatos (4-0) with a 52-41 win over visiting Gunn last Friday. Amber Jones and Ranecia Fields combined for 25 points for the Vikings while Jill Klausner's 14 points led the Titans (1-3, 3-9).

Boys soccer

First-place Gunn (4-0-1, 13-1-2) didn't play, but received some unexpected help from Mountain View, which upset second-place Palo Alto (4-1, 7-3-3) with a 2-1 decision on Friday. The Titans have two winnable matches this week before taking on Mountain View and Paly next week in key De Anza Division matches.

In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo School (3-3-1, 7-3-3) won the first of two season showdowns against rival Menlo-Atherton (1-4-2, 2-7-3) with a 3-0 triumph over the visiting Bears on Friday. Art Heidrich, Jack Miller and Kevin Brege produced the goals while Brege and Gabe Huey contributed assists.

Girls soccer

Palo Alto (4-0-1, 9-1-4) further distanced itself from the other contenders in the De Anza Division race following a 1-0 win over visiting Mountain View on Friday. Annie Ryan tallied the Vikings' goal. Paly hosts Saratoga on Friday, before visiting Los Gatos on Jan. 26 in a match that may go a long way in deciding the league title.

In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton (4-3, 9-5-1) remained in third place with a 2-0 win over Terra Nova on goals by Kaitlin McGhee and Abby Robinson.

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