Gunn junior Andrew Maltz dominated his weight division during the SCVAL De Anza Division dual-match season and carried that momentum into the league wrestling championships that concluded Saturday in Gunn’s Bow Gym.
Maltz pinned all three of his opponents and captured the 285-pound division to help the Titans finish fourth in the 15-team event.
Maltz, who came in ranked No. 13 in the Central Coast Section, opened with a pin of Josiah Maama of King`s Academy in 1:57 before pinning Manny Sandoval of Wilcox in 2:06. In the championship match, Maltz pinned Davis Howard of Harker in just 47 seconds.
During the season, Maltz lost only twice in nonleague action, both by pin. All the rest of his opponents he pinned.
“Andy wrestled great, and we ended up with four finalists, not bad for a group of mostly first-time varsity athletes,” said Gunn head coach Chris Horpel.
Five mats were going all day Friday and Saturday as both the varsity and 2nd-Man (JV) tournaments ran side-by-side.
Cupertino won the league title by virtue of going 6-0 in dual meets and winning the tournament. Fremont was second and Monta Vista third.
Gunn produced eight qualifiers and three alternates (11 SCVAL medalists) for the CCS Championships this Friday and Saturday at Independence High in San Jose. Gunn also has nine female wrestlers qualified for the girls’ CCS meet, which will run concurrently with the boys.
Gunn’s David Abramovitch placed second at 126 pounds by posting one pin and two decisions before falling in the title match, 8-0, to Louis Gueziec of Fremont.
Gunn teammate Tanner Kerrins was second at 138 pounds with a pin and decision that put him into the finals, where he was pinned by Joshua Aceves of Fremont.
Gunn’s Dash Lee finished second at 182 pounds, also opening with a pin and winning by decision before being pinned in the finals by Matthew McLean of Los Gatos.
Other CCS qualifiers for Gunn included Eric Wei (fourth at 113), Aaron Schultz (fourth at 152), Thomas Chang-Davidson (fifth at 160), and Steven Lassen (sixth at 220).
Palo Alto’s Seth Goyal, one of the favorites for a league title after being ranked No. 3 in CCS at 132 pounds, suffered an injury in the Vikings’ final dual match and did not compete in the league meet.
Goyal, however, advanced to CCS as a hardship qualifier. He’ll be joined by teammate Andrew Wang, who finished second at 113 pounds after dropping a 5-3 decision to Fremont’s Angelo Reyes in the finals. Wang reached the title match with a pin of Jacob Bernstein of Monta Vista at 4:00.
At the PAL Championships at El Camino High, the Menlo-Atherton girls finished second in their division despite missing a handful of starters due to injury. Terra Nova won the team title by 33 points.
M-A had three champions in Bianca Vargas, Folashade Akinola and Abby Ericson.
Girls basketball
The Pinewood girls finished off a three-win week with a 75-49 nonleague victory over host Scotts Valley on Saturday night.
Erin Poindexter-McHan led the Panthers (19-3) with 20, including five 3-pointers, with fellow junior Akayla Hackson adding 16 points and six rebounds. Freshman Klara Astrom contributed 13 points and Mikaela Topper added eight points, six assists and four rebounds.
Pinewood (9-0) will host Menlo School (8-1) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., with first place in the West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) on the line.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Gunn Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Gunn Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Gunn Athletics
Paly’s C. Day-Ham also qualified for CCS, coming in 2nd in the league at 113. He deserves to have his name in the article.
Congratulations to all the Palo Alto competitors, but particularly to Andy Maltz. Andy is a very smart, funny, gentle giant; an all-around great kid. And I’m a Paly parent, so you know I’m not just biased.
I love the spirit of inclusiveness and camaraderie displayed by the last 2 comments. A Gunn parent advocates for a Paly wrestler and a Paly parent praises a Gunn wrestler. This is the way it should be.
The Paly 113 is Callum Day Ham, I believe.
Sorry, they finally posted the correct name of a different Paly 113, Andrew Wang. He and a heavier Paly wrestler are at the CCS, along with several of the Paly and Gunn girls, not listed above.