SVJH grapplers set new school mark with seven county champ.
CAMPBELL – The South Valley Junior High wrestling team broke a 24-year old school record Thursday with seven weight class champions coming out of the Santa Clara County Junior High Championships.
The previous South Valley record of six county champs had stood for long enough. With nine county qualifiers, the Tiger grapplers needed more than half to win the challenging 45-school competition.
South Valley accounted for seven of the 12 East Section champs, while six county champs came from the West Section. There are a total of 18 weight classes.
“All in all, this was the best season I ever had, especially with the record of seven champions,” longtime head coach Bert Mar said. “We will now reload and get ready for next year. South Valley has a lot of returning wrestlers.”
Eighth-grade 80-pounder Nicolo Naranjo finished up his stellar junior high wrestling career with a third consecutive county title. Naranjo became the third to do so in school history – following in the footsteps of SVJH alums Armando Gonzalez and Adin Dueñas.
The first-time county champs out of South Valley were: sixth-grade 75-pounder Martin Gonzalez; seventh-grade 100-pounder Jason Romesberg; eighth-grade 125-pounder Ismael Gutierrez; seventh-grade 135-pounder Hunter Collins; eighth-grade 145-pounder Austin Gubrud; and eighth-grade heavyweight Andres Barragan.
Sixth-grader Jonathan Ramirez fought to a fourth-place finish in the 70-pound weight class, while eighth-grader Paul Gonzales placed second in the 120-pound weight class. In addition, seventh-grader Rudy Maldonado finished second in the 95-pound division; eighth-grader Allan Hoshida took third in the 105-pound class; and seventh-grader Jacob Dexter placed third in the 115-pound division.
