Wrestling revolution

Originally published March 12, 2012 in El Estoque. Cowritten and codesigned by Howard Lee. 

 

The match was almost over by the time junior Matt Merkhofer was up. He was the last wrestler left waiting in the wings, and it was late in the meet. The audience was restless, fidgety.

He shook hands with his opponent, and, at the referee’s whistle, launched into his offense. Merkhofer jabbed, fell, stood, fell, and, this time, stayed down. It looked like a loss for sure. But then — in a flash, almost as though it did not happen at all — Merkhofer pulled one final trick out of his hat. With the help of some fancy footwork and a burst of strength, Merkhofer flipped his opponent a full 360 degrees, leaving the adversary flat on the ground.

A full 360 degrees. A full circle.

A full revolution.

Merkhofer’s performance at the Jan. 19 league match against Lynbrook High School mirrors the team’s performance this season. MVHS wrestling has, in a sense, undergone a revolution from last year to this one, purging the old in favor of the new: new coaches, new leagues, and, most of all, newfound success.

This season, wrestling has experienced indisputable success, winning every dual meet and ending with a perfect 6-0 record. Not just winning, but dominating, with each of these matches being won by a margin of at least 20 points — often much more. Last year’s season record, by contrast, was an even 3-3. In addition, eleven wrestlers qualified for CCS, a massive jump in comparison with the three who did so last year. Even with the change of leagues, that is still impressive.

“I remember the first day after I talked to the team and their parents, I told them ‘expect to win,’ but I didn’t really expect to win as often and by as large a margin as we have,” head coach Kevin Klemm said. “[It’s] been a pleasant surprise how many guys have won, and how deep our team is.”

These statistics make sense when you see the team in action.

There was the Merkhofer incident, of course. During a similar episode, freshman varsity member Max McCann displayed the same brand of grit during the Dec. 10 Webber Lawson Memorial Tournament, where he placed third in his weight class by using his solid understanding of basic techniques to his advantage, prompting impressed cheers from his teammates. And during MVHS’ senior night match against Homestead, senior Michael Whittaker pinned his opponent in a mere 32 seconds.

Although not all matches have always been this spectacular, the wrestlers’ overall progress is evident. Some attribute this change to the new coaches, Klemm and assistant coach Ian Bork, who between the two of them have about thirty years of coaching experience. Their philosophy focuses on the players, aiming to strengthen them as better athletes.

After a round at the MVHS Senior Night match, sophomore Faris Karaborni acknowledges his triumph over his Homestead opponent. Karaborni’s success helped propel the team towards victory, bringing the season record to 6-0. Photo by Kevin Tsukii.

“Our new coaches are a lot more positive, a lot more informative, a lot more understanding, a lot more patient, a lot more experienced,” Whittaker said.

Last season’s head coach, Nolan Verga, moved to coach at Los Gatos High School earlier this year. According to some veteran players, the difference is due not only to Klemm and Bork’s coaching style, but also due to Verga’s harsher training philosophy.

“Verga was more negative. Like, he enforced punishments,” senior Philip Tsai said. “Klemm and Bork inspire you more and make you believe, not control you through fear.”

After Verga left, there was, according to sophomore wrestler Ashwin Madavan’s father, Nateri Madavan, an interim period where it appeared as though the team would not be able to find a new coach and MVHS would not be able to participate in the wrestling season. But then, just as everything seemed to be going wrong, Klemm and Bork appeared.

The new coaches have implemented an intense training strategy that involves weight lifting, running, drills and “conditioning in a can” quarter mile sprints that send the entire body into shock. The team usually runs these laps, which are designed to build endurance, on Tuesday mornings, after which they have an eight-day period to recover.

“When we approached them with things to change, they not only embraced them, they integrated them into their style immediately from day one,” Klemm said. “And we’ve been able to throw new technique at them as the season’s gone on …. These guys keep adding to their arsenal.”

This approach appears to be working, given the positive results.

“We just want to get better every single day,” Bork said. “And I feel like we did get better every single day.”

But the level of success the team has had indicates more at work here than just better coaching. Part of this is due to this season, MVHS is competing in a lower league than they did last year. In the past, the wrestling team had been part of the De Anza league; however, this year, they moved down to the El Camino league. League changes are based on the previous season’s performance, with the results of only non-senior players are taken into consideration. The loss of key class of 2011 wrestlers such as Andrew Pappas and Adrian Garcia detracted from MVHS’ total points, causing the shift to the El Camino league this year. This move resulted in the huge margins — 60-9 against Lynbrook, 63-6 against Santa Clara — of victory.

Given wrestling’s extremely solid performance this season, Klemm is expecting that the team will move back on up to the De Anza League — changing the status quo yet again.

“We [will] lose three good seniors [this year], so it’s gonna hurt us a little bit,” Klemm said, “[but] our dual meet performance and [the SCVAL finals results] should solidify us moving up.”

Just another revolution just waiting to happen.

Wrestling team met with mixed results at CCS

Originally published March 2, 2012 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

Initially, the varsity wrestling team qualified 11 members for CCS. However, only six were able to compete.

Personal circumstances beyond their control, including injuries and weight limit issues, prevented five wrestlers from competing. The six who competed —  freshman Audie Batsford, juniors Ashton Krajnovich, Anirudh Rajagopalan and James Whall, seniors Philip Tsai and Michael Whittaker — did not manage to place in their respective weight classes, but nonetheless performed better than last year’s showing. Five of the six wrestlers advanced to the second day, compared to a single wrestler from 2011.

Batsford, in the 113 lb. weight class, lost in a match against an opponent from Alisal High School.

After losing to Jason Moser of Carmel High School in the 126 lb. weight class, Rajagopalan went on to lose again in the consolation bracket to senior Joey Christopherson from Palo Alto High School.

Tsai, in the 132 lb. weight class, got off to a strong start, with wins against Steven Lee of Mills High School and Zack Skiles from Terra Nova High school. However, he lost his third match.

Whall, in the 138 lb. weight class, achieved victory against an opponent from San Benito, but lost the next match.

Krajnovich, in 145 lb. weight class, lost his first match against Anthony Talamantes from Del Mar High School. Despite this, he was able to string together several victories in the consolation bracket, but ultimately failed to place.

Whittaker in the 195 lb weight class lost to Blake Flores of Monterey High School in a very close match after receiving a bye in the first round.

Despite their inconsistent showing, the team maintains high spirits and optimism, according to Rajagopalan.  This year’s tournament was an improvement from last year, he notes, and the team can’t see their future path going anywhere but up.

“We’re still hungry,” Whall said. “We want to achieve more and [now] we have the foundation to do it.”

Wrestling: 46-23 victory at Senior Night vs. Homestead

Originally published Feb. 12, 2012 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

Wrestling’s last dual meet provided a fitting end to one of the finest seasons the team has ever had. Its 46-23 victory against Homestead on Feb. 9 brought the season record up to an undefeated 6-0.

The match itself showcased the talents of the wrestlers, three of them seniors who were celebrated during the Senior Night festivities. Assistant coach Ian Bork paid tribute to the hard work of seniors Dmitry Grinenko, Philip Tsai and Michael Whittaker with a speech that detailed their accomplishments on and off the mat.

After an emotional start to the night, the match began in earnest. Although the first match, with junior Ani Rajagopalan against a strong opponent, was hard fought and lost, the team soon followed up with victories by Tsai, junior Ashton Krajnovich and sophomore Faris Karaborni. Each of these players added three points to MVHS score by winning without a pin.

“We’re like a sitting bomb, and [tonight] we just exploded on the mat.” — Senior Dmitry Grinenko

Junior James Whall and his opponent energized the game in a vigorous match that consisted largely of swift-footed movement. After several bouts highlighted by fast jabs and turnovers that seemed to flash before the eyes, Whall achieved a pin. Grinenko pinned his adversary as well.

“We had a strong focused team this year, especially with the coaches pushing us really hard,” Dmitry Grinenko said. “We’re like a sitting bomb, and [tonight] we just exploded on the mat.”

Slightly less explosive was sophomore Aaron Wu, who struggled against an opponent with an unshakable chokehold. Despite strong efforts, Wu never managed to gain control and was pinned.

Senior Night came to a close as Whittaker stepped up to the mat. After a number of long-winded rounds that seemed relatively well matched, Whittaker pinned his opponent in an astonishing 32 seconds that left the crowd roaring.

The victory against Homestead added to the team’s season-long winning streak.

“Our three seniors really brought us home,”Bork said. “We’re happy with effort from start to finish.”

Senior Kevin Bishop recruited to run for Stanford University

Originally published Feb. 5, 2012 on El Estoque. 

After seventh period on Feb. 1, the conference room in the office most closely resembled a convention on Cardinal pride. Stanford University paraphernalia was everywhere: a redwood-embroidered banner clung to the wall, red and white balloons floated at the back counter, and a Stanford baseball cap lay on the table. The centerpiece of the whole display, however, was senior Kevin Bishop, wearing a Stanford T-shirt, a Stanford lanyard, and a wide smile.The reason for his happiness? On Feb. 1, Bishop signed a contract with Stanford University stating that he would attend their school and run for their Cross Country team the following academic year.“This has been something that’s been in my hopes and dreams for as long as I can remember running,” said Bishop. “But to actually get here and put pen to the paper is definitely surreal.”The signing of the physical contract — which occurred in the presence of Bishop’s family and coaches, as well as Bishop’s counselor Kate Duphily and Assistant Principal Brad Metheany — solidified a verbal agreement that had already been in place between Bishop and Stanford Men’s Cross Country Head Coach Jason Dunn. In the fall, Bishop will be joining Stanford’s 25-man Cross Country team, which has consistently been ranked among the top five in the nation.

“He’s worked, he’s worked as hard as anybody I’ve ever trained with,” Mike Dudley, one of Bishop’s coaches, said. Bishop has been trained by private coaches Dudley and Willie Harmatz as well as MVHS coach Kirk Flatow. “It’s just been a real joy to watch the success that he’s had and to see the results.”

Stanford is not the only university that wished to recruit Bishop for their team; he has received calls from Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Syracuse, Oklahoma State, New York University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of Oregon. This deluge of offers brought delight to Bishop’s whole family.

“We saved the messages on the answering machine, but it only holds so many messages, and it would keep saying, oh, you have one minute left,” said Kevin Bishop’s father Cary Bishop. “And we were like, what do we do?”

After multiple college tours — all expenses taken care of by the recruiting university — Kevin Bishop ultimately decided on Stanford because of its balance of academics and athletics.

Bishop has a track record that piqued the interest of these top universities. In his junior year, he placed first at CCS in the 3200 m as well as at the Stanford Invitational in the mile, among other prestigious titles. His record for the mile is 4:17, and he can run two in 8:59 — down from around 9:20 last year and 9:40 the year before.

“It’s a linear regression,” he joked.

He figures that, at this rate, he can beat the world record of 7:58 in three years. Bishop intends to keep running professionally not just for those three years, but for many more.

“This is what I foresee myself doing for at least … until I’m 40,” said Bishop. “This is what I really really really want to do. As long as my body will give me the ability to run faster, I’ll take advantage of it.”

Wrestling: Varsity wins 60-9 against shorthanded Lynbrook

Sophomore Faris Karaborni maintains his hold despite an insistent opponent. The team has been on a winning streak so far in the season, with a score of 3-0 in the league. Photo by Amrutha Dorai.

Originally published Jan. 21, 2012 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

They say the third time is the charm and it certainly is true for the Matadors, who achieved a 60-9 victory against Lynbrook High School on Jan. 19. This win comes after the Matadors’ two previous wins against Wilcox and Santa Clararespectively, continuing the Matadors’ three-game winning streak.

This victory is in part due to Lynbrook‘s shortage of wrestlers, which gave MVHS a large 16-0 lead in the beginning. Wrestling rules state that for every absent player, the opposing team is awarded 6 points: the same number of points as a pin.

Galvanized by this early lead, MVHS charged ahead, and led 51-9 by the time sophomore Faris Karaborni stepped up to the mat. Karaborni’s victory came at the end of a tense bout — for much of the match, Karaborni and his opponent circled each other, with neither of them able to gain an advantage. As quickly as one managed a hold, the other would slip out, leaving the wrestlers at square one. In the end, Karaborni won, though not by a pin, bringing the score up three points to a total of 54-9.

Shortly after, junior Matt Merkhofer participated in a intense round marked by stunning offensives. He forcefully shot at his opponent in an attempt to take him down. In a particularly noteworthy move, Merkhofer flipped his opponent over in a 360 degree throwdown, leaving the competitor lying flat on the ground.

“I just try to snap the guy down, and get over him to pull him down,” Merkhofer said. “He was trying it too and he was doing it better than I could, but it was really high up, so I just decided to go under, with a bear-hug to bring him down.”

His approach worked spectacularly: with his opponent pinned, Merkhofer won 6 points, bringing the final score up to 60-9. The team attributes their victories to their new coaches’ training methods. Both head coach Kevin Klemm and assistant coach Ian Bork are new to MVHS Wrestling this year, and bring with them much experience — including, for Klemm, four years coaching at Stanford University.

“I think we’re doing a lot better this year than last year, [partly] because our coaches are a lot better this year,” Merkhofer said.

The coaches are gratified by the success but are not content with resting on their laurels.

“The end of the year tournaments are the focus,” assistant coach Ian Bork said. “[These games] are nice little tests to see where we’re at against the competition we’ll see at the end, because there’s only individual [and no team] state championships.”

MVHS’ next match will be a home game against Harker on Jan. 26.

Throwdown with Coach Klemm

Originally published Dec. 7, 2011 in El Estoque. Cowritten and codesigned by Howard Lee with additional reporting by Gisella Joma.

 

 

Wrestling: Varsity wins decisive 63-6 victory on Jan. 12

Originally published Jan. 14, 2012 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

After winning their first league wrestling match against Wilcox last week, the Matadors were left wondering if they could repeat their success against Santa Clara on Jan. 12. They did so in decisive fashion: 9 of 10 individual matches ended in victory, with 8 of the victors pulling off pins against their opponents.

Many of the wrestlers, including senior Phillip Tsai and juniors Ani Rajagopalan and Max Dygert, managed pins with relative ease. Dygert in particular remained in control for all of the two minutes he was on the mat.

A number of the matches, however, were not quite as clear-cut. Junior James Whall struggled for control against his evenly matched opponent. For much of the round, the two wrestlers simply circled around the mat, fighting for the upper hand. Although Santa Clara’s wrestler initially took down Whall, Whall made a reversal in the second half of the round and scored 3 points for MVHS.

With only two wrestlers left waiting in the wings, the Matadors were leading 57-0, thus far undefeated. Despite strong efforts, junior Vasanth Thiruvadi was not able to subdue a tough opponent and was pinned, giving Santa Clara their first — and only — six points of the game.

The match came to an intense climax with senior Michael Whittaker’s very capable and quick pin of his opponent. After Whittaker stood up, however, his rival from Santa Clara was still lying on the ground, prompting concern from both the audience and players. Whittaker’s opponent was later escorted off the mat, appearing to be relatively unscathed.

“You hope nobody gets hurt. Usually it’s not a serious injury. I’ve seen wrestling so long that usually it’s something that’s quickly overcome,” wrestling head coach Kevin Klemm said. “I always hope the other guy’s not hurt, and I always hope our person’s not hurt.”

The Matadors took away a decisive 63-6 victory against the Bruins, and hope to continue this winning streak at their match next week against Lynbrook.

“We wanted everybody to wrestle hard, and we were happy with the effort that everybody put out,” assistant coach Ian Bork said. “When you give great effort, you usually get great results.”

MVHS will go against  Lynbrook  at Lynbrook High School on Jan. 19.

Wrestling: Third place at Dec. 10 Fremont tournament

Moments before the referee blows the whistle to start the game, senior Dmitry Grinenko shakes hands with his opponent. After losing his semifinal round, Grinenko won his last match, placing third overall in the 182 weight class. The team ended up placing third overall, behind Palo Alto and Live Oak. Photo by Amrutha Dorai.

Originally published Dec. 11, 2011 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

On Dec. 10, the varsity wrestling team participated in the all-day Webber Lawson Memorial Tournament held at Fremont High School. Overall, the team placed third among twenty-three teams with wrestlers placing second, third and fourth in their divisions.

The tournament operated in a round robin style, with brackets for each weight class that ended with three different final rounds, one each determining first, third, and fifth places. The loser in each round would take either second, fourth, or sixth. Going into the finals, the team had six players competing for placement, each in different weight classes. Monta Vista had 123 points, hoping to place second, but ended up falling behind Palo Alto and Live Oak.

First up was senior Michael Whittaker, who wrestled for third place in the 195 weight class after losing his semifinal match. He pinned his opponent from Cupertino High School with ease, placing third.

The next wrestler from MVHS, junior Matt Merkhofer, was more evenly matched. Fighting for third place in the 182 weight division, he and his opponent often stalemated. In the end, he lost, taking fourth.

Sophomore and first-year wrestler Aaron Wu entered the finals with the hopes of placing first in the 152 weight class. Struggling in the beginning against a strong opponent, he managed to regroup towards the end. However, his opponent’s early lead was too much to overcome. Although Wu lost the match, he still finished second in his division.

Playing for third in the 113 weight class was freshman Max McCann. Throughout the match, he managed some stunning reversals, slipping out of his opponent’s hold at the last moment and prompting cries from his teammates of “We never even learned how to do that!” He won against his opponent, placing third in his division.

Last up was freshman Kishora Adinulam, wrestling for third in the 106 weight class. Beginning with a strong takedown, he and his opponent often grappled for control. He lost in a close match.

The tournament highlighted the team’s strong potential. The mixed levels of experience among the wrestlers this season do not seem to be hindering their competitive edge, with three new wrestlers on varsity making it to the finals.

“We’re really excited about being so competitive early in the season,” Coach Kevin Klemm said. “[It shows] that our system is working. We were expecting to win, but [you] win some, you lose some.”

Photo Gallery: Monta Vista Intramural Dodgeball Tournament

Originally published Nov. 17, 2011 on El Estoque. Cowritten by Howard Lee. 

From Nov. 14 to Nov. 17, teams fought for the right to call themselves dodgeball champions of MVHS. The teams, each composed of seven players, participated in three preliminary rounds apiece in the annual Intramural Dodgeball Tournament at lunch in the Field House. Of the initial nineteen teams, two advanced to the final championship game in the gym on Nov. 18: the Provocative and Los Gauchos.

Although seven rounds were originally planned, Los Gauchos took an early lead and emerged victorious after winning four of five games and a sudden death shootout. Los Gauchos will be playing the teacher team on Tuesday, Nov. 22 in the gym.