"Some succeed because they are destined to.  Most succeed because they are determined to."

03/05/10-03/06/10 - CIF State Championships

    Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, CA once again drew 560 of the state's best wrestlers to compete in the 2010 CIF State Championships.  Sophomore Corbin Lee was amongst the state's elite level of wrestlers this year and gained valuable experience at the state meet, despite being eliminated from the competition Friday evening.  In the opening round of the tournament, Corbin was matched up against Victor Lopez (Poway HS) the 5^th ranked 103-lb. wrestler in the state of California.  Corbin came out and immediately scored the first takedown with an ankle pick near the edge of the mat.  After restarting in the center, Lopez escaped before scoring on a fireman's carry, then continued to control the remainder of the match with a tough armbar-half series from the top position.  After defeating Corbin by 10-3 decision, Lopez pinned each of his next three opponents before eventually landing in the championship finals, only losing to #1 ranked Nashon Garrett (Chico HS) to finish as state runner-up.  Lopez was also champion and Most Valuable Wrestler of the San Diego Section Masters tournament the week before.
    Corbin's first opponent in the consolation bracket was Kendal Klette (Los Banos HS), the 4^th place finisher in the Sac-Joaquin Section.  Heading into the third period tied at 2, Klette chose bottom and Corbin worked aggressively to score using his near-bar series before Klette scored an escape with about a minute remaining.  Then, with almost 30 seconds remaining in the match, Klette dropped in for a far-side duck under at the edge of the mat and would go on to win a 5-2 decision. 
    The entire team and coaching staff is very proud of Corbin for all of his achievements this season, qualifying for the state championships in only his second year of wrestling.  Corbin closes out his first year of varsity competition with an overall 44-10 record and was the team leader in team points scored (253.5), total wins (44) and was tied for the team lead for pins (20).  Perhaps more impressive than scoring 253.5 team points this season, is the fact that Corbin only gave up 17.  Eight of his ten losses came by decision, with two others by major decision.  Corbin claimed championships in three tournaments this season, finished as runner-up in two others and was undefeated at the NCS Team Dual Championships before making his remarkable post-season run.  Congratulations to Corbin Lee for his amazing breakout season!  The coaching staff is both impressed and eager to see what lies in the future for you, Corbin!!  You have been an inspiration to everyone around you, please continue to work towards your goals and keep your great attitude and work ethic!!

CIF State Championships at Rabobank Arena

Corbin gettin' ready to wrestle in Championship Round 1

Championship finals on a raised platform

Full results, brackets and team scores can be downloaded here.
Read the Media Release Summary from the CIF State Office.
Check out some pictures taken over the entire weekend, provided by John Sachs and Tony Rotundo of tech-fall.com

02/26/10-02/27/10 - NCS Championships

    The Warriors will be represented at the CIF State Championships for the third straight season behind the phenomenal effort of sophomore Corbin Lee, who claimed a 3^rd place medal at 105-lbs. in his first ever appearance at the section tournament.  Corbin was bumped up to the 5^th seed when Conner Aura (Foothill) defaulted from the tournament with an injury suffered earlier in the week.  After defeating his first two opponents Friday, Corbin upset the 4^th seed, Fwee Chao (Upper Lake) in the quarterfinals by 7-5 decision to advance into the semifinal round, guaranteeing himself a top-6 finish in the process.  Facing the #1 seed, Joey Moita (De La Salle) in the semis, Corbin did not lose focus and stayed aggressive the entire match, but ultimately lost a tough 8-3 decision.  Now in the consolation semifinals, only #7-seeded Jeremy Snyder (St. Patrick-St. Vincent) stood in the way of a trip to Bakersfield.  This was a rematch of the 5^th place match at the MSJ Invitational, when Corbin pulled out some end-of-the-match heroics to win that match.  In this match, Corbin escaped with almost 45 seconds remaining in the match to force overtime, tied at 4.  In the overtime period, Snyder immediately shot in on a double, Corbin sprawled into a front headlock and used his throw-by to score the winning takedown and his ticket to State.  More exciting than qualifying for the state tournament, was a highly-anticipated rematch with Artemio Flores (James Logan) in the consolation final.  Flores had defeated Corbin three times during the regular season, with each being a close and exciting match.  This time, Corbin entered the third period with a 3-2 lead and was TOUGH on top for the entire two minute round, refusing to let Flores score from the bottom position and even caught him on his back as time expired to not only earn himself a 6-2 decision and a 3^rd place medal, but some hard-earned redemption that he had been working extremely hard for dating back to early December '09.  Corbin becomes the first sophomore wrestler to advance to the State championships for MSJ in over a decade; a feat last accomplished by 140-lb. NCS champion Aric Hicklin in 1998.
    Senior Elliot Espinoza also made a name for himself last weekend after entering the section tournament unseeded and undersized in the 217-lb. weight class.  Outweighed by nearly 25 pounds to most of his opponents, Elliot capitalized on his speed and solid positioning to finish his senior season with an overall 4-3 record at the section tournament and came home with an 8^th place medal.  He definitely earned his medal; Elliot won a close 5-4 triple OT decision in his opening match of the tournament, before losing an even tougher 6-5 decision to the #3 seed, and eventual NCS champion, Justin Harrison (Lower Lake).  Winning his next two matches by decision in the consolation bracket advanced Elliot into the second day of competition where he would face Griffith Gates (Foothill) for the fourth time this season, but this time, there was an NCS medal on the line.  Though Elliot won all three of their previous matchups, the margin of victory has gotten smaller each time (14-5 major, 5-1 decision, 2-1 decision).  This time around, the entire event center had their eyes on Gates vs. Espinoza, as it was the last consolation match before the semifinal round was set to begin.  The match went into overtime after Elliot hit an arm drag to a body lock for a takedown with 2 seconds left in regulation to tie the match at 3.  After a scoreless overtime period, Elliot picked bottom to start double overtime.  Gates gave up a point for grabbing headgear when he was desperately trying to prevent Elliot from scoring on a switch.  Elliot then scored on a reversal when he "shoe-stringed" out on bottom to take a 6-3 lead, eventually winning the match 6-4.  Though Elliot would go on to lose to Josh Valladares (Castro Valley) in the next round for an opportunity to make it on "The Wall", he proved to himself and the rest of the section that he was amongst the best in North Coast this year.
    Junior Siwen Dickstein capped off her amazing season as well Saturday night down the road at Kennedy High School, host of the Girl's NCS Championships.  Entered in the 103-lb. weight class as the #1 seed, Siwen was determined to improve on her 4^th place finish at NCS from a year ago.  After pinning her opponent from El Molino HS in the semifinals, her shot at redemption was set in place.  She was set to face #2-seeded Shoshanna Markus from Castro Valley HS in the championship finals, the girl who had beaten Siwen for 3^rd place at NCS last season.  In the second period, Markus shot in on a leg attack, Siwen blocked her attacked, snapped her down to a front headlock then changed her direction and drove Markus over in a textbook "cow-catch" and earned a pin at the 3:42 mark for her first North Coast Section championship. 
    The coaching staff would like to congratulate the ENTIRE Warrior wrestling team for their efforts and collective achievements throughout the '09-'10 season.  Every last one of you played an integral part in the success that we achieved as a TEAM, and should be proud of yourselves for all the commitment and sacrifice it takes to be part of this program.  Special congrats go out to: Elliot Espinoza - MVAL champion and 8^th place NCS medal winner at 217-lbs., Siwen Dickstein - becoming a 2x MVAL champion, 2x NCS medal winner, NCS champion and 6^th place medal winner at the "unofficial" Girl's State Championships, and to Corbin Lee - 3^rd place medal winner at NCS and extending his season one more week after earning a trip to the CIF State Championships in only his second year of wrestling.  Good luck to Corbin down in Bakersfield as he represents Mission San Jose wrestling at the CIF State Championships!!

Boy's and Girl's brackets and team scores are available for download.
Check out pictures from the NCS Championships at tech-fall.com

02/20/10 - MVAL Championships

    The post-season got underway last Saturday with the MVAL finals hosted by Washington HS.  The JV wrestlers competed for the final time this season and collectively earned seven medals; including a league champion in junior Isaac Chang in the 147-lb. weight class.  Freshman Surbir Sandhu also advanced to the championship final, but came up short of claiming his first league title. 
    Junior Siwen Dickstein got her post-season off to a great start, completely dominating her weight class on her way to claiming her second consecutive MVAL title.  In a round-robin bracket, Siwen pinned her first two opponents (Lisa Tran and Paige Natividad, both from Newark Memorial) and then defeated Mikayla Damosa (Irvington) by technical fall to finish her day with a perfect 3-0 record.
    In varsity action, the Warriors will send eight wrestlers to the North Coast Section championships next weekend at Newark Memorial HS.  Of the eight qualifiers, six advanced to the championship match of the MVAL finals, and walked away with two champions in: Wei Kuo (121-lbs.) and Elliot Espinoza (217-lbs.). 

Varsity brackets can be downloaded here.

02/13/10 - NCS Team Dual Championships

    With their best MVAL dual record in almost a decade, the Warriors were rewarded with an invitation to compete in the NCS Team Dual Championships at Dougherty Valley HS on Saturday.  It was the first time the team qualified for the event since the '05-'06 season.  Because our squad had forfeited three weight classes all season, the Warriors were seeded 8th in the Division I East Bay bracket.  This matched us up against #9-seeded Foothill HS (Pleasanton), a team that qualified as an at-large berth through the EBAL, in the opening round of the tournament.  In that dual, Mission came out and won the first four matches and built a 20-0 lead, before eventually winning 45-24. 18 of the 24 points scored by Foothill came from forfeits. 
    The win advanced the Warriors into the quarterfinal round where we would face 3x defending NCS Team Dual champions and top-seeded De La Salle HS.  The Spartans displayed their depth across the lineup and proved why they are ranked as the top overall team in the North Coast Section.  The Warriors only managed three wins against the Spartans, a decision from David Wilson and pins from Corbin Lee and Wei Kuo, losing the dual 56-15.
    After dropping to the consolation bracket, the Warriors would next face the champions of the Hayward Area Athletic League, Castro Valley HS.  Of the 11 matches contested in this dual meet, 9 of them were decided by fall.  The Warriors edged the Trojans 6 falls to 3, but gave 18 points right back with forfeits at 173, 217 and 287.  Castro Valley won both matches that lasted the full 6 minutes, and the dual as a result, by score of 43-36. 
    Though being eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 record, it's nice to know that the Warriors are competitive with the wrestlers who step out on the mat.  Of the 32 total matches contested Saturday, the Warriors were victorious in 18 of them, scoring bonus points in 14 of those wins.  Looking at it from another perspective, the James Logan Colts advanced to the championship final of the tournament before losing to De La Salle 37-33.  In our dual versus Logan, we out-scored the Colts on the mat 23-21, but lost the dual after giving up 18 points in forfeits.  In a dual meet situation, starting off with an 18 point deficit is very tough to overcome, yet the Warriors have managed well, ending the season with a total combined 14-8 dual meet record. 
    With only qualifying tournaments remaining on our schedule, our next focus is now to send all 11 of our varsity wrestlers to the section tournament and make a strong showing at the North Coast Section Championships.  Next up is the MVAL Championships this Saturday at Washington HS.  Come out and support your Warriors!!

Division I East Bay and Division II East Bay brackets available here.

02/10/10 - John F. Kennedy Dual Meet

    The Warriors successfully closed out the '09-'10 MVAL dual season with a win over the visiting Kennedy Titans, securing a 2nd place MVAL finish.  Along with the win, MSJ qualified for the NCS Team Dual Championships this Saturday, February 13th in the Division I East Bay bracket.  Wednesday's dual was labeled "Senior Night" as it was the last time seniors Benson Zhang, Nathan Ellebracht, David Wilson and Elliot Espinoza would ever compete in our home gym.  These four seniors were greeted by members of their families in a pre-match ceremony to honor their dedication and commitment to the program.  The dual was short and sweet, with several highlights coming from across the line-up.  Freshman Vinay Pathania competed in his first varsity match of the season and earned a quick 40 second pin over Ben Ceeve at 105 lbs.  Wei Kuo completely dominated his opponent from the opening whistle, earning a 19-3 technical fall in the first period.  The Warriors continued to build on that momentum and received consecutive pins from Zannain Shafi, Leo Yang, David Wilson and Michael Lee.  Unfortunately for senior Nathan Ellebracht, the Titans forfeited the 147-lb. weight class and was unable to compete in the last home dual of his career.  The junior varsity squad was also victorious with a 66-0 win over the Titans and closes their MVAL dual season with a 4-2 record.  The JV kids will now prepare for their last competition of the season, the MVAL championships on February 20th at Washington HS.  The varsity team will get one last tune-up, the NCS Team Duals, before taking off on their post-season run. 

02/05/10-02/06/10 - Mission San Jose Invitational

    The 35th edition of the Mission San Jose Invitational could quite possibly have been one of the toughest ever, with each weight class stacked with state-ranked wrestlers and returning section medalists.  This year's field featured three returning state champions, eleven overall returning state medalists and the number one ranked team in the state, Clovis HS.  After day one, MSJ still had seven wrestlers advance to the second day of our toughest competition of the season.  Corbin Lee, Wei Kuo, David Wilson and Elliot Espinoza had reached the quarterfinals and Benson Zhang, Zannain Shafi and Leo Yang were still alive and coming back through the consolation bracket.  Saturday morning was pretty brutal for the MSJ wrestlers; by the early afternoon, there were only four wrestlers still alive.  Wei, David and Elliot had all reached the top-8 of their respective weight classes.  Unfortunately, the MSJ Invitational only medals the top-6, and each of them failed to reach the consolation semifinal round.  The MSJ Invitational was the first tournament all season that MSJ had not placed in the top-5 in the team race.  Leading the way was Corbin Lee, a 5th place medalist in a very tough 105 lb. bracket.  Entering the tournament unseeded, Corbin beat the #5 seed in the round of 32 before pinning Troy Lakin of Clayton Valley HS in the quarterfinals to advance into the semifinals and securing his top-6 finish.  In the 5th place match, Corbin showed all the spectators his desire to win and refusal to give up in any match situation.  If you haven't already seen it, check out the video posted in our blog.  Though we came out with only one medalist, a lot of good came out of the tournament also.  We will talk about these bright points, along with making some necessary adjustments, and make a strong push for the upcoming post-season.

The following documents are available for download: Final Team Scores, Brackets, Medalists by Weight
Special thanks to Mr. Ellebracht for providing some great photos. Click here to view his online album.
Also, click here to view amazing action shots from the semifinal round provided by Tony Rotundo and tech-fall.com.

02/03/10 - MVAL Tri-Meet

    The second MVAL tri-meet of the season was held at James Logan HS last Wednesday; MSJ was matched up against Washington in the first round and received a bye in the second.  The junior varsity made quick work of the Huskies, defeating them by a score of 54-6.  Aaron Lu, Isaac Garza, Cassidy Tarng, and David Yeghikyan all recorded pins to lead the way for the JV squad.   The varsity squad also made quick work of the Huskies with a 70-6 victory.  Every MSJ wrestler scored bonus points in their wins including pins from Zannain Shafi, Nathan Ellebracht, Michael Lee, Corbin Lee, Will Booth, Benson Zhang and Wei Kuo.  Washington only scored from a forfeit at the heavyweight division.  MSJ received a bye in the second round of the tri-meet.  The last dual meet of the season will be Senior Night in our home gym next Wednesday, February 10th at 5pm.  See you there!!

01/30/10 - Puma Classic

    With only five medalists, including one finalist, the Warriors still managed to finish in the top-5 at the Puma Classic.  Competing as the #1 seed, Wei Kuo advanced into the championship final with a 3-0 record before falling to #2-seeded Brian Sergi of College Park HS by major decision.  Corbin Lee, David Wilson and Elliot Espinoza all reached the semifinal round as well. Each lost to their respective opponents but battled back and advanced into the consolation finals.  Michael Lee was injured in his consolation semifinal match and defaulted to 6th place.  Three other Warriors were one win shy of bringing home a medal.  Still, the team managed to rack up 103 team points, good enough for a 5th place team finish.  Castro Valley HS was the only other NCS team placing higher than MSJ, finishing 2nd to team champions Vacaville HS.

Team scores and brackets are available for download.

01/27/10 - Newark Memorial Dual Meet

    For the first time since the '01-'02 season, the Mission San Jose Warriors defeated Newark Memorial in an MVAL dual meet.  Back in December, MSJ defeated Newark at the Ironman Duals by a score of 43-21.  This time around, the Warriors only lost two matches on the night while winning nine.  The Warriors got bonus points from Elliot Espinoza, Wei Kuo, Zannain Shafi, Nathan Ellebracht and David Wilson to lead the team to a 40-23 victory.  Benson Zhang, once again, wrestled one of the more exciting matches of the night at 121 pounds against Christopher Arce.  Heading into the third period trailing 11-8, Benson chose to start the round in the neutral position.  After hitting a quick duck-under off the whistle for a takedown, Arce escaped to bring the score to 12-10.  Benson then defended a single-leg attack by Arce and threw him straight to his back for a five-point move and held him there until time ran out for the 15-12 decision. This win was a great way for the team to bounce back after last week's home loss to James Logan.  The win also brings our MVAL record to (3-1), good enough for 2nd place in the league standings with two duals remaining. 

01/20/10 - MVAL Tri-Meet   

    All seven teams representing the Mission Valley Athletic League packed the MSJ gym Wednesday night to participate in the first ever MVAL tri-meet.  Both JV and varsity squads defeated American HS in the first round, but fell to James Logan HS in the second to bring their overall league records to (2-1).   Only eight matches were contested in the American/MSJ varsity dual, with MSJ prevailing 47-21.  The Logan/MSJ dual featured, as usual, several close and highly-contested match-ups.  Senior David Wilson extended his winning streak to nine straight matches with pins over both of his opponents on the night.  MSJ won four of the last five matches of the dual, and six of the eleven total matches contested, but in the end, the 18 points given away from forfeits at the 154, 173 and 287-pound weight classes gave the win to Logan.  The Warriors wrestled tough in both duals, and showed a lot of character even in their loss to Logan.  The varsity team will take this weekend off to rest and recover before facing Newark Memorial next Wednesday night.  The junior varsity will compete at the Mark Lance F/S/JV tournament hosted by College Park HS this Saturday.

American vs. Mission San Jose

01/16/10 - Clayton Valley Invitational

    The Mission San Jose Warriors brought home the team title Saturday night along with nine individual medalists.  David Wilson turned in a solid and complete tournament and was crowned champion of the 147-lb. weight division.  The most impressive stat of the day was that, of the ten wrestlers competing at the Clayton Valley Invitational, nine of them advanced to the championship semifinal round!!  The advancement points, combined with bonus points scored throughout the day, made the difference in out-distancing the Warriors over second-place James Logan HS.  Also advancing to the finals were Corbin Lee (105) and Wei Kuo (127).  In a rematch of the Bay Area Invitational final, Corbin Lee came up just short of avenging his loss to Artemio Flores, losing a close 4-3 decision.  Corbin was awarded a point as Flores was warned for stalling for the second time for laying flat on his belly in the 3rd period and was aggressively working for a turn as time expired in the match.  Wei Kuo ran into a tough Steven Murden from Sonoma Valley HS in his final, where he was pretty much out-muscled for six minutes, losing a 14-1 major decision.
    Other medalists include: Will Booth (5th @ 114), Zannain Shafi (4th @ 132), Nathan Ellebracht (5th @ 142), Michael Lee (4th @ 154), David Kim (3rd @ 191) and Elliot Espinoza (3rd @ 217).  Last week, at the Mat Classic, the Warriors combined for 171.5 team points, the most in recent memory, and a 3rd place team trophy.  This week, with one less wrestler, the Warriors came up with 174.5 team points and walked away with the team title.  We are improving as a team as the season progresses, and the entire coaching staff is proud of these kids for all their hard work and success.  We are very happy that these kids came up in a winning effort and are able to call themselves TEAM CHAMPIONS!!
    Next week, MSJ hosts the first ever tri-meet held in the MVAL on Wednesday, January 20th in the main gym.  Please come out and support MVAL wrestling!!

Brackets and team scores are available for download.

01/13/10 - MVAL Dual Meet - Irvington @ Mission San Jose

    The JV and varsity teams both recorded wins in the MVAL season opener at home Wednesday night.  The JV team was victorious behind the strength of Cassidy Tarng, Willson Zhang and Isaac Chang, who defeated their respective opponents by fall in a combined 1 minute 23 seconds.  In the only other match of the dual, Aaron Lu defeated Felicia Smith by technical fall, helping the JV team win by the score of 71-6.  The most contested matches of the evening took place in the varsity dual.  At 189-lbs., Elliot Espinoza gave up the first takedown, but then came back with 15 unanswered points to earn a major decision over Dane Burgess.  At 215-lbs., David Kim scored on a reversal with under ten seconds remaining in the match to secure bonus points with a 13-5 major decision over Kevin Mangat.  At 125-lbs., in a high-scoring match where 43 total points were scored, Benson Zhang also recorded a major decision over Ali Mahmood with some of the slickest takedowns of the night.  Zannain Shafi (135), Nathan Ellebracht (145) and David Wilson (152) also recorded pins to help tally a 66-12 win for the varsity squad.  Huge thanks to the crowd who came out to support the kids!! Mission San Jose will host the first tri-meet of the season next Wednesday night.  Come out and watch the entire MVAL in action in our home gym!!

01/09/10 - Mat Classic

    In our first competition since the winter break, the Warriors placed 3rd as a team behind the strength of Corbin Lee (103) and Leo Yang (135), champions of their respective weight classes.  Corbin has now claimed his third tournament title this season and ups his season record to 19-1.  Leo Yang claims his first tournament title of the season and brought his season record up to 16-4.  Other medalists at the Mat Classic include: Wei Kuo, (3rd @ 125 lbs.), Zannain Shafi (7th @ 130 lbs.), David Wilson (3rd @ 145 lbs.), Michael Lee (3rd @ 152 lbs.), David Kim (3rd @ 189 lbs.) and Elliot Espinoza (3rd @ 215 lbs.).

The 171.5 team points scored is the highest point total scored by MSJ in any varsity tournament in recent memory; this means a lot of bonus points were scored and a lot of wrestlers brought home medals.  The team should be most proud of this complete team effort; every last wrestler who competed contributed to this point total.  More than anything else, we finished the tournament strong, picking ourselves up from tough losses and battling back all the way through the medal round.  In fact, no MSJ wrestler lost a single match in the last 2+ rounds of the entire tournament!! What a great way to come back from break and kick-off the second half of our season.  MSJ will open the MVAL dual season at home versus Irvington this Wednesday, January 13th.  Please come out and support your Warriors!!  (Also please remember that there is a MANDATORY parent meeting at the conclusion of the dual meet in the main gym!)

Also check out our blog for medalist and award photos.
MSJ got some recognition in The Argus as well. Read about it here.
Click on these links to download team scores and brackets.

12/19/09 - Healdsburg Duals

    The Warriors had a great day of wrestling up at the Healdsburg Duals last Saturday, placing 5th as a team.  Competing with only ten wrestlers, winning dual meets wasn't as much of a priority as getting quality mat time was.  In the first round-robin pool, MSJ's lone loss was to the eventual tournament champions, Central High School of Fresno; 24 of the 42 points scored by Central was earned through forfeits.  Though losing the dual meet on the scoreboard, the kids' collective effort was so aggressive and gutsy in their performance, it left the coaches feeling as though we had won the dual.  That loss dropped MSJ into the next round-robin pool that would determine 4th-6th place.  Wrestling against Vintage HS from the Sac-Joaquin Section, the score was tied at 36 apiece at the conclusion of the dual.  Based on the 4th criteria of the tie-breaking score system, Vintage won the dual on the strength of having more wins/forfeits in the dual (7-6, with a double forfeit at 119 lbs.).  MSJ bounced back after this loss and defeated Amador Valley 43-33 to claim a 5th place team finish.
    Overall, a great team experience along with several impressive individual performances.  The Warriors will now get back to work in the practice room while we take the next couple weeks off from competition.  Next up for the varsity squad is the Mat Classic hosted by Granada HS on January 9th, 2010.

 

Round	Team Result	Score
1	Mission San Jose def. Hogan (SJS)	51-24
2	Central (CS) def. Mission San Jose	42-22
3	Mission San Jose def. Petaluma (NCS)	39-30
4	Vintage (SJS) def. Mission San Jose*	36-36*
5	Mission San Jose def. Amador Valley (NCS)	43-33
* - Vintage wins tiebreaker via 4th criteria (most wins/forfeits)
3-2 dual record / 5th place