Plenty of talent on the Peninsula wrestling circuit

Botelho has already won a pair of PAL titles and has two podium finishes at CCS in as many years. He finished fifth in 2017 and was third last season, earning his first invitation to the state meet. Botelho is 8-1 early in the season, with his only loss coming to Adam Arenas of Lincoln-San Jose in the finals of the Half Moon Bay Peninsula Invitational, 8-6. Arenas won the 106-pound CCS title last season and is ranked No. 3 at 126.

Botelho rebounded to take the championship at the Webber Lawson tournament at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale.

PAL girls’ wrestling, as a whole, may be the strongest in the section as Menlo-Atherton (No. 1), Half Moon Bay (No. 7) and Terra Nova (No. 10) are all ranked in the top-10 teams in the section by CCSrank.com.

But you’re starting to see more and more PAL athletes from other schools popping up in the CCS rankings — including Hillsdale’s Kristaal Betanzo, who is ranked No. 2 in the 101-pound class, San Mateo’s Jude Sarsour, ranked No. 7 at 106 and Capuchino’s Aurora Venegas, ranked No. 18 at 121.

And some of the weight classes are chock full of PAL individuals. In the 137-pound class, for example, six PAL wrestlers are ranked in the top-10, led by El Camino senior Mikaela Contreras, who is ranked No. 1. Hot on her heels, however, is M-A junior Anna Smith (No. 2), Terra Nova senior Padma Armstrong (No. 4), Elizabeth Wallace, a Half Moon Bay junior (No. 7) and Burlingame junior Alexis Sawyer (No. 9).

Suffice to say, if you enjoy high school wrestling, just about any match on the Peninsula features some of the best wrestlers in CCS.

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Every Monday, I comb through the various leagues the Daily Journal covers to put together our “What’s on tap” file for schedule of games for the week.

When I got to the West Bay Athletic League website and clicked on the boys’ basketball schedule, there was one game that jumped out at me. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Crystal Springs will face Harker — at the Golden 1 Center, the new home for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

“In the fall, Harker asked if we had any interest in moving our game and playing at the Golden 1 Center and then see the Charlotte Hornets-(Sacramento) Kings game at 7,” said Crystal Springs athletic director Bill Whitmore. “We thought it would be a neat experience for our kids.”

Adding a little intrigue to the game is the fact it will be played on an NBA court, which is lined differently than a high school court, most notably the 3-point line. Obviously, the NBA 3-point line — which is roughly 23 feet from the basket — will be there, but there will be no high school 3-point line, which is a shade under 20 feet. Whitmore said a high school line will not be put down for the game.

“What they try to do is, officials try to eyeball it … where they think the line should be,” Whitmore said.

Certainly no possibility of controversy with that arrangement.

But like shooters in the NBA who are heaving up shots from two and three feet behind the line, high school shooters have extended their range as well, so it should be pretty clear cut for referees to make a decision.

***

If Sacramento is too far to drive, there is another big game locally as Serra hosts Riordan tonight at 7:30 in an early-season West Catholic Athletic League showdown.

Both teams are off to 2-0 starts in league play and are a combined 19-5. The Crusaders sent the message they are a team to be reckoned with after they blew out St. Francis in the WCAL opener last Wednesday, 69-39. They followed that up with an equally dominant 72-46 win over Valley Christian Saturday night.

The Padres, who have won eight of their last nine, opened WCAL play with a 76-39 win over Valley Christian before holding off the Lancers 78-70 last Saturday.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.