NOTEBOOK : Gutierrez’s Priorities Are the SAT, Then SDSU

Record-setting quarterback Tim Gutierrez has received a scholarship offer from San Diego State despite being a partial qualifier under Prop. 48.

Gutierrez, who has the necessary grade-point average, needs to attain a 700 on Scholastic Aptitude Test to receive an athletic scholarship. Gutierrez, who has taken the test twice, has no doubt he can improve his high score of 680. He will get a third chance Saturday.

Gutierrez said he hasn’t verbally committed to the Aztecs because he wants to meet next week with University of New Mexico officials. But Gutierrez added that he is impressed with Al Luginbill’s program at SDSU.

“They’re turned out some pretty good quarterbacks,” Gutierrez said, referring to senior Dan McGwire and former star Todd Santos. “I like their pass-oriented offense. “

In addition, Gutierrez said: “They’ll take me no matter what happens with the test.”

Under Prop. 42, a partial qualifier cannot receive an athletic scholarship to a Division I college.

Gutierrez said he’ll attend a junior college in the fall and not play football if he does not pass the SAT while in high school. He will continue taking the test. Gutierrez said he would receive a scholarship from SDSU in January of 1991 and would be eligible to take part in spring drills.

Gutierrez would then redshirt and not play football until 1992.

It seems like a long time, but SDSU is willing to wait.

Who could blame them?

In his three-year career, Gutierrez passed for 7,272 yards to rank third on the all-time list in the Southern Section, fifth in the state and ninth nationally.

Last season, Gutierrez completed 210 of 334 passes for 2,939 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also holds seven different Ventura County records.

His biggest pass, though, may come Saturday.

“If I pass the test--and I know I will--I won’t have to worry about (Prop. 48 and Prop. 42),” he said.

Academy bound: Santa Clara High lineman Ted Lawrence received a required nomination Friday from Congressman Robert Lagomarsino to attend a military academy next fall.

Larry Lawrence, Ted’s father and Santa Clara High’s football coach, said his son remains undecided about whether he’ll attend Army, Navy or the Coast Guard Academy, which has shown recent interest.

“What it boils down to is who will accept him first and sell him on their football program,” Larry Lawrence said. “I think his mind is set on West Point because that’s where his brother Tim went to school. But that’s just my opinion.”

Wrestling a win: The way Moorpark High Athletic Director Rich Uphoff is running the school’s wrestling program, he may never have to find a successor.

Uphoff, an interim coach, guided Moorpark to the championship of the Harvard tournament Saturday.

First-place finishers were Vince Alvarez (119-pound division), Paul Gutierrez (126 pounds), Mike Jennings (138 pounds) and George Mahoney (175 pounds).

Pedro Lozano (heavyweight) and Chris Juntilla (191 pounds) finished second in their divisions.

Moorpark had 218 points to outdistance second-place Duarte (174) and third-place Canoga Park (154) for the team title.

The victory was especially pleasing for Uphoff because Moorpark lost a close match a week ago to Frontier League rival Agoura, 32-20.

“We worked hard in Friday’s practice and I think that made a difference in the tournament,” Uphoff said. “The kids were disappointed to lose to Agoura because we didn’t wrestle well.”

Moorpark has become a surprise among area schools because no one was sure it would field a squad this season. Uphoff, who has no wrestling experience, decided to run the program when he was unable to locate a coach during the fall.

The Musketeers began the season placing sixth in a prestigious 10-team tournament at Oceanside.

Since then, Moorpark has split two nonleague dual meets against Marmonte League teams and also split two league meets.

With Gutierrez back from a shoulder injury, Uphoff believes the Musketeers could win league finals and finish as co-champions with Agoura.

Add wrestling: Channel Islands will be competing against the top wrestlers in the state this weekend in the California tournament at Morro Bay.

The Raiders’ top three wrestlers are juniors Valo Barajas, T.R. Merickel and Heda Kuwata.

Barajas, who has a 30-2 record, is the favorite to win the 105-pound division. He won his division against the same group of wrestlers in the Tournament of Champions at El Camino College.

Last season, Barajas placed fourth in the Southern Section 4-A Division finals and Marmonte League champion.

Merickel has posted a 28-5 record at 112 pounds and Kuwata holds a 27-7 mark at 138 pounds.

Channel Islands, 17-2, 0-2 in Marmonte League matches, is currently ranked eighth in the 4-A Division. Vieira has high expectations for his eighth-ranked Raiders, but believes they may be one year away from winning a Southern Section title.

Hall of Famers: Nordhoff High will honor five athletes recently inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame during halftime ceremonies of the Rangers’ home game against Santa Clara on Friday.

Basketball star Scott Loomis (Class of 1979), football standouts Kevin Clark (1976) and Alan Rains (1978) and track star Cari Zimmerman (1984) will be the athletes honored. Jack Polski, who coached all sports from 1924 to 1946, will be honored posthumously. Polski died in 1971. His son Bill Polski will accept the award.

Major surprise: The Ventura women’s basketball team registered its biggest upset of the season Jan. 17 when it beat Moorpark, 82-69, in Western State Conference action. The teams entered the showdown with 3-0 conference records.

Guard Angela Williams led the Pirates with 23 points, but she had plenty of support from Ytteb Bowls and Suzanne Hoag, who added 16 points each.

The stay at the top was short-lived, however, as Valley held on for a 68-58 win over Ventura Saturday night. Valley took over first place in the WSC with a 5-1 mark.

Hurting for a win: The Oxnard College men’s basketball team has suffered through numerous problems this year, including injuries to two key starters before the season opener. But the Condors have been a surprise with a 12-9 record entering Wednesday’s game against Glendale.

Coach Remy McCarthy’s team nearly pulled the Western State Conference upset of the season Saturday night against Santa Monica. But a near one-point victory turned into a 64-63 loss in a matter of seconds.

With Oxnard leading 63-62, Gary Coleman missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds remaining. Santa Monica grabbed the rebound, and Mark Moton hit a short jumper with three seconds left to give the Corsairs a 64-63 victory.

“It hurts when you play an exceptional game against an exceptional team and come up short,” McCarthy said.

Frantic fortnight: Having survived, if not prospered, during the first week of a difficult two-week stretch of Western State Conference play, the Moorpark men’s and women’s basketball teams, both 4-1 in conference play before Wednesday’s games, will play some of the top teams in the conference this week.

Both teams lost at Ventura last Wednesday but rebounded with easy victories at Glendale on Saturday.

The men’s victory was particularly impressive. Not only did Moorpark convincingly defeat Glendale, 79-62, but it marked Moorpark’s third road game in six days.

The men played a makeup game at Cuesta last Monday.