STATE WRESTLING : Live Oak’s Keller Steals Spotlight in Defeat

If there was a universal favorite at the CIF State wrestling championships Friday, it was Donnie Keller, a 17-year-old senior from Live Oak High in Morgan Hill who lost his right leg to a rare form of bone cancer in 1989.

Loud cheers from the crowd of 5,000 in the University of the Pacific’s Spanos Center followed Keller whenever he wrestled Friday. He won his first two matches before losing to Jack Artman of Thousand Oaks, who kept his undefeated season intact with an 8-1 victory in the quarterfinals.

Afterward, Artman (37-0) gave Keller a long embrace, a pat on the back and some words of encouragement.

“He’s tough, really tough,” said Keller, who moved into today’s consolation round with a 32-11 record. Artman will wrestle Bruce Munster of Clovis in the semifinals at 10 a.m. today.

“You always want to do well,” Keller said of wrestling in his first State meet. “I have to be realistic, though. I’ve gone a lot farther than I thought I could. But then, I always wanted to get this far.”

So, after the first day of the two-day meet, is it everything he had expected?

“Everything and more,” Keller said.