By Ed Piper
La Jolla High sent nine varsity wrestlers to the Mission Hills Tournament in San Marcos Sat., Jan. 6.
Five senior veterans, led by defending Eastern League champion Gustav Rinaldi, three sophomores, and one junior took part in the annual tourney before a full house on the campus of Mission Hills High.
Among the sophomores, the Viking with a standout record is 113-pound Noah Pace. He, like his teammate Rinaldi, is an Eastern League champion at his former weight, 106. He went up in weight class this year with normal growth and maturation.
The third returning league champ, Jack Long, is still making the transition from football, which extended into November with the Viking football team advancing to the Division 2 final. Long entered the Mission Hills competition at 192 pounds.
In the early part of the bracket at 177 pounds, in his first match Rinaldi took Gage Scott of Christian High directly to the mat and pinned him in a mere 27 seconds.
On his next time on the mat, before a crowd that filled one entire side of the gym stands as five mats featured bouts beginning shortly after 9 a.m., Gustav worked through all three periods against David Tapia of Rancho Buena Vista. He finally made his opponent submit at 5:24--over two-thirds of the way through the final period.
Rinaldi was scheduled to face Gavin Clark of Santana in the bracket quarterfinals at midday in the 177-pound bracket.
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