By Ed Piper
Gustav Rinaldi, at 175 pounds, was tied 4-4 with Scripps Ranch's Dane Walkowiak in the second period. Opening the third, against a tough opponent, the Viking senior--defending Eastern League champ now wrestling in the Western League--he got a point with an escape out of the down position to start the period. That broke the tie, 5-4.
Then Rinaldi pointed twice again, for 7-4 and 9-4, before Walkowiak escaped, 9-5. Before the end was through, before a large crowd for the opening Western tri-dual meet at Scripps Wed., Jan. 3, with Patrick Henry wrestlers waiting in the wings, Gustav built an 11-5 lead and won by decision to give La Jolla three team points.
Another crucial match for the Vikings was senior 138-pounder Abraham Sierra's 11-5 decision over Abraham Ambriso midway through the slate of weight divisions to open the evening's competition. Henry would take on Scripps in the second dual of the night, then La Jolla would come back against Henry in the third dual, a long night of action and endurance.
Sierra patiently built his lead through the three periods, to give his team three more points.
Noah Pace, one of three Vikings coming in as Eastern League champions last year, left no suspense in his early 113-pound match. In a mere 39 seconds, he took Scripps' Anish Boorla's shoulders to the mat for the required three seconds. That was La Jolla's first win of the night.
In addition, sophomore Liam Kressin, at 132 pounds, surprised with his first varsity pin over Graham Elliot of Scripps in 1:40 of the first period. That gave La Jolla a whopping six points to make the team battle close at that point, 17-12 behind Scripps.
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