LJ wrestling: Meet story #2

Liam Kressin (middle) of La Jolla looks to

referee Terrence Dugay, who signals one point

for Kressin's escape. Liam (146 pounds) lost

this bout to Ryan Vavrunek (right) of Scripps Ranch

by pin, but then came back through

the consolation bracket to take third place.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Continuing La Jolla's string of successes on both the girls' and boys' sides at the City Conference Championships Sat., Jan. 24, 146-pounder Liam Kressin--who reached the CIF Masters meet last season--came up through the consolation bracket to secure third place in the relatively large weight division.

The tall, long 12th-grader--having just celebrated Senior Night Wed., Jan. 21--got pinned in his opening bout. He came back to win four consecutive matches to take third-place honors. In the finals, he pinned Ryan Vavrunek of Scripps Ranch in 3:00 (one minute into the second round).

Making a sportswriter's task a hard one with all these runs deep into their brackets, fellow senior Dylan Haugum also took third place in his 217-pound bracket, winning a match by pin in the penultimate bout in 2:46 over Oswaldo Lagunas of Point Loma.

Ori Mor (top), 167 pounds, quickly moves

to a pin of Christian's Jack Cohen in 55 seconds.

Mor went on to take fourth place in his

weight class.

The 12th-grader, who came back to the wrestling team this year after competing as a freshman, recorded a pin over Wesley Stinson of Madison in the third-place match in 2:22.

Teammate Ori Mor (167) took fourth place in his weight class, reaching the third-place bout through the consolation bracket. The junior recorded a fall of Kilian Strachota of SDHS, his foe in their dual meet match only three days before, in 4:03. (He pinned him Wednesday, too.) Mor succumbed to a pin in the final.