LJ wrestling: Stable of coaches

At Holtville, Viking head coach Kellen Delaney (in hat)
gesticulates to wrestler Jake Harvey (far left).
Assistant Ryan Lindenblatt is to Delaney's right, with
assistant Jesus Sanchez behind him in red sweatshirt.
Viking Jesus Castorena is to Lindenblatt's right,
Brocke Bonnette standing at far right.

(Photo by Ed Piper) 

HOLTVILLE--Juan Sanchez, head coach of La Jolla High wrestling from 2002 to 2006, was reliving fond memories of his own wrestling career as a Viking.

The occasion was the 53rd Annual Holtville Rotary Wrestling Tournament. Sanchez recounted during the first day of competition Fri., Jan. 29, his winning the 103-pound class as a sophomore and junior in 1996 and 1997 in this very tournament, and the 112-pound division his senior year in 1998.

Which points up the wealth of experience on the LJHS wrestling coaching staff: Kellen Delaney is present head coach. Ryan Lindenblatt, an assistant coach, was head coach prior to Delaney. Sanchez provides his expertise. And Walter Fairley, who retired a year ago as a vice principal at La Jolla, assists and has been part of the Viking wrestling coaching staff for many years, going back to prior to his becoming an administrator.

This amount of head coaching experience on one staff, assisting and supporting and working together with the student athletes, would be almost unheard of in any other sport. Basketball tends to have a highly hierarchical coaching structure, with one coach setting the vision at the top. In football, sometimes former head coaches may assist others in their twilight years, with the time commitment being less for an assistant than for a head coach.

It's a unique gift for the young men in the Viking program.