By Ed Piper, Jr.
Junior Elliot Austin, wrestling at 128 pounds, landed fourth place in the prestigious 54th Holtville Rotary Invitational over the weekend, Jan. 27-28.
Nine La Jolla wrestlers made the long trek to Holtville, nine miles east of El Centro, to compete in the two-day event, which drew a whopping total of 355 wrestlers from 33 schools, including ones in Arizona.
A central feature of the overnight affair is the hosting of the high school athletes by families in tiny rural Holtville. Head coach Kellen Delaney's entire team was fed a generous dinner of make-your-own steak and chicken burritos by one family, then put up on couches and inflatable mattresses in the family's living room and family room Friday night.
Austin, a wily third-year wrestler and karate veteran, had to come up through the consolation bracket after he lost a match on the initial day of the tournament. He reached the third-place bout before falling.
"I have two, maybe more, matches left to go," said a seemingly relaxed Austin during a midday team picnic of sandwiches and chips on the quad of the Holtville High campus Saturday. In the third-place matchup, he faced the same wrestler who defeated him earlier in the tourney.
Returners wrestling for La Jolla in the invitational included senior Griffin Young at 140 pounds, junior Austin Clerget at 147, and sophomore Brocke Bonnette at 154.
Newcomers to the Viking wrestling program who competed at Holtville were senior Finley Chen at 108, freshman Hunter Gilbert at 134, freshman Joshua Jasso at 184, freshman Isaiah Torres at 197, and senior Jose Sotelo at 287.
All nine were guaranteed at least four matches in the tournament, which enabled Delaney and his assistants, Chuck Pieritz, Walter Fairley, Jr., and Juan Vasquez, to coach the young wrestlers while they gained more experience under competitive conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment