The Pipeline: April 2021

Thursday, April 29, 2021

LJ wrestling: More photos 4/28

By Ed Piper

LJ's Ricardo Correa (black singlet)

LJ's Danny Molestina (Hwt) nearing pin

LJ wrestling 42, Serra 30 - spectators allowed for first time

The Vikings' Keegan Leonard goes for the pin

in his 145-pound match Wed., April 28,

against Serra's Ryan Martinez. La Jolla won the

dual meet, 42-30, before limited spectators.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Senior Keegan Leonard, in the decisive match of the afternoon, pinned Serra's Ryan Martinez with 13 seconds left in the second period to help propel La Jolla to its first dual meet victory of the shortened 2021 season over visiting Serra, 42-30, Wed., April 28, in the Big Gym.

It was the Vikings' first meet in front of fans after two duals with no fans allowed under San Diego Unified School District's rules governing indoor sports during COVID. A tiny contingent of spectators, with the limit of two per athlete, attended the competition.

"I used a spiral, which (former teammate) Buzzy Bomberger taught me," said Leonard, wrestling at 145 pounds, of the hold which allowed him to jockey his opponent back and forth until he could hold his shoulders down for the required three seconds late in the second of a potential three two-minute periods.

The occasion also marked the first dual meet in which Leonard, a senior waiting on a possible Naval Academy appointment for next year, and his teammates didn't appear gassed after their individual bouts. Last week, Leonard and teammate Chase Maisel, another 145-pounder bumped up to 152 with only one Serra wrestler at the former weight, and other La Jolla wrestlers were still visibly suffering the effects of a short preseason as they huffed and puffed through their bouts due to lack of conditioning.

Viking Chase Maisel, at 152 pounds, with his

mother before Wednesday's dual meet.

This time, Leonard agreed after his bout, his conditioning over the past month kicked in and he was able to proceed at more normal strength in his match with Martinez.

Such is the nature of this shortened COVID season, in which sports no one thought would ever take place under existing restrictions at the height of the pandemic in January and February--wrestling, with its close contact, and certainly water polo--have been allowed to carry on competition, though abbreviated. Normally, La Jolla's wrestling team would take part in eight or more dual meets with opposing schools, plus three or more tournaments for individuals before entering postseason competition.

To open Wednesday's event, with La Jolla head coach Ryan Lindenblatt handling public address duties, Maisel pinned Serra's Sam Lam at 152 pounds with 24 seconds left in the second period after building a 4-1 lead to that point.

Almost all of the other 14 weight division matches were awarded to one school or the other by forfeit, a common event during COVID because of the decreased rosters going out for the sport. Unfortunately, Viking transfer Ricardo Correa wasn't able to show his normal skill in an exhibition match that didn't count for the team score at 182 pounds.

Maisel on his way to slicing and dicing Sam Lam

of Serra in winning 152-pound match

to open the meet.

Correa's father, one of the few spectators in the sparsely-attended meet under the virus limitations, shared the story with a reporter of how in maintaining residences both in La Jolla and Mira Mesa, where his son wrestled for one year, dad would drive while Ricardo would run halfway to La Jolla as part of his conditioning. Then Ricardo would get in the car and ride the rest of the trip.

"Then he would do the rest of his conditioning at school," the proud papa said. It sounds like a pretty effective way of getting in shape.

Ricardo, who has an impressive physique when he takes off his shirt, wrestled as a ninth-grader at LJHS before participating for Mira Mesa in one of his middle years in high school. He is finishing off at La Jolla in his senior year.

Two other experienced Viking wrestlers also competed Wednesday. Caden Kestler, a sophomore at 138 pounds, was pinned by Gavin Avila of Serra in 2:19 (19 seconds into the second period) in an exhibition match. Heavyweight Danny Molestina pinned Serra's Max Clement 22 seconds into the second period of his exhibition match. Neither exhibition match counted for team points.

Caden Kestler of La Jolla sets up in the down position

against Serra's Gavin Avila in an exhibition match

that didn't count toward team points. Kestler

didn't have an opponent in his weight class,

138 pounds. Avila weighed 132.

Leonard's mother said that should Keegan not receive an appointment to the Naval Academy this fall, he has already been accepted as a student by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and would enroll there in August. Then, if the naval appointment came a year from now, any credits he would gain at Cal Poly wouldn't count toward his graduation from the academy. He is "wait-listed" for Annapolis at this point.

Walter Fairley, Jr., a former LJHS administrator and coach, showed up for the first home dual meet of the season to offer advice to wrestlers and keep the book at the scorer's table. Fairley, a CIF champion when he was a student in the San Diego Unified School District, dates his wrestling involvement back to 1966-67, his 10th-grade year in high school. That makes this season his 55th as either a wrestler or coach.

Fairley was inducted into the state Wrestling Hall of Fame several years ago.

LJ roster

Scorebook

Serra weigh-in sheet

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

LJ wrestling: vs. SDHS 4/21 - Photos (2nd of 5 dual meets)

By Ed Piper

Caden Kestler (138 pounds) on top in his first

bout of the 2021 season.

Chase Maisel (left) confers with coaches

Ryan Lennard (center) and Ryan Lindenblatt

during his bout.

Viking weigh-in

SDHS weigh-in

SDHS roster

Bout-by-bout record

Monday, April 26, 2021

LJ b BB 53, Lincoln 46

Viking forward Max Raulston

in pregame warmups.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla High's boys basketball team, playing again in front of no spectators under the COVID restrictions imposed for indoor sports in the San Diego Unified School District, prevailed over visiting Lincoln 53-46 in a close game Thurs., April 22.

The Vikings' win, giving Coach Paul Baranowski's squad its second league triumph following a 63-55 win at Scripps Ranch the night before, came in the second game of a girls/boys doubleheader in the campus' Big Gym. The LJHS girls varsity, coached by Alex Caceres with regular coach Darice Carnaje still occupied with the tennis team, dropped a 37-27 decision to High Tech High International (Point Loma) in the first game.

The Viking boys charged out to a 12-4 first quarter lead, helped by the introduction of guard Diego Solis and forward Max Raulston following the conclusion of the football team's season Fri., April 16.

LJHS's Christian Gamboa (R)

with teammate

Jackson Stratton.

"I've had two days of practice (after football)," said Solis before the matchup with the Hornets.

But the Hornets, the program that produced Norm Powell of the NBA Raptors and Trail Blazers, responded to Coach Jeffrey Harper's high-pitched direction from the sideline in struggling back for a 28-18 halftime lead, outscoring Christian Gamboa and his Viking teammates 24-6 in the quarter.

La Jolla, as Gamboa, an older senior, began to gear up on his patented drives to the basket, closed the gap and ended the third quarter trailing by only four, 40-36.

That set the stage for a convincing performance down the stretch that saw the hosts build their eventual lead to seven and secure the fast-paced win, 53-46.

Coming back from their 10-point second period deficit, the Vikings saw a DeAndre Vaz putback of a Solis miss to trail 33-26 with 6:01 left in the third quarter.

Guard Diego Solis, before his first game of 2021,

uses a foam roller to loosen up leg muscles.

Gamboa made a steal and was fouled on a drive at the offensive end. Christian made both free throws to make it 38-30, Lincoln still leading.

A tie-up with 3:55 left gave the ball to La Jolla on the alternating possession. After a foul, Gamboa again stepped to the line, and he made both free throws. 38-32.

This time a successful drive to the basket in which Christian finished brought the Vikes up to 40-34 after a Hornet score.

Raulston, who jumps well, blocked a Lincoln shot inside with 1:40 on the clock after missing a layup attempt moments before. Baranowski's favored five remained in the game, including guard Brennan Ross, along with Solis, Vaz, Raulston, and Gamboa.

No one scored through a furious finish to the third quarter, ending 40-36, Lincoln in the lead.

Raulston started the fourth quarter off with a layup, missing the free throw, down 40-38.

Gamboa sank two free throws at 7:33 for La Jolla's first tie of the night, 40-40, before a timeout. Earlier in the game, when Lincoln eclipsed the Vikings' opening lead in the second period, a Hornet three jumped the visitors from a 14-13 deficit to lead 16-14.

After Lincoln's Jahlil Florence shot an air ball on a free throw--he was pretty effective otherwise--Gamboa scored on a driving layup with 7:07 left. The lead was La Jolla's, 42-40, and the Vikings never trailed again.

Raymond Spriggs led Lincoln with 18 points. He scored 11 of those in the middle two periods.

Gamboa led all scorers with 24. Raulston had 13 in his 2021 debut, Solis 10.

Jackson Stratton suited up for the Vikings, but did not see action. He was quarterback on the LJHS football team. The 6'4 1/2" junior said this is his first year playing basketball.

Lincoln scoring

LJ scoring

Sunday, April 25, 2021

LJ baseball: Winners of GMC Tournament

The COVID pandemic has been a tough storm to weather, but some programs are prospering as they come out of it.

La Jolla High's baseball team, building a 14-2 record so far in the 2021 season, has reached the championship game in each of their first three tournaments. This has never been done before, according to a source.

The Vikings under head coach Gary Frank have won two of the three tourneys, the latest a 5-3 win over Christian High to take the GMC Tournament Sat., April 24. GMC stands for Grossmont-Metro-City.

"What is most gratifying," said Frank, "is that different players in each game have stepped up with clutch hits and key performances on the mound."

Simon Baker had two hits and two RBI, and Beau Brown had two hits and an RBI.

Ryan Lancaster, Kevin Steel, and Brown turned in strong pitching performances in the latest tournament.

The big guns for La Jolla have included Gavin Graff, hitting .447 with five wins on the mound, Luke Roberts, at .400, and Owen McNally, also a winner of five games.

Reportedly, the Vikings have never reached the championship game in their first three tournaments before in the history of the school, which dates back to 1922.