LJ wrestling: RB Takedown Tourney

Maddie Quach (facing camera), a Viking soph

wrestling at 106 pounds, tries to take her

opponent down in the RB Takedown Tourney

Sat., Nov. 20. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Over 25 wrestlers represented La Jolla High at the annual Rancho Bernardo Takedown Tournament Sat., Nov. 19, in a very full display of recovery from the two-year COVID spectacle and student-athletes' desire to pursue their sport or a new sport of their choosing.

Kraig Feldman, Viking head JV coach, remarked, "We have athletes," emphasizing the word "athletes". In other words, the Viking contingent was full of wrestlers who have athletic talents and are willing to put in the time on the practice mat to learn and perfect their skills.

Alongside strides in girls' and women's sports in the West (as in Western world), a foursome of girl wrestlers competed against other girls in the Takedown tourney. Ella Roman, a junior, Matisse Pickett, a sophomore, Maddie Quach, a junior, and Tora Haugen, a senior, got on the mat for their bouts early and later in the morning. Roman and Pickett are returners from last year's team.

Nerva Mugisha, an LJ junior at 120 pounds,

has his hand raised after taking his Clairemont

opponent down three times to win his bout.