By Ed Piper
On a bright Sunday, Feb. 25, after two major storms with ice and snow in the area passed through, the La Jolla High wrestling family took time--finally free of COVID restrictions that ruled much of the previous three years--to recognize their five league champions who were named All-Eastern League as a result of their success at a banquet in the afternoon.
Tasty double-tortilla tacos catered to attendees couldn't compare with the mountain of achievement that athletes and their Viking coaches felt as each weight-class champ was introduced and his conquests during the 2022-2023 season enumerated:
--Noah Pace, freshman, 106 pounds.
--Caden Kestler, senior, 145 pounds.
--Charlie Long, senior, 152 pounds.
--Gustav Rinaldi, junior, 160 pounds.
--Jack Long, sophomore, 170 pounds.
These Viking wrestlers helped lead the team to a 5-0 Eastern League record in 2023, the first league title for the squad since the 2011-2012 unit.
Kellen Delaney, who hosted the event with his wife Brenda and who serves as the La Jolla head coach, talked about the demanding nature of the sort: "Wrestling is a difficult sport. It takes a lot to walk out on the mat alone in a gym full of people against another wrestler who wants to do the same thing that you want to do to them."
A Division 3 team (that may soon change), the Vikings finished seventh in CIF; fourth at the annual City Conference tournament among about 20 schools; fourth in boys, fourth in girls wrestling.
Of the spotless 5-0 league dual meet record, three duals were away, two at home, including Senior Night, which was a special event in itself with a large, enthusiastic crowd and several former Viking competitors in attendance. Many in the group celebrated afterward at a local restaurant which is also a sponsor of the team.
Matisse Pickett, a sophomore, one of the four girls competing for La Jolla, fell behind 10-4 in her varsity match. She ended up edging her male opponent, 15-14. The crowd reacted.
JV coach Kraig Feldman, a former La Jolla High campus teacher who now teaches at a nearby middle school, presented the five league champions. He explained how league champs are determined: the matches during league dual meets count. Then, tiebreakers are taken, such as how far the wrestler went in CIF.
Feldman noted that three of the four girls went to the finals of the "Queen of the Lake" tournament in San Marcos. Senior Tora Tranheim, who was given a plastic "Thor" hammer for her namesake hero by Joe Pace, the father of teammate Noah Pace, had a comeback pin for her second tournament championship of the season.
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