By Ed Piper
Ori Mor, 167 pounds, after he slammed his first opponent of the day, Jack Cohen of Christian High, to the mat multiple times in winning the bout Saturday morning, Jan. 24, at the City Conference Championships:
"Dude, I was trying to lift him as high as I can, and slam him. I know it's not the way you're supposed to do it, but..."
Q: (As we walked out of the Canyon Hills gym, toward the LJHS team tent) "It's quicker that way?"
Ori: "It is quicker. It stuns them, and they're a little disoriented."
Q: "Was he stunned?"
Ori: "Yeah. You could tell."
A: "The pin was 55 seconds. It was quick."
Ori: "Yeah. It was quick. It was quick."
A: "What were you trying to do right when you started the match?"
Q: "I was just trying to read him, see when he's going to try to shoot, try to hit his head, disorient him, and put on my shot."
* * *
David Blasquez, a former 215-pound and heavyweight wrestler for La Jolla, has returned this season to volunteer as an assistant coach.
"As coaches, I had Kellen (Delaney), Ryan (Lennard), and Ryan Lindenblatt," David said. "I wrestled for two years at 215, then as a senior I went up to heavyweight.
"My junior year, I injured my meniscus (knee) and suffered a broken thumb."
"It's the first time I've been back in 15 years," Blasquez said. "I just turned 34. Paul Schoen coached. He was the last LJHS'er to go to state." (a new name to this reporter)
* * *
Head coach Joey Stofko and family spent the holidays in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, "across the bridge from Allentown," according to Joey. These are his home parts.
"Asher (Sternberg, his stepson) went, too. There were 50-mile-an-hour winds. We went archery hunting for white-tailed deer." It didn't work too well.
"It was super noisy/crunchy (from stepping on the snow and ice) in the forest, so as soon as you got there, they were out of there."
* * *
Stofko said the recent fundraiser through Beaumont's went well. "They sold out takeout rotisserie chicken every day," he said.
"We want to go into next year with some money." The funds raised will go to the following:
--to pay for a new mat ("We borrowed money to buy it.")
--tourney fees
--warm-up outfits
--singlets
--food for tournaments
--a pop-up for tourneys - "so we don't look like hobos out there."
* * *
Assistant coach Kellen Delaney (head coach 2015-2025) discussed senior Maddie Quach's growth as a wrestler:
"Maddie has progressed nicely, technically speaking. She has just struggled to be as aggressive in some cases.
"One day, after a great match, and a great tournament, she came off the mat very proud of the way she wrestled even though she had lost.
"She said she 'chose violence', so I leaned into that. 'Choosing violence' within the confines of the rules. It means she is going to be put in tough positions, but finding the will to fight through them rather than folding.
"She's going to have to at least match the aggression that her opponent is putting on her. She has responded really well to it and has continued to 'choose violence'."
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