LJ g wrestling @ Monte Vista Invitational - 1/19

Becca Durst, at 137 pounds, holds down the

shoulders of West Hills' Gabriella Valentin

for a three count in her first match.

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Beckler Durst, idled after her headgear pulling on her left ear caused seven stitches two weeks ago, came barging across the mat against her opponent like "Raging Bull".

"She didn't know what hit her," commented an observer to Durst, a senior wrestling her final year at La Jolla, afterwards. "Thanks," Becca said as she exchanged fist bumps.

Gabriella Valentin of West Hills was the object of the137-pounder's aggressiveness. Durst rapidly took her down, then held her shoulders to the mat for a three count to record a fall in 15 seconds. It was muy rapido.

Later in the morning, after the long wait for the first bout with Valentin, Becca pinned Daniela Martinez of Santana in 3:45.

The La Jolla senior is rewarded

for her aggressiveness with a

hand raised, signifying a triumph

over Gabriella Valentin (near camera)

of West Hills.

LJ JV wrestling @ Monte Vista Invitational - 1/17

Colton Warren (left) of La Jolla throws Elijah

Gonzalez of Helix with nine seconds left

(see scoreboard), but only gains one point

and succumbs, 8-6, in a 159-pound bout.

Warren, a freshman, wrestled five more matches

to finish third in his weight class.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Ori Mor of La Jolla, at 167 pounds, reached the championship bout of the Monte Vista JV Tournament Sat., Jan. 17, before succumbing 12-3 to Eduard Shirakuni of Westview.

The junior, who has been out lately, came back from his absence to win his first three matches--two by decision, one by fall--to ascend to the top of the bracket.

Viking freshman Colton Warren took third place at 159, winning his sixth bout of the long day by decision over Logan Wells of West Hills, 2-1.

Fellow 9th-grader Alex Mourlas (140) achieved a fifth-place finish by defeating Simon Cornwell of Canyon Hills, 10-5, then after a loss by pin was awarded a medical forfeit in his scheduled sixth match to take fifth place. 

Also at 140, teammate Slater Olson pinned Alex Gonzalez of Steele Canyon in consolation, before coming up on the short end of a decision prior to the consolation quarterfinals.

La Jolla's Oliver Franklin (128) won a 13-11 decision over Aaron Balvaned of Olympian in the consolation bracket, before his participation ended.

Likewise, Axel Rivas (190 pounds) pinned Hisarus Barnes of High Tech North in one minute in the championship bracket, before losing in the consolation bracket.

Nine Viking wrestlers made the trip, including 98-pound Franky McCarroll, for whom a separate bracket had to be created to include his weight.

Head coach Joey Stofko said that Beaumont's has extended their fundraiser this week to include Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, Jan. 18-19-20, from 4 to 7 p.m. each day. That's in addition to the all-day fundraiser at Beaumont's Wed., Jan. 21. One way to go is to order a rotisserie chicken for takeout.

Alex Mourlas (center) watches the video

of his first match with LJ head coach

Joey Stofko (far right) right after the bout.

Mourlas won three matches and finished

 in fifth place at 140 pounds. 

LJ g water polo 17, La Serna (Whittier) 8 - Beach Cities Invitational - Day 1 (of 2) 1/16

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ freshman Mackenzie Adams (14, black cap)

gets some varsity jostling by Ava Flores (17,

white cap) of La Serna near the end of the

Vikings' 17-8 scorching of the Lancers.

Lola Clayton (left, 10) of La Jolla applies some

tough defense to Ava Flores (17). Clayton is

a junior.

Jane Peay (18), a freshman, has an intense

expression as she secures a ball and poses

a threat to the Lancers' Abby Collado.

La Jolla's Stella Tezcan (near right, next

to cone) wins the opening sprint.

Vike Kate Morgan (12) takes a shot

handling Ava Flores (17), who scored

three goals for the underdog Lancers.

Marnix Kevorkian (17 black), up from the JV's,

gets into the crunch of action near the goal

of La Serna (with Lancer goalie Diana Ochoa,

red cap).

The line of La Jolla's defense presents a

formidable barrier early in the second quarter,

with black caps prominent--goalie Lucia

Vega (1, red-black cap, far right) behind.

Aviana Cavaiola's (3) arm creates a hurricane

effect in the water as her right arm goes into

shooting action.

Freshman starter Carys Villano (15, left)

fires a shot from the point.

LJ g soccer: Game story 1/15

SDHS goalie Althea Brigham grabs this Viking attempt

in front of Dara Berger (18), but she wasn't so lucky

11 minutes later. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's varsity scored two goals by the right foot of freshman Samantha Woolf, at the 12:50 mark left in the first half and eight minutes into the second half, to take a commanding 2-0 lead over visiting San Diego High, and held on for a 2-1 Eastern League victory Thurs., Jan. 15.

Woolf, the youngest of three Woolf sisters playing on Coach Austin Mobley's Vikings, has more than doubled the total of the next closest scorer for the team.

Defender/all-purpose Caroline Bruner, the squad's captain, had an assist on one of the goals.

Viking goalkeepers Sam Cousino (first half) and Zoey Hagan (start of second half) each had a save in goal.

LJ g soccer 2, SDHS 1 - 1/15

Photos by Ed Piper

Underlined by Sonia Wu's braid, Sophia O'Brien

moves ball forward in center of field.

Samantha Woolf (17) controls the ball adeptly

versus Pina Estes (12) of San Diego High.

Sam scored both of La Jolla's goals.

Captains meeting - Caroline Bruner in orange.

LJ's Norah Zadeyan (black jersey)

looks upfield.

5:45 p.m. A view west from Eads St.

LJ boys wrestling 36, Point Loma 37 - 1/14

LJ's Patrick Fitzmaurice (front, head

chopped off in photo) struggles to free

himself from the grip of 150-pound

opponent Luca Bernal of Point Loma.

Fitzmaurice won by decision, 8-6,

to give the Vikings three points.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Alex Mourlas of La Jolla, at 138 pounds, began the third period of his match with Point Loma's Kris Williams down 4-1.

The dual meet was on the line, with the Vikings hosting their fourth of five dual meets in the Eastern League this season. Mourlas, a freshman, has performed well at the varsity level and carried a lot of responsibility in his first year in high school.

La Jolla led the visiting Pointers 36-34 on a big pin by Victor Franklin of Daniel Arrues at 132 pounds in 1:45. The Vikes needed a win to secure a dual-meet triumph.

First, Mourlas recorded a takedown of Williams to tie his bout 4-4. But then, the Pointer wrestler gained a reverse and two points for a 6-4 decision, eking out a one-point victory for Point Loma.

It was a night of thrills and chills, as Ori Mor (165) got a pin over opponent Joe Canepa in 5:45 (the meet began at 144 pounds by mutual agreement) and Dylan Haugum (Heavyweight), always good for a quick, exciting match, pinned Lee Jobes in 26 seconds.

La Jolla, under first-year head coach Joey Stofko, has fielded some of the strongest lineups through the dual meet season in recent memory, building on work done in the past decade.

At the top of the lineup, in the lower weight classes, freshman Nathan Kramer (106) and senior Noah Pace (120) recorded falls--in 52 seconds and 1:37, respectively.

Wednesday's was La Jolla's first loss in four league dual meets, after three consecutive victories over Lincoln, University City, and Christian.

Stofko's crew finishes the Eastern League schedule with a dual meet at home next Wed., Jan. 21, against SDHS.

MLB: Arm troubles

By Ed Piper

I worked with a former member of Jack McDowell's family the other day. "Black Jack" McDowell was a right-handed pitcher who was roughly on a Hall of Fame trajectory at mid-career when he suffered an arm injury and never was the same again.

I was aware of the hurler, who played for a long time with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, but didn't know specifics about him. I read up on him, and saw that in the early 90's, he was very effective, taking the ball every fifth day and racking up some outstanding years.

In 1990 for the Pale Hose, he went 14-9 and topped 200 innings for the first of five of the next six seasons (the last after he was traded to the Yankees). "Black Jack" (I had not known him as such; his former relative brought up the moniker) recorded win-loss records of 20-10, 22-10 (his best), then 15-10 for los Yanquis two years later.

After he hurt his arm, he was bitter, as baseball pitching drove him and was the only thing that he was really good at. He ended up with a 127-87 record over 12 years, with a 3.85 ERA. Not bad, but Father Time limits careers in a young man's sport--unless you're ageless Satchel Paige, who pitched for the Indians at 57 years old--and McDowell had nothing to replace it during that time.

He later tried his hand at coaching. When he suffered the arm injury, he apparently tried different medications to try to treat the arm, and some of them helped turn him into a crazy man, doing things he had never done before. It is a sad story of woe and warning for others.