by Marcelles Williams

This year was another historic year for St. John Bosco’s athletics programs, which featured many highs, accolades and championships. The Braves won a National Championship, a CIF State Championship, Trinity League Championships and are still on the hunt for more.

The Braves Football team was crowned National Champions this year for the third time in ten years and finished the year with their fourth state title. The Braves dominated their regular season schedule this year, but most notably won at the Rose Bowl over the “Team in Red.” The 24-22 victory sealed another well-deserved CIF-SS Championship. To cap off a CIF State title run, Bosco defeated Serra (San Mateo) in dominant fashion with a 49-0 victory. 

The Bosco Football 2024 class is looking to make history next year and be the first team to win back-to-back National Championships. With one of the toughest schedules in the nation, including trips to Florida’s St. Thomas Aquinas and Hawaii’s Kahuku, the Braves have a high bar to hit.

”We’re coming for it again next year. We aren’t satisfied yet,” said two year starter and incoming senior safety Peyton Woodyard, who’s committed to the University of Georgia.

The Bosco Wrestling team also boasted a very impressive year with two players winning individual CIF State Championships, Nicco Ruiz and Nicholas Sahakian. Nicco will graduate this Spring with his second state title in a row. They both heavily contributed to the Braves winning the 2022 CIF-SS Team and Masters Championships. All this on top of yet another Trinity League.

They finished as the fourth best team in the state this year and with Nicholas Sahakian returning for two more seasons as he’s only a sophomore, expect for the Braves to have continued success in the near future.

“We put in the work and it paid off,” Nicholas said.

The Bosco Basketball team also won a Trinity League Championship, the program’s first outright Trinity League title. Undefeated at home in the regular season, they had a very successful year finishing 26-7 and making the CIF-SS Open Division Championship game. The Braves also had some big wins this year, like over Harvard Westlake, a top ten team in the nation, during their run in the CIF-SS playoffs. 

They also came back from a 21-point deficit at home against the “Team in Red” to help secure the top spot in the Trinity League. This coming after what was perhaps their most historic win of the season, which came on the “Team in Red’s” home court. It was the “Team in Red’s” first home loss since 1998.

“We didn’t finish the year the way we wanted to, but we’ll be back,” said sophomore guard Elzie Harrington, who is one of the top ranked players in his class in both the state of California and nationally.

A lot of the key braves from this year’s Bosco Basketball team are returning, so look for them to have an even more successful year next year. The top three scorers all return next season.

Bosco Esports team was another program that secured National and State Championships in multiple games. Their seven-player team made a historic run to become the 2022 HSEL National Champions. The Esports team also won two more State Championships in Rocket League and Valorant. The Bosco Rocket League team swept Novato High School 4-0 to capture their title, and the Valorant team swept Arcadia High 2-0 to capture theirs.

The Braves aren’t done competing for gold, though. Bosco Lacrosse takes on Aliso Niguel tonight at 6pm on the road in the CIF-SS Semi-Finals. The team is making a Cinderella run after qualifying for the Division II playoffs in a wild card game.