by Michael Barba

Bosco Lacrosse has made it loud and clear that their number one intention this season is to overpower all opponents in their way to achieve a CIF Championship.

After a successful 2021-2022 season for Bosco Lacrosse, they have continued to make the improvements and adjustments necessary to have an even more successful season in 2022-2023. The Braves have a big advantage over their competition by training since the Winter, making sure to get in all of the time they could before their first home opener game of their season. 

The much anticipated lacrosse season will consist of fourteen games, with five of those games being Trinity League opponents and nine other games against non-league opponents. The Braves hosted their first two games of the season against the Santa Monica Vikings and the Downey Vikings. 

The first game of the season against the Santa Monica Vikings ended in a hard fought loss for the Braves with a goal being scored by freshman attacker, Milo Watts. The Braves made sure to bounce back in their game last Friday against the Downey Vikings, flipping the script in a 17-1 victory. 

“Bosco Lacrosse has put a bunch of effort into our stick stills. We are a super young team and super athletic, but we need to continue to be able to handle tough situations,” said senior midfielder Paxton Allison. “Also, we are continuing to put in work on and off the field by watching and studying teams in order to combat whatever they throw against us.”

Last year’s varsity lacrosse team consisted of many seniors, which gave the opportunity for many young and talented freshmen prospects to get opportunities to contribute and shine. Head Lacrosse Coach Chris Jewett emphasized how this Braves team is not only fresh, filled with young and hungry underclassmen, but that they are ready to compete at the next level.

With many talented freshmen and sophomores in the mix, Coach Jewett has been making sure to get the young bucks adjusted to the difference between 8th grade lacrosse and high school lacrosse by putting emphasis on fundamentals.

“Some points we stressed on were fundamentals overall, like catching, shooting, throwing, lacrosse IQ. With a young team making the jump from 8th grade to high school is very difficult in some cases with the size, speed, as well as the skillset. Overall, we’ve just been doing lots of fundamentals and lots of in-game reps to get kids better,” said Coach Jewett. 

This lacrosse season, there is also a fair share of veterans that are models for the underclassmen, like Paxton Allison. Through Paxton’s hard work and commitment to the program, he recently committed to Baldwin Wallace University, setting an example for the young core that they’ll be able to accomplish the goal of continuing their lacrosse careers past high school with commitment and discipline.

“The majority of our team want to play college lacrosse, so I hope what I’ve done inspires them to work hard. You have to be open to any opportunity that comes your way and be humble. I would also say [to young players] figure out what you want to chase after and don’t stop chasing it,” said Paxton.  

The Bosco Braves lacrosse team is prepared to take on both the toughness of the Trinity League and their non-league opponents to reach the CIF Championship. The Braves take on non-league opponent, the La Canada Spartans, this afternoon at 4pm at home.

by Ed Crowe 

The wrestling program traveled to Bakersfield, where eleven wrestlers competed for the CIF State Championship in their respective weight classes. Senior Nicco Ruiz and sophomore Nicholas Sahakian emerged as champions.

The elite eleven qualified for their matchups, making them “placers,” as they worked to earn their spot in the CIF State matches. These eleven placers consisted of many underclassmen. Freshmen Sean Willcox, Issac Torres Nathan Carrillo, Zaydrein Hernandez and Tigran Greyan as well as sophomores Nicholas Sahakian and Joseph Antonio all competed at the Bakersfield event. The upperclassmen consisted of Stanford University commit junior Grigor Cholakyan, Arizona State University commit senior Nicco Ruiz, senior Julian Barajas and senior Mark Ayala.

Head Coach Jeff Anderson, who is very proud of all the placers, as well as the other wrestlers, believes that this year was the program’s best year. 

“I expect that nationally Bosco will take the number 15 spot. The wrestling program continues to make history, and has very high hopes that next year, the team will reach new heights and take the world by storm,” said Coach Anderson. 

From these eleven placers, Nicco Ruiz and Nicholas Sahakian wrestled their way to the top and were able to achieve CIF State Championships. In addition to this year’s victory, Nicco has now won this title two years in a row, making him the California two-time defending CIF State Champion for the 160-pound division, which is a remarkable accomplishment for himself as well as the Bosco wrestling program. 

Nicco gives special thanks to his family and friends that pushed him to his limits as well as his coaches and Bosco brothers who pushed him even further to his accomplishments. Of course, this achievement was not earned with ease, a lot of hard work and determination was necessary. 

“To prepare mentally, I looked at my past matches from last year’s state tournament and kept telling myself that I have to be better than that. Also, I have my medal from last year in my room hanging, and I would see it every day and I would tell myself that I need to get that medal again,” said Nicco. 

Wrestling is not only a challenging sport physically, but also mentally. Each wrestler must have the right mindset stepping onto the mat, and Nicco made sure he was fully prepared for it. However, each year the competition grows even more challenging. 

“Throughout the whole competition, I felt really confident and I had wrestled some of the top guys in the state before and I was ready to beat them again,” Nicco said.

As a team, Nicco believed that the wrestlers did great. Nonetheless, he also added that there can be much more improvement next year. Unfortunately, Nicco and the other seniors will be graduating this year, yet their legacies will be felt for years to come. Nicco will be attending Arizona State University and also has aspirations in the future to earn a spot on the USA Wrestling team.

Nicholas Sahakian, who is only a sophomore, put in the work and received a state title as well. While the competition was heavy, Nicholas kept focus and wrestled his way to the top. Nicholas has experience competing at the state level, achieving the remarkable as he had earned third in the competition the year prior as a freshman. 

The most impressive accomplishment is that this year, the Bosco wrestling program placed seventh overall in the entire competition. On top of that achievement, seven of these placers were only freshmen or sophomores, which is incredible for the future of Bosco Wrestling. 

Though two wrestlers earned the CIF State Championship, every wrestler earned the experience needed for next year. While this tournament may mark the end for the seniors, it marks a new beginning for the underclassmen wrestlers. The Braves were able to finish out their season on a high note and hope to continue bringing the heat for years to come.

by Marcelles Williams

Last Saturday Bosco Basketball competed inside the Honda Center for the CIF Southern Section Open Division Final. The atmosphere was electric, as the St. John Bosco community cheered on their Braves in a thrilling game.

The Braves rose to the occasion in last week’s title game, jumping out to a quick 10-4 lead over the top seeded Corona Centennial Huskies in the middle of the first. They closed it out and ended the first quarter with a 16-12 lead.

Junior Jack Turner made an early impact on the game, scoring a crowd-pleasing 3-pointer and a couple layups.

“We were coming to play, and we were going to give it our all,” said Jack. “We still have unfinished business.”

Bosco led for almost all of the first half until late into the second quarter. Kade Bonam, Jack Turner and Xinyi Li were on their A-games from the jump ball, and the Braves were adamant that the Huskies wouldn’t walk off the court without a determined fight.

At halftime the score was 28-23, with the Braves trailing by five points. The game was still far from decided and tension continued to mount.

Coming out of the tunnel in the third quarter, the Braves got a strong push from sophomore guard Elzie Harrington, who scored ten points in the quarter. Elzie is one of the top sophomores in the nation and is rated as a five-star recruit for the class of 2025.

“I was trying to do anything I could to help the team,” said Elzie. “These are the type of games you play for. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The game came down to the wire and was tied in the very last second of the game. Yet devastatingly, the Huskies intercepted a pass from Elzie and followed through to end the game on a dunk to secure a 58-56 victory over the Braves.

Bosco Basketball might not have been able to pull off the win, but they still are hopeful for the CIF State Playoffs with their sights on a match-up with another top 25 team in the country, Harvard-Westlake, who they recently defeated only two weeks ago.

The last game was played on the opponent’s turf at Harvard-Westlake, but this time the Wolverines will come to the Thunderdome. The Tribe went wild for the Braves in their last home game against St. Bernard, so fans should expect the same and more tonight.

The Braves had won 62-55 in the first game, and Elzie scored 22 points to lead the Braves to victory.

If the Braves best the Wolverines tonight, they will advance and most likely get a shot at redemption with Corona Centennial for a chance to go to the CIF State Championship game. Fans not attending the game can tune in to Spectrum Sportsnet to watch the action starting at 7:30 pm.

by Marcelles Williams

After a strong performance in pool play in the CIF-SS Open Division Playoffs, the Trinity League Champions are set to take on Corona Centennial, the defending Open Champions, on Saturday at 8:00pm at the Honda Center.

The Bosco Braves just knocked off the number eight high school basketball team in the country, according to Maxpreps. The Harvard Westlake Wolverines came into the matchup with only one loss before meeting the Braves last Tuesday night. This crucial win came in a must win game, as Bosco fell to West Ranch in the first round of pool play.

The win came off of a strong performance by five star sophomore Elzie Harrington who led the Braves with 22 points. Other players also played big roles in the win, like senior Xinyi Li who tied the game at 46 in the 4th quarter with just over four minutes to play after the Braves were down for most of the game.

“We know what we got to do and we just got to execute it, and we’ll be champs,” Elzie Harrington said. “We just want to go out there and prove everybody wrong.”

After going down later in the game to the Wolverines, the Braves went on an 8-1 run to seal the win with buckets coming from junior Jack Turner and sixth man, freshman Brandon McCoy. The 62-55 win broke Harvard Westlake’s 13-game win streak. 

The Braves improved to 26-5 on the year after their win last Friday night at home over St Bernard.

Several Braves stood out in that game, most notably Brandon McCoy, Jack Turner and Elzie Harrington. Brandon McCoy had a great sequence at the end of the game to propel the Braves to victory. The freshman sixth man got a block late in the fourth quarter then topped it off with a dunk to give the Braves a twelve point lead.

“I just have fun out there competing and showing everybody who I am and what I can do,” said Brandon McCoy.

Elzie Harrington and Jack Turner were both consistent throughout the whole game making play after play time and time again. Jack scored 20 points, while Elzie added twelve.

“We’ve been working towards this the whole year, and now that it’s here, we’re going to give it our all,” said Jack. “We’ve been doubted all year; can’t wait to prove them wrong,”

The Braves now have their sights set on Corona Centennial, the top ranked team in the state and a top five team in the nation. This should be a great game, and this year’s Braves are making history, as the only Bosco Basketball team to ever reach the Open Division Finals and the first to win a Trinity League Championship.

This matchup will tip-off at 8:00 pm at the Honda Center and looks to be one of the top games in school history.

by Isaac Mays, Sports Editor

The Bosco Braves Hockey team competed at Honda Center, home of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, on Thursday, January 26th, where they dominated Cathedral Catholic High School.

Cathedral Catholic was formerly the leading Division Two team prior to their matchup against Bosco. After their 4-0 victory, the Braves rank near the top the state for Division Three.

The Braves were able to complete this victory in front of their sister school’s very own Saint Joseph’s Cheerleaders. 

“I think it’s really cool that both members of the JV and varsity cheer team were given the opportunity to come out to support the hockey team. We haven’t had this opportunity in such a long time. It’s exciting to see the game firsthand,” senior Varsity Cheer Captain Patricia Schroeder said.

The Braves executed their victory with impressive plays by juniors Patrick Cech and Sebastian Pribula as well as freshman Kaden Curry. Cech held down the right wing on offense, putting some impressive shots in on the Don’s goalie. Pribula, the Brave’s goalie, had a total shutout with no goals coming to the back of the net. Finally, Curry played physical on the defensive end of the ice.

The 2022-2023 season has been prosperous for the Braves, as they stand at the top of the state. The success in key games, such as a victory over the Damien Spartans, the Pacific Ridge Puffins and fellow Trinity League foe JSerra Catholic. Through this, the Braves have solidified their hopes for playoffs. They are now in the process of gearing up for the road ahead of them.

“Getting the opportunity to play for the Bosco Braves and the organization has been a great experience for me,” said senior Michael Gutierrez. “I will never forget and always remember my senior year with Bosco.”

The coaching staff has played a crucial role in the development of the team overall. Head Coach Tomáš Kapusta hails from Zlín, Czech Republic, where he fostered a love for hockey at a young age. Coach Kapusta has earned two silver medals from World Junior Championships in 1985 and 1987. After that, he would be drafted into the NHL by the Edmonton Oilers based in Alberta, Canada. Finally, he participated in the Olympic Games of 1994, helping the Czech Republic National Team earn Bronze.  

Notably, former Bosco Hockey player and alumnus Emmett Croteau was drafted into the NHL this last year. Croteau was the 162nd draft pick for the Montreal Canadiens, where he plays the position of goaltender.

One of the ways the Bosco team is able to be so successful is the establishment of the team as a club, rather than the typical fashion of registering it as a high school sport. This means that the Braves are able to take on players from neighboring schools without breaking any official CIF rulings. The Braves utilize this to ultimately reinforce their squad, given the hockey culture is not relatively strong in the Los Angeles area.

Long Beach Polytechnic High School senior Jeremy Loosmore is a key left wing for the team. Loosmore values his privilege to play as a member of the Braves because his school lacks an official ice hockey team.

“It is an honor to be a part of such a strong program that develops the team to not only be high caliber players, but also successful men down the road,” Jeremy Loosmore said.

Through grit and determination, the hockey team has put themselves on the map as one of Bosco’s more successful sports. Join and support the Braves on this Friday against Capistrano United at Great Park Ice and Fivepoint Arena in Irvine at 4:30 pm.

by Marcelles Williams

This is the first time the Braves threw on their rugby jerseys since Winter of 2019, in which they made their State Championship run. The squad is eager for their return, as they are no stranger to success on the rugby pitch.

A majority of the Rugby team were a part of this year’s 2022 Football’s National Championship team. Some of these players included sophomore Puka Moe, sophomore Epi Sitanilei and senior Gabriel Burch. This winning mindset has transfered over to the rugby field. Puka thinks that this winning attitude will be a big reason for the success of the team this year.

“Winning is winning, and I expect to do it at everything I do, including rugby and football,” said Puka.

The Braves are a part of the SoCal Interlastic Rugby Federation (SCRIF) league. The competition is fierce, as it includes Servite High School, Warren High School, Mira Costa High School and many more.

The Braves kicked off their season on January 12th at Bosco against the Servite Friars. It was a hard fought game but the Braves were not able to pull off a victory against their Trinity League foe, falling in a 19-12 loss. Even with the Braves coming up short, the team understood that this inaugural game was an indicator to the restart of a great program.

They are currently 2-2 and they believe that by the time the playoffs come, they will be ready to excel at the highest level. As one of the first squads following the pandemic, it is evident to see that the squad is still raw and will need to continue to use its upcoming regular season games to come into form.

Puka, who is one of the top players on the team, believes they will make the playoffs and have a chance to compete for a championship.

“We all believe we are talented and can really do something with rugby, but we do need a little more time because this was the first Bosco Rugby team in a few years.”

The Braves most impressive win took place at Bosco last Thursday. They played the Warren Bears and won in a game where Bosco scored a whopping 52 points against the bears and more than doubling their opponent in points, as Warren scored 21.

One of the senior leaders of the rugby team, Gabriel Burch, is really excited to finally be back on the field for the rugby team this year.

“I’m really excited for this year and can’t wait to see what this season has in store for us,” said Gabriel Burch. “I think people may be a bit surprised by us this year.”

Gabriel is passionate about this team and really embraces the Bosco Brotherhood. He is also super excited to have the program back for his last year at Bosco.

“These guys on the team are my brothers. I’ll do anything for these guys and I think they’ll do the same for me.”

The Rugby’s team’s latest match-up was the Cathedral Catholic Dons of San Diego. The back-to-back SCRIF league champions are top in the state. The Braves put up a fight but fell to the Dons with the final score 26-12 loss.

The Braves next match-up will be this Saturday at Fallbrook High School, as they look to get back into the winning column.

by Ed Crowe 

On Tuesday, the Bosco Braves took on the Servite Friars and defeated them in a 71-6 blowout, making them Trinity League Champions. The favored Braves delivered a strong performance, claiming yet another league title.

It was also Senior Night. The seniors that were recognized included Nicco Ruiz, Mark Ayala, Michael Morales, Michael Barba, Julian Barajas and Nathan Boyce. 

Nathan, who has only been wrestling for one year, had a great match and contributed a decisive win for the Braves. Though brief, Nate cherished his wrestling experience at Bosco. 

“Since my junior year, I have felt welcomed by the other wrestlers as well as coaches and staff. It is a sport I highly recommend for students who want to experience the Bosco brotherhood,” said Nathan. 

With yet another accomplishment under the belt of the wrestling program, Head Coach Jeff Anderson, Class of ‘98, believes that the team showed significant improvement, but he also expressed the proverbial coach’s mantra.

“There is still room for improvement,” Anderson said.

The Bosco Wrestling program, which is now ranked fourteen in the nation per MatScouts rankings, performed fantastically in the Five Counties tournament. This tournament was highly competitive, with 84 teams competing for first place. The Bosco wrestling team scored a tournament high of 186.5 points, firmly securing the spot of first place.

Not only did the wrestlers take home first place, but ten wrestlers placed in the top ten individually. 

In the lower weight classes, freshman Sean Willcox placed second in the 106-pound weight division, freshman Issac Torres placed seventh in the 113-pound weight division, freshman Nathan Carillo placed second in the 120-pound weight division, freshman Tigran Greyan placed fifth in the 132-pound weight division and sophomore Joseph Antonio placed second in 145-pound weight class division. 

“Tigran Greyan has been developing very well. He has taken a couple of tough losses but seems to learn and improve each and every time,” said Coach Anderson.

In the higher weight classes, junior Yazir Tellez placed third in the 152-pound weight division, senior Julian Barajas placed fifth in the 170-pound weight division and senior Mark Ayala placed second in the 195-pound weight division. In addition to these eight wrestlers who placed in the top ten, senior Nicco Ruiz took first place in the 160-pound weight division, while also being named the Middle Weight MVP of the tournament. Sophomore Nicholas Sahakian also took first place in the 220-pound weight class division.

After winning the tournament, Coach Anderson was impressed by the performance each wrestler gave, but he also noticed areas of growth as the team looks ahead to CIF Team Duals. 

“Sometimes they start thinking too much on the mat wanting a more strategic match instead of letting the training take over,” said Coach Anderson.

The Braves have high hopes of showing further growth in upcoming CIF competition.  

By Brett Baligad, Senior Editor, & Isaac Mays, Sports Editor

After a blowout win against Servite High School, Bosco Basketball managed to hold on to a late game thriller in Santa Ana against the “Team In Red,” giving them a share of the top spot in the Trinity League. The victory marked the first time the Braves knocked off the “Team in Red” on their home floor and the first time the “Team in Red” has lost a league home game since 1998.

Last Friday, the Braves hit the road to Orange County to face Trinity League rival, the “Team In Red.” The much anticipated matchup featured at the time a 15-3 Braves squad coming off two commanding wins against Servite High School and San Ysidro High School. Mater Dei came into the matchup with a 13-2 record and a six game winning streak. 

The Braves and the Monarchs have a notorious rivalry across all boys high school sports. The last time the Braves beat the “Team In Red” this year was at the Rose Bowl in the CIF-SS Football Championship, 24-22. With that in mind, the Braves basketball team have had their rivalry matchup circled on their calendars for months.

“We’ve been thinking about that game all year,” said sophomore guard Elzie Harrington. “Everything we did leading up to that game, we just told ourselves that we could beat them, and we thought that it would be an upset if we lost.”

Early on in the game, the Braves found themselves trading buckets to keep themselves competitive. It would be sophomore Kade Bonam’s 11-point first quarter coupled by three shots behind the arc that would help push the Braves to a 19-19 first quarter. Bonam stands at 6’ 7” and weighs in at 205 pounds, and with a high level of post work, Bonam confidently uses his frame to dominate the interior.

With zero points coming off the bench during the entirety of the game, the Braves would begin to slow down heading into halftime. Paired with an impressive 13 point quarter from the home team’s freshman Luke Barnett, the Braves found themselves trailing 30-37 heading into the locker room at the half.

“It’s hard playing at Mater Dei. it’s like everything is against you there with their home court advantage. You’re going to get a slow spurt in the game, but we stuck together and got through it,” said junior guard and Loyola University of Chicago commit Jack Turner.

With the leadership of Head Coach Matt Dunn and the support of sophomore Elzie Harrington’s 14-point second half, the Braves forced a late 63-57 lead. Harrington’s ability to get teammates involved once again demonstrated leadership to show why he deserves the number one ranking in California and twelfth in the nation for the class of 2025.

“I’ve been trying to find different ways to contribute. We have people that can score. So yes, I want to shoot, but I know I can get rebounds and can I assist my teammates,” said Elzie Harrington.

Through a few late misses by the Braves and a plethora of free throws by the “Team In Red”, the home team went on a run to push the game to 63-63 down the stretch. It would be a knockdown jumper by Harrington and late game free throws by Turner, who scored 15 points in the game, resulting in the Braves taking the 67-64 final score. Even with two solid late game looks by the “Team In Red,” the Braves defense stood tall to hold off their greatest rival.

“At the end of the game, the team got the ball in my hands to shoot the free throws. They had confidence in me, and I had confidence in myself, so I just knocked them down,” said Turner. 

Last Friday’s historic win gave Bosco co-ownership for the top spot of the Trinity League with Santa Margarita. The Brave’s matchup against Santa Margarita is slated for next Wednesday in the Thunderdome at 7:30 pm.

“I think we can go undefeated in the league because we won that game at Mater Dei by 3 and we didn’t even play the best we could,” said senior guard and captain Delyle Williams. “We had a lot of mistakes that we made and if we just cleaned those up I feel like we could beat anyone”.

by Ed Crowe 

Ranging from the freshman to senior wrestlers, each member of Bosco Wrestling has committed their all this year in hopes of earning team Trinity League and CIF titles, as the Braves have placed in each of their non-league tournaments ahead of Trinity League competition.

One wrestler in particular, senior Nicco Ruiz, has attained great wisdom and a love for the sport since he started wrestling at the age of six. Recently, Nicco took home the Sonora High School Tournament of Champions and Clovis High School Doc Buchanan Wrestling Invitational gold medals in the 160-pound weight class. Nicco was also awarded tournament MVP at both events. 

At the Sonora TOC, three more Braves took home gold: freshman Nathan Carrillo in the 120-pound weight class division, sophomore Nicholas Sahakian in the 220-pound weight class and, finally, senior Mark Ayala in the 195-pound weight class.

After winning an individual CIF State title last year and after a couple first place finishes in tournaments this season, Nicco is obsessed with winning state again this year. However, he has many other goals for his team, such as winning CIF State with the Braves’ team as a whole, and despite being committed to wrestle next year at Arizona State University, Nicco is far from complacent. 

“This commitment makes me want to be better than I am at the moment,” Nicco said. 

Another Brave wrestler to keep on the radar is junior Grigor Cholakyan, who is verbally committed to Stanford University and has a great opportunity, like Nicco, to qualify for CIF State.

As an upperclassman, Grigor believes that one of his advantages this year is his sheer strength, which in the wrestling world is a major advantage when stepping on the mat. Not only is his strength an advantage, but Grigor has also attained massive amounts of agility as well as experience from his eight years of wrestling experience. Though he puts in the work himself, Grigor credits his improvements and successes to his family.

“They all sacrifice so much for me to be at this school and to do what I love to succeed,” said Grigor.  

In terms of making State this year, Grigor believes he can take home gold if he is confident within himself, does the little things right every day and takes the State tournament one match at a time, as he slowly prowls to the title.

Grigor also has high hopes for his team because of how skilled and trained they are, but more importantly, they have their minds set on the prize, and if they can keep it like that, Bosco Wrestling will be unstoppable as they approach Trinity League competition and CIF playoffs.