Prep column: Credit ‘Super’ assist

Barry Faulkner

For Corona del Mar High senior wrestler Brad Sperber, joining his

father in the Superdome for Sunday’s Super Bowl XXXVI turned out to be

anything but the Big Easy.

But, thanks to the gracious cooperation of Pacific Coast League

coaches, Sperber returned from New Orleans Monday night with a lifetime

memory.

Sperber’s father Darrell learned in January he had landed two tickets

to the big game. Sperber’s mother, Pam, convinced her husband that Brad,

a starting offensive lineman for the Sea Kings last fall, should be his

guest.

But they quickly realized a potential conflict with the PCL individual

finals, which concluded Saturday at Costa Mesa High. Brad Sperber

notified CdM Coach Gary Almquist that his flight for New Orleans would be

leaving John Wayne Airport at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Almquist shared this

information with his coaching colleagues.

Rather than draw the weight class for the first title match at random,

which high school teams have done all year, league coaches agreed to let

Sperber contest his 189-pound final first.

Almquist said Sperber’s final, which he lost, 8-7, began shortly after

1 p.m. and Pam Sperber reported he was able to make the short trip to the

airport well before 2 p.m., enabling him to easily make his flight.

“It was the chance of a lifetime for Brad and we’re very appreciative

the coaches allowed him to wrestle first,” Pam said Monday. “I talked to

(Brad and Darrell) on the phone today and they said they had a fantastic

time.”

Sperber’s teammates and coaches had a pretty good day of it themselves

Saturday, winning three individual titles, with five runners-up and four

third-place finishers.

And while their team point total of 160 was easily better than

University (142), the Trojans retained the title of PCL champions, since

the league bases its championship solely on dual meets.

Since Uni defeated CdM in their head-to-head meeting, the Trojans can

post the banner as league champions.

Almquist said most leagues factor in the league finals with dual meets

to determine a champion and this unique system is something he will try

to change with a new configuration of schools in the PCL next year.

CdM junior Jeremy Warner (118) claimed his second straight league

title, while Steve Shipman (215) and Steven Russell (heavyweight) also

emerged victorious.

Almquist said Russell, a two-time All-PCL offensive tackle in

football, might have pulled off his most impressive move last week in

practice.

“I tackled him on the mat and I wound up laying next to him, with him

on his side,” Almquist recalled. “He put his right hand on my stomach and

lifted me up into the air. He bench pressed me with one arm. You know how

you would dangle an infant? He had me dangling like that for a second. I

was thinking to myself, ‘This can’t happen.’ ”

Hats off to Louis Valdes, the father of three boys who have played

several sports with distinction through the years at Estancia High.

The elder Valdes filed a police report Friday night, after his Costa

Mesa home was pelted with ribs and other food items by vandals, who sped

off before they could be identified.

The incident, most assuredly connected with the annual rib dinner

Friday, which fetes the winning school after the final game of the annual

Estancia-Costa Mesa crosstown series in boys and girls basketball,

football and baseball, marks the continuation of a recent trend of

delivering leftover rib bones to the rival school’s campus, or even some

individual athletes’ homes.

Valdes, who told me he is seeking merely accountability, believes,

correctly, that this aspect of an otherwise healthy and respectful

rivalry has gotten completely out of hand.

The answer, however, is not to discontinue the annual dinner, paid for

by super booster Jim Scott.

Prohibiting future participants from leaving the restaurant with any

food items would eliminate the problem and continue to reward those who

have accepted the honor with, well, honor.

Finally, a fond farewell and heartiest best wishes to Laguna Hills

High boys basketball coach Dave Brown, who coached his final game against

a Newport-Mesa opponent Friday at Newport Harbor.

Brown, whose players displayed the determination and execution that

have become trademarks of his teams, upset the Sailors, 49-45.

It was victory No. 525 for Brown, who spent 20 seasons as head coach

at Fountain Valley, before moving to Laguna Hills 13 seasons ago.

Brown, for the last several years years the Hawks boys athletic

director, said he will retire in the spring and move to Portland, Ore.

You won’t find a finer gentleman or a more respected coach in Orange

County. And, sadly, you won’t find him here for much longer.