DOWNEY – The St. John Bosco football team will unofficially kick off their 2017 football season when they scrimmage against Long Beach Wilson at St. John Bosco on Thursday, August 17. 

The Braves will officially kick off their 2017 schedule when they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida on Friday, August 25. In week two, the Braves will play Garces Memorial High School at Mission Viejo on Saturday, September 2.

In week 3, St. John Bosco plays Chaminade at El Camino College on Friday, September 8. In week four, the Braves will play Dorsey at Mission Viejo on Saturday, September 16 and in week five St. John Bosco will conclude their preseason schedule when they play St. John’s College High School at St. John’s High College High School in Washington D.C. on Saturday, September 23. 

The Braves will observe their bye week after the St. John’s College High School game. St. John Bosco will use this week off to rest players and get injured players well.

In week six, St. John Bosco will play Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College on Friday, October 6. In week seven the Braves will play Mater Dei at El Camino College on Friday October 13. In week eight St. John Bosco will play Santa Margarita at El Camino College on Friday, October 20. In week nine, the Braves will play Servite at Cerritos College on Friday, October 27 and in week ten St. John Bosco will play JSerra at El Camino College on Friday, November 3. 

The Division One playoffs begin the following week and the state championship game is scheduled for Saturday, December 16 at Sacramento State Stadium.

St. John Bosco finished last season with an overall record of 13-2 and were 4-1 in Trinity League play. The Braves swept through their playoff bracket and claimed the 2016 state title by defeating Concord De La Salle 56-33 in the state title game. 

The Braves finished the season ranked number five in the Xcellent poll, number two in the national poll and number one in California. 

Coach Jason Negro, his staff and players are all looking forward to the start of the 2017 football season.   

■ The 2017 summer at Downey High School has been a busy one as summer school classes, construction and sports practices are all in full swing. 

Cross country athletes can be seen running in the morning towards Rio San Gabriel Park, soccer players can be seen doing drills on the soccer/football field and boys’ basketball is in the gym running up and down the court. 

Both boy and girl water polo players can also be seen practicing in the pool before some players have to leave for their summer school classes which start at 8 a.m. 

You can also see the girls’ lacrosse team on the football field at 10:30 in the morning as well as the different levels of the football team practicing in the afternoons. Boys’ tennis can also be seen on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evenings with the sound of tennis balls being hit back and forth. 

Cheer and Dance are also on campus working on their routines and steps. Each sport’s team practices at different times and observe(s) their C.I.F. mandated “dead periods” at different times so each program has adequate time and space to practice. The same routines are going on at cross-town rival Warren as they are also conducting summer school classes and getting through construction. The new pool at Warren is looking better and better each day.

As summer continues the fall will get closer and all of these teams who are busy practicing right now will soon be competing in games and competitions. Some teams will win league titles while others will not. 

This is where the 2017-18 athletic school year begins. Coaches and players are all looking forward to their respective seasons and competing to be the best at whatever sport that may be. 

■ The Warren High School girls’ wrestling program continues to work hard this summer. This is the second year for girls’ wrestling at Warren. 

Last season the Lady Bears had 57 wrestlers participate in their program. Many wrestlers were juniors and seniors who decided to wrestle because it was new and exciting. Others joined for a variety of reasons. 

The Lady Bears competed in tournaments at Esperanza, Bishop Amat and South Hills and several wrestlers performed well. Last season Warren had two wrestlers place 5th in C.I.F. competition. Junior Jenny Benitez (sophomore last season) placed at 170 pounds and sophomore Micaela Eduardo (freshman last season) placed at 182 pounds, respectively. Joining Benitez and Eduardo as wrestlers to watch out for this season are juniors Coralia Montalves (112) and Lupe Moreno (125).

This summer 15 Lady Bears have been attending daily practices to improve their skills. Several other Lady Bear wrestlers are in other fall sports, such as cross country, while others are taking summer school classes. Warren will wrestle cross-town rival Downey this season in a dual meet at Warren during the league season.

This year’s group of wrestlers are primarily freshmen and sophomores with a few juniors and seniors mixed in. The girls have been practicing from 8-10:30 a.m. Monday-Thursday. Workouts began Monday, June 5 and will conclude on Thursday, July 13. Wrestlers will take their C.I.F. mandated “dead period” after July 13 and before fall classes begin in mid-August. 

Head coach Tim Brogden, assistant coaches Ryan Medina and Ruben Gutierrez and their lady wrestlers are all looking forward to the start of the 2017-18 wrestling season.

■ The Warren High School boys’ wrestling program is working hard this summer. 

Summer workouts began on Monday, June 5 and will conclude next Thursday, July 13. Warren will observe the C.I.F. mandated “dead period” after July 13 and before fall classes start in mid-August. Practices have been held Monday-Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. in the wrestling room above the football stadium on the campus at Warren High School.

Summer workouts begin with weight training between 8-8:45 a.m. followed by various drills, technique building activities and live wrestling. Assistant coaches Ryan Medina and Ruben Gutierrez said that there have been 35 wrestlers participating in the summer camp getting better each day.

Some Warren wrestlers to keep an eye on for the upcoming season are junior Carlos Vasquez (106), sophomore Joshua Mariscal (106), senior Raul Rojas (113), junior Sal Alvarez (120), senior Joshua Mendez (126) and senior Matthew Lopez (132).

Other wrestlers to keep an eye on include senior Alan Elizalde (138), senior Allan Dillon (145) and junior Carlos Durazo (152). All wrestlers will return next season with more experience and skill under their belts. 

Coach Brogden, his staff and wrestlers are all looking forward to the start 2017-18 wrestling season.