Prep notebook: SLO High tennis standout Tori Troesch is headed to Portland

Just like anyone else, Tori Troesch wants to keep her last high school tennis season going as long as possible. No matter when it comes to an end, though, her playing days won’t be over.

Troesch, a San Luis Obispo High senior, recently committed to the University of Portland.

The Pilots, a West Coast Conference program, went 10-13 overall last season, with three of their defeats coming against top-50 Division I teams and two others against Pac-12 opponents.

“It’s a really challenging conference, so it’s going to really improve my game,” Troesch said. “And the academics at the University of Portland are well known and very challenging, so that’s also something I was drawn to.”

Portland is led by 19th-year head coach Susie Campbell-Gross, a former All-American at Oklahoma and a two-time WCC Coach of the Year.

“I really love the coach,” Troesch said. “She’s a really great person and instructor who really knows what she’s talking about.” Troesch is ranked by TennisRecruiting.net as the No. 48 player in the Southwest among her class, and is No. 61 in the USTA’s Southern California singles rankings.

In addition to thanking Tigers coach Gary Etheredge, Troesch also credited former Cal Poly player Paige Esparza, recently retired Mustangs head coach Hugh Bream and SLO Country Club head pro Bill Dunkle for mentoring her over the years.

Last season, she won her first PAC 7 singles championship, a title that in the previous two years had been won by teammate and good friend Abigail Will, who’s also a senior.

Both were key to the Tigers’ memorable run to the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 team championship match in 2009.

The only league losses this year for San Luis Obispo (13-3, 9-2) have come to Arroyo Grande (20-1, 11-0), the division’s fourth-ranked team. “We have a great team this year,” Troesch said. “It’s a good way to end it.”

This year’s PAC 7 individual tournament will get under way with prelims at 9 a.m. Thursday, lasting to about 4:30 p.m., before Friday’s finals, for which the start time is yet to be determined.

The host site will be San Luis Obispo High, a change the Tigers have been looking forward to, as the home court rotates around the league on a yearly basis.

“We were lucky for it to be here for our senior year,” Troesch said.

In the postseason, Troesch and Will are planning to go out playing as a doubles team, she said.

The Southern Section’s individual playoffs open Nov. 18, well after the beginning of team play Nov. 8.

BOYS BASKETBALL Allmon reportedly commitsto Cal Poly

According to a series of tweets late Monday night, Mission Prep senior center Zach Allmon verbally committed to Cal Poly.

Bob Gottlieb, who runs the Branch West Recruiting Assistance Service, posted on his Twitter.com page that Allmon had chosen the Mustangs, and also visited Sacramento State and had interest from UC Santa Barbara.

Gottlieb’s post was then retweeted by the Mission Prep Athletics account.

Also Monday night, Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero tweeted “Happy Halloween,” adding that he had gotten “a nice treat” in the form of a phone call from a 2012 prospect who made a verbal commitment. There were no specifics, though, as NCAA rules don’t allow coaches to publicly comment on specific recruits before they’re signed.

The 6-foot-7 Allmon was an all-San Luis Obispo County first-team selection by The Tribune after his junior year, when he averaged 12.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the Royals, who advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division 5AA playoffs.

WRESTLING Three former Greyhounds at Cal Poly

A trio of former Atascadero High wrestlers opened this season on the roster at Cal Poly.

All three, Michael Clemmensen (at 125 pounds), Elijah Jackson (157) and Paul Woodman (165 or 174) are true freshmen.

Clemmensen placed sixth as a senior at the state championship meet at 103 pounds, while Jackson finished fifth at 160.

The Mustangs, ranked No. 23 in the country by Wrestling Insider News magazine, opened practice two weeks ago projecting Britain Longmire to start at 125 pounds, either Travis Rasmussen or Travis Gallegos to start at 157, either Steven Vasquez or Dominic Kastl to start at 165, and Ryan DesRoches to start at 174.

DesRoches is ranked 15th nationally at his weight class, while Vasquez is No. 24 in his.

Cal Poly, under first-year head coach Brendan Buckley, will compete at the Cal State Bakersfield-hosted Roadrunner Open starting at 9 a.m. Saturday before holding a scrimmage in Mott Gym at 1 p.m. Nov. 13.

GIRLS GOLF Southern Section Northern Regional individual tournament

Nipomo’s Sara Clark shot an 11-over 83 on Monday at River Ridge in Oxnard to lead four San Luis Obispo County players.

Arroyo Grande’s Anna Zhang shot an 85, Paso Robles’ Ashley Levanduski carded an 89, and Morro Bay’s Gina Wongwatcharanon had a 96.

The cut for the top 45 players to move on was 77. Marissa Gutierrez of St. Joseph shot a 72 to lead all Central Coast players.