Northside’s Morioka has golden touch

Updated: May 5, 2011 6:32PM

Wesley Morioka is a pretty good player in the real world, but he is a master in the unreal.

Morioka is a 6-1 junior setter/right-side hitter at Northside. ­Before last weekend’s Northside tournament, he had compiled 145 kills, 170 assists, 27 aces, five blocks, 14 block assists and 82 digs for the 14-8 Mustangs.

Those are enviable numbers for any high school athlete. But last summer, Morioka beat out thousands of competitors from throughout the country to win the senior division of the 2010 Pokemon Video Game National Championships at Indianapolis.

Pokemon is the second-most successful and lucrative video game franchise in the world, spawning a merchandising empire that ­includes anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books and other media.

Morioka discovered Pokemon more than 10 years ago after a visit to Texas. His cousins gave him a Game Boy as a parting gift, and one of the games he bought to play on the unit was Pokemon.

He has been hooked ever since. But Pokemon still takes a back seat to volleyball.

“I missed the national Pokemon tournament in 2006 and 2009 because of club volleyball tournaments,” Morioka said. “I did go to the world Pokemon championships last summer in Hawaii after winning nationals. I did not do too well. But going to Hawaii was a nice perk.”

Morioka has played volleyball since seventh grade. During his club season, he makes the long commute from the North Side to Aurora, where he is one of the primary outside hitters on the Sports Performance 17 Mizuno team that has qualified for nationals this summer.

“Wes is a excellent all-around player,” Sports Performance boys director Bryan Johnwick said. “This is evident by his ability to play multiple positions. He is one of the primary outside hitters on our 17 Mizuno team, while at Northside Prep he runs a 6-2 offense as a setter and right-side hitter.

“He possesses a solid foundation of ball control with passing and defense, and strong net play with creative attacking. He also possesses all the intangibles of a successful athlete and great teammate — a high volleyball IQ, commitment, dedication, work ethic and leadership. The list goes on.”

Morioka and teammate Luke Sobieraj are two reasons why Northside is one of the top volleyball programs in the city. On a team that has few club players, coach Nicole Flores plays the duo opposite each other and lets them “bang away.”

“Wesley is consistently focused on becoming the best player he can be,” she said. “He works hard and he uses practice to better himself and the team. Physically, he is a great player, and the other players, especially the seniors who don’t get a lot of playing time, look up to him.”

Just don’t expect Morioka, an 4.0-plus student with varied interests that include government, to show a lot of emotion on the court.

“He’s not one of those ‘Look at me, look at me’ kind of players,” Flores said. “He is able to lead and help his team by being silent. He leads by example. He is also knowledgeable about the other positions.”

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