The high school girls wrestling season came to a close a few levels below previous seasons but the lack of a state-qualifying tournament and state championship event did little to diminish the enthusiasm displayed on the mat at last Saturday’s San Diego Section one-divisional championship tournament at Santana High School.
An entry field of 137 wrestlers representing 45 schools across San Diego and Imperial counties showed the sport is still alive and healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brawley won the team title with 161 points while Mira Mesa finished second with 103 points.
Clairemont’s Gabriella Rine recorded the most pins in least time with four falls in 4:35 while Poway’s Alejandra Valdivizio recorded the fastest pin in five seconds.
In between, the Metro Conference recorded a rather stalwart showing in the last high school girls wrestling event of the season.
Metro tournament champion Olympian tied Valley Center for fourth place in the team standings with 84 points — just one point behind third place Imperial.
Eastlake finished in a tie for sixth place with Grossmont and Steele Canyon with 36 points.
Individual weight class champions? South County teams had those, too.
Mar Vista’s Anya Rodriguez defeated Otay Ranch’s Kayla Tolentino by a 7-3 decision in an all-Metro matchup to capture the 123-pound title while Olympian’s Angelina Leal out-pointed El Cajon Valley’s Valeria Rocha Ibarra, 10-7, to win the 237-pound heavyweight class.
Rodriguez recorded three pins in her four matches, including two first-period falls, while Leal had two pins in three trips to the mat.
Tolentino, the outstanding lower weight wrestler at the Metro Conference tournament pinned her way to the finals with three consecutive falls — all in the first period.
Overall, South County teams advanced six wrestlers to the championship round.
- Eastlake’s Isabella Lamadrid finished second at 113 pounds following a 5-0 loss to Brawley’s Arainna Gonzales.
- Olympian’s Celina Esquer finished second at 139 pounds following a loss by 3:44 fall to Mira Mesa’s Kyla Pattillio.
- Olympian’s Ayleen Gomez finished second at 145 pounds following a loss by a 20-second pin to Brawley’s Savannah Gomez.
Lamadrid had two pins while Esquer and Gomez both had one pin.
“We are very proud of where our wrestlers finished in the CIF tournament,” Olympian coach Jay Fabunan said. “Despite the short season and many members of last year’s team opting out of joining due to COVID concerns, we still managed to finish fourth overall and second among Division I schools.
“We didn’t have any senior returners and we relied heavily on the leadership thrust upon juniors like Aunica Vargas, Angelina Leal and Celina Esquer, who did an amazing job in keeping the spirits up in the wrestling room.
“It was amazing to have three finalists and we are so proud of Angelina for repeating as CIF champion by defeating a tough rival like Rocha of El Cajon Valley, who seemed to always have her number in previous matches.”
The Metro Conference recorded at least one place-finisher in 10 of the 14 weight classes and had multiple place-winners in three weight classes.
Third-place finishers included Chula Vita’s Paris Ornelas at 145 pounds and Eastlake’s Brooke Klomp at 172 pounds. Klomp finished as the most outstanding upper weight wrestler at the preceding Metro Conference finals.
Fourth-place finishers included Castle Park’s Jasmin Rodriguez at 103 pounds, Olympian’s Grace Neiman at 118 pounds, San Ysidro’s Alexa Rosales at 128 pounds, Chula Vista’s Stacey Alvarado at 162 pounds and Montgomery’s Evelynn Coronado at 237 pounds.
Rosales finished 3-2 with one pin while CP’s Rodriguez finished 2-2 with two pins. Neiman also recorded two falls.
Ornelas finished 3-1 in her weight class while Alvarado recorded two pins in her five matches.
Coronado finished 2-2 with one pin.
“The Metro conference was a lot smaller in numbers this year but we always have tough wrestlers,” Fabunan said. “All of the coaches worked really hard to keep our girls motivated this season to not lose hope as conditions changed weekly and find them opportunities to compete. The Metro Conference is a force in girls wrestling in the county and congratulations to all of our placers.”
Names of the game
Olympian brought 10 wrestlers to the tournament and had four record place-finishes. Also competing for the Lady Titans were Mia Zazueta (108), Alissandra Bernal (113), Isabella King (123), Precious Randolph (128), Makenna Harbin (133) and Katherine Huslin (152).
Harbin had three pins in her five matches while Zazueta and Bernal both had one pin.
Hilltop entered six wrestlers: Jo-Marie Aguilera (108), Samantha Velazquez (123), Isabelle Meza (133), Camilia Rascon (145), Debora Velazquez (162) and Martina Rodriguez (172).
Meza recorded two pins while Samantha Velazquez notched one pin.
Eastlake had five entrants. Also competing for the Titans were Kamryn Jimenez (118), Olivia Gaskill (162), Nadia Taft (191) and Isabella Owens (237).
Chula Vista entered three wrestlers and had two earn place-finishes. Doris Moore also competed for the Spartans at 123 pounds.
Montgomery also had three wrestlers compete. Alexis Cervantes and Helen Troung joined Coronado on the mat.
Troung had one pin.
Among Castle Park’s three entrants were Milagros Aguilar (172) and Shazia Chama (237).
Bonita Vista entered two wrestlers: Tiana Alanis and Kanoe Lopez-Griggs. Lopez-Griggs finished 3-2 with three pins in advancing to the consolation semifinals.
Mar Vista had two wrestlers. Besides Anya Rodriguez, Tavia Osthimer competed at 133 pounds with one pin.
San Ysidro had two wrestlers, as Andrea Campos joined Rosales in the tournament.
Sweetwater’s lone entrant included Emily Seprapio.
Mar Vista finished 10th in the team standings.
SAN DIEGO SECTION GIRLS WRESTLING
CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
TOP INDIVIDUALS
103 POUNDS
- Kailey Smith (Granite Hills); 2. Jaylee Cazares (Brawley); 3. Sandra Arguelles (Imperial); Jasmin Rodriguez (Castle Park)
Championship: Smith pinned Cazares, 0:54
Third place: Arguelles dec. Rodriguez, 8-6
108 POUNDS
- Birta McCaskill (Mira Mesa); 2. Mia Navarro (Brawley), Isabel Cigarroa (Imperial), Alyssa Cazares (Southwest)
Championship: McCaskill dec. Navarro, 7-2
Third place: Cigarroa dec. Cazares, 7-1
113 POUNDS
- Arianna Gonzales (Brawley), 2. Isabella Lamadrid (Eastlake), 3. Gabriella Rine (Clairemont); 4. Audrey Tordilla (Del Norte)
Championship: Gonzales dec. Lamadrid, 5-0
Third place: Rine pinned Tordilla, 3:00
118 POUNDS
- Karen Salais (Calexico), 2. Helena Insko (Mira Mesa), 3. Iris Meono (Imperial), 4. Grace Neiman (Olympian)
Championship: Salais pinned Insko, 5:44
Third place: Meono pinned Neiman, 2:38
123 POUNDS
- Anya Rodriguez (Mar Vista), 2. Kayla Tolentino (Otay Ranch), 3. Carla Leon (San Diego), 4. Kayla Edwards (RBV)
Championship: Rodriguez dec. Tolentino 7-3
Third place: Leon dec, Edwards, 6-0
128 POUNDS
- Ariah Barragan (Imperial), 2. Chloe Tolentino (West Hills), Alejandra Valdivizio (Poway), Alexa Rosales (San Ysidro)
Championship: Barragan pinned Tolentino, 2:25
Third place: Valdivizio pinned Rosales, 2:25
133 POUNDS
- Annabel He (Rancho Bernardo), 2. Sarah Stevens (Grossmont), 3. Rachel Hernandez (Valley Center), Anastasia Tolentino (Coastal Academy)
Championship: He dec. Stevens, 7-0
Third place: Hernandez won by no contest over Tolentino
139 POUNDS
- Kyla Pattillo (Mira Mesa), 2. Celina Esquer (Olympian), 3. Alexandra May (El Camino), 4. Elizabeth LeNoir (Steele Canyon)
Championship: Pattillo pinned Esquer, 3:44
Third place: May pinned LeNoir, 0:42
145 POUNDS
- Savannah Gomez (Brawley), 2. Ayleen Gomez (Olympian), 3. Paris Ornelas (Chula Vista), 4. Kahmela Kaith Solano (Mira Mesa)
Championship: S.Gomez pinned A.Gomez, 0:20
Third place: Ornelas won by medical forfeit over Kaith Solano
152 POUNDS
- Kayley Garcia (Vista), 2. Shyla Cooper (Serra), 3. Iris Diaz (Valley Center), 4. Madison Summers (El Camino)
Championship: Garcia pinned Cooper, 1:50
Third place: Diaz pinned Summers, 2:59
162 POUNDS
- Savannah Mefford (Valley Center), 2. Yisel Arias (Brawley), 3. Yessenia Sanchez (Carlsbad), Stacey Alvarado (Chula Vista)
Championship: Mefford pinned Arias, 0:47
Third place: Sanchez dec. Alvarado, 3-0
172 POUNDS
- Savannah Mefford (Valley Center), 2. Yisel Arias (Brawley), 3. Yessenia Sanchez (Carlsbad), Stacey Alvarado (Chula Vista)
Championship: Mefford pinned Arias, 0:47
Third place: Sanchez dec. Alvarado, 3-0
191 POUNDS
- Foshay Mallard (Crawford), 2. Sierra Guajardo (Brawley), 3. Kiley McClain (RBV), 4. Carmen Gonzalez (Southwest)
Championship: Mallard pinned Guajardo, 3:15
Third place: McClain pinned Gonzalez, 4:30
237 POUNDS
- Angelina Leal (Olympian), 2. Valeria Richa (El Cajon Valley), 3. Faith Manis (Steele Canyon), 4. Evelynn Coronado (Montgomery)
Championship: Leal dec. Rocha Ibarra, 10-7
Third place: Manis pinned Coronado, 1:20
TOP TEAMS
Points: 1. Brawley 161, 2. Mira Mesa 103, 3. Imperial 85, 4. (tie) Olympian, Valley Center 84, 6. (tie) Eastlake, Grossmont, Steele Canyon 36, 9. Rancho Buena Vista 33, 10. Mar Vista 29, 11. Calexico 29, 12. (tie) Chula Vista, Clairemont, Granite Hills, Rancho Bernardo 26, 16. West Hills 25, 17. Crawford 24, 18. Vista 23.5, 19. Carlsbad 23, 20. (tie) El Camino, Otay Ranch, Southwest 22,
23. Poway 19, 24. (tie) Del Norte, El Cajon Valley 18, 26, Coastal Academy 17, 27. San Diego 15, 28. Serra 14, 29. Castle Park 13, 30. (tie) Montgomery, San Ysidro 12, 32. (tie) Bonita Vista, Central Union, Hilltop 20, 35. Mount Miguel 9, 36. Torrey Pines 8, 37. (tie) La Costa Canyon, Westview 7, 39. (tie) Guajome Park Academy, Holtville 6, 41. Point Loma 2, 42 (tie), Hoover, San Marcos, Santana, Sweetwater 0
