The inaugural Metro Conference girls wrestling championship tournament took place last Friday at Montgomery High School. A total of 73 wrestlers representing all 13 member schools competed.
It was a history-making event — one punctuated by Olympian High School as the tournament’s first team champion.
“This is fabulous,” Olympian head coach Chandra Peterson said. “These girls here wrestled their butts off. They practiced hard and it showed. There is where we wanted to be a week before CIF.”
The Lady Eagles will be out to add another championship trophy to their collection by topping the competition at Saturday’s Division I finals at San Ysidro High School.
Peterson has high hopes for her team.
“This is the best team we’ve had at the school,” Peterson said. “We have three seniors We have a young team. I don’t think this is going be our last (conference championship).”
Olympian tallied 175 points to top the team standings. Hilltop finished second with 131 points, followed by Eastlake in third place with 118 points and San Ysidro in fourth place with 95 points.
Montgomery finished in fifth place with 68 points while Otay Ranch finished in sixth place with 64 points. Castle Park finished in seventh place with 46 points, followed by Chula Vista in eighth place with 33 points and Mar Vista in ninth place with 22 points.
Bonita Vista finished in 10th place with 18 points while Sweetwater finished in 11th place with three points.
Mater Dei Catholic and Southwest did not score points in the tournament.
Eight different schools recorded individual weight class champions while wrestlers from nine schools were represented in the finals.
Eastlake led the field with four individual champions: Madelyn Mones at 103 pounds, Sabrin Farha at 152 pounds, Brooke Klomp at 162 pounds and Ciera Fletcher at 191 pounds.
Klomp recorded three pins, including falls of 10 and 50 seconds, in her three matches.
Mones, Farha and Fletcher all recorded two pins. Mones pinned her semifinal-round opponent in nine seconds.
Olympian recorded three weight class champions: Yesenia DeGuire at 113 pounds, Celina Esquer at 139 pounds and Angelina Leal at 237 pounds.
DeGuire recorded two first-period pins; Leal also scored two falls in as many trips to the mat.
San Ysidro netted two individual champions: Sandy Luevano at 108 pounds and Desirae Ferguson at 123 pounds.
Ferguson had two first-period pins while Luevano pinned her finals opponent in 1:17.
Five schools each had one champion: Otay Ranch’s Kayla Tolentino (118 pounds), Mar Vista’s Anya Rodriguez (128 pounds), Hilltop’s Nahdia Barrientos, Castle Park’s Ayianna Fernandez (145 pounds) and Montgomery’s Jasmin Ballesteros (172 pounds).
Rodriguez, Barrientos and Ballesteros are all returning state meet qualifiers.
Barrientos and Ballesteros paced the group with three pins while Rodriguez had two pins on the evening.
Fernandez recorded pins of 37 and 39 seconds while tacking on a 14-2 major decision.
Tolentino recorded a 56-second pin in the semifinals and a 16-5 major decision in the championship round.
What did it feel like to become a part of history as a member of the Metro tournament’s first class of champions?
“Amazing,” said Leal, who improved her record to 8-1 with a goal of winning a CIF title. “I had to practice after practice and practice during the offseason.”
Montgomery’s Jasmine Ballesteros, left, and Olympian’s Yesenia DeGuire earned awards as the tournament’s outstanding wrestlers. Photos by Phillip Brents
DeGuire earned the MVP lower weight award while Ballesteros was selected as the MVP upper weight.
Metro coaches seemed enthused by the turnout.
“It’s pretty impressive,” Eastlake coach D.J. Mancillas said. “This is obviously the first year for this tournament. This year we had four full teams to conduct dual meets.”
Eastlake, Olympian, Hilltop and San Ysidro competed head-to-head, with Hilltop defeating Olympian, 43-33, to win the dual league championship.
Mancillas believes the local teams are strong enough to contend for CIF championships — Olympian in Division I and Hilltop in Division II.
But the competition is getting tougher. Girls wrestling has expanded not only in the Metro Conference but sectionwide.
While the Lady Eagles Invitational hosted by Olympian on Dec. 7 attracted 172 entrants and the Queen of the Lake tournament hosted by Eastlake on Jan. 4 drew 216 entrants, the San Pasqual Ladies Invitational on Jan. 11 attracted more than 300 female grapplers.
There are hopes the sport will continue to grow in stature – and participation numbers.
Metro Conference Girls Wrestling Championship Tournament
Jan. 31 at Montgomery High School
Team standings
Points: 1. Olympian 175; 2. Hilltop 131; 3. Eastlake 118; 4. San Ysidro 95; 5. Montgomery 68; 6. Otay Ranch 64; 7. Castle Park 46; 8. Chula Vista 33; 9. Mar Vista 22; 10. Bonita Vista 18; 11. Sweetwater 3. No score: Mater Dei Catholic, Southwest
Top Individuals
103 Pounds
Championship: Madelyn Mones (Eastlake) pinned Alina Carino (Otay Ranch) 5:53
Third place: Crystal Riley (Olympian) pinned Zoe Fuller (Montgomery) 0:43
108 Pounds
Championship: Sandy Luevano (San Ysidro) pinned Valerie Gurule-Metzig (Hilltop) 1:17
Third place: Carlye MacPherson (Chula Vista) won by 12-4 major decision over Alyssa-Joy Damaso (Olympian)
113 Pounds
Championship: Yesenia DeGuire (Olympian) pinned Isabella Lamadrid (Eastlake) 0:54
Third place: Isabella Gurule-Metzig pinned Jasmin Rodriguez (Castle Park) 1:43
118 Pounds
Championship: Kayla Tolentino (Otay Ranch) won by 16-5 major decision over Anahlia Flores (Montgomery)
Third place: Isabella King (Olympian) won by 10-5 decision over Hope Pitsenberger (Hilltop)
123 Pounds
Championship: Desirae Ferguson (San Ysidro) pinned Blayne Lopez-Griggs (Bonita Vista) 1:56
Third place: Makenna Harbin (Olympian) won by 9-6 decision over Samantha Velazquez (Hilltop)
128 Pounds
Championship: Anya Rodriguez (Mar Vista) pinned Katherine Martinez (Olympian) 3:02
Third place: Alexa Rosales (San Ysidro) won by medical forfeit over Alexis Cervantes (Montgomery)
133 Pounds
Round robin: 1. Nahdia Barrientos (Hilltop), 2. Alisa Amelina (Olympian), 3. Katherine Huslin (Eastlake), 4. Alessandra Carmorlinga (San Ysidro).
139 Pounds
Championship: Celina Esquer (Olympian) won by 5-3 decision over Kassandra Loredo (Hilltop)
Third place: Olivia Gaskill (Eastlake) pinned Alexa Lopez (San Ysidro) 4:53
145 Pounds
Championship: Ayianna Fernandez (Castle Park) pinned Camila Rascon (Hilltop) 0:39
Third place: Jada Antonio (Otay Ranch) pinned Cerice Alca (Olympian) 2:27
152 Pounds
Championship: Sabrin Farha (Eastlake) pinned Stacey Alvarado (Chula Vista) 1:23
Third place: Aunica Vargas (Olympian) pinned Noemi Nunez (Otay Ranch) 1:50
162 Pounds
Round robin: 1. Brooke Klomp (Eastlake), 2. Isabella Meza (Hilltop), 3. Isabel Coca (Olympian), 4. Leslie Breton (San Ysidro)
172 Pounds
Round robin: 1. Jasmin Ballesteros (Montgomery), 2. Milagros Aguilar (Castle Park), 3. Andrea Campos (San Ysidro), 4. Martina Rodriguez (Hilltop)
191 Pounds
Round robin: 1. Ciera Fletcher (Eastlake), 2. Vanessa Arvizu (San Ysidro), 3. Shelby Fadden (Olympian)
237 Pounds
Round robin: 1. Angelina Leal (Olympian), 2. Evelynn Coronado (Montgomery), 3. Izzayara Aguilar (Hilltop)
