Don’t call them bashful and certainly don’t call them brutes. Call them wrestlers because that’s what they are, even if they do wear eyeliner off the mat.
There were some mighty good female wrestlers this year in San Diego South County, including a truckload of nine who qualified to compete in this year’s California girls state wrestling championship tournament. Included were four San Diego Section champions from the South Bay region.
Otay Ranch junior Lucero Perez Betancourt finished 3-3 at the Feb. 24-25 tournament in Visalia with three pins, including one in overtime, to finish eighth in her 137-pound weight class.
It was a watershed moment as she became the first female wrestler from Otay Ranch to place at the girls state meet.
“It was definitely much harder than other girls tournaments I’ve competed in,” Perez Betancourt said, offering a well-deserved smile.
“Hopefully, there will be more medalists in that sport at Otay Ranch,” Mustang coach Gabe Ruz said. “We’ll try to bring up the numbers both for girls and boys wrestling.”
Ruz said the state medalist’s strength on the mat is throws.
Perez Betancourt, who placed runner-up at the preceding San Diego Section finals (the top two place-winners in each weight class qualified for the state tournament), opened the two-day tournament with a bye before engaging Dublin’s Erin Cornelius in a second-round match. Cornelius won by a 3:48 pin to drop the Lady Mustang grappler to the consolation round.
However, Perez Betancourt was not finished wrestling. She reeled off three consecutive pins to assure herself of a spot on the awards podium.
Perez Betancourt pinned American Canyon junior Angelina Ramirez in 53 seconds into overtime after the pair had battled through six minutes of regulation time. Perez Betancourt pinned Mills junior Maata Fakaosita in 3:59 in her next elimination match, then pinned Liberty junior Chloe Belmen in 3:35 to advance to the consolation quarterfinals.
Newark Memorial freshman Emmily Patneaud finally ended the Otay Ranch grapplers’ string of pins by pinning Perez Betancourt in 4:53.
The Lady Mustang mat woman qualified for the seventh-place match while Patneaud advanced to the consolation semifinals. A loss there to Notre Dame senior Jenna Garcia dropped Patneaud to the fifth-place match.
Perez Betancourt drew a rematch with Cornelius in the medal match; Cornelius won again by pin, this time in 3:24.
But history (or herstory) had been made: Perez Betancourt placed eighth in the 24-deep weight class.
Benicia senior Shelly Avelino pinned Westminster freshman Aine Drury to win the weight class title while Garcia pinned Del Oro senior Kaleigh Burrage to place third.
Perez Betancourt was among a contingent of eight Metro Conference state meet qualifiers. Three of them made it to the second day of competition.
San Ysidro senior Isabel Flores, a two-time San Diego Section champion at 111 pounds, made it one match short of securing a medal after finishing 2-2 with a pair of wins in the elimination rounds.
Flores received a bye in the first round but lost by a 4:00 pin to Northview senior Brittany Wynn in the second round. The Lady Cougar mat women then won their next two matches in the consolation bracket to stave off elimination.
She defeated Livingston senior Natalie Perez by a 4-0 decision before pinning Castro Valley junior Joy Pihana in 5:59.
Flores’ journey to the state meet ended in the next round following a loss by 3:21 pin to Ayala sophomore Samantha Martinez.
Martinez would go on to place fifth in the weight class.
Mar Vista junior Sonia Baniqued, the runner-up at 160 pounds in the section finals, also finished 2-2 at the state meet. She recorded two pins. She won her first match by a 3:22 pin and staved off elimination in the consolation round with a 3:39 pin.
She also lost both her matches by pin.
Flores joined Hilltop junior Jasmine Plasencia (101), Eastlake senior Isabella Hook (121) and San Ysidro senior Melanie Olivarria (143) as section champions.
Perez Betancourt and Baniqued joined High Tech High Chula Vista sophomore Samantha Magpusao (106), Mar Vista’s Emma Urrutia (160), Montgomery junior Larissa Vasquez (170) and Castle Park senior Samantha Stephens (189) as section runners-up.
Hook finished 1-2 at the state meet while Plasencia, Magpusao, Olivarria, Urrutia, Vasquez and Stephens all finished 0-2.
State medalists
San Diego Section wrestlers collected one gold medal (Clairemont senior heavyweight Stephanie Maldonado) and one bronze medal (Helix junior 131-pounder Destiny Lyng) at this year’s state tournament.
Maldonado recorded pins in all four matches to finish the season with a 25-1 record. She pinned McNair’s Foatino Moala in 4:33 in the championship round.
Lyng (20-1 in major competition) lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Candice Corralejo of Del Oro but came back to record an 11-0 major decision over Upland’s McKenna Hutchinson to place third.
Metro Conference 2016-17
Girls Wrestling All-League Teams
First Team
101: Jasmine Plasencia (Hilltop)
106: Yesenia Marin DeGuire (Olympian)
111: Isabel Flores (San Ysidro)
116: Amber Plasencia (Hilltop)
121: Isabella Hook (Eastlake)
126: Nahdia Barrientos (Hilltop)
131: Alexa Downs (Olympian)
137: Lucero Perez Betancourt (Otay Ranch)
143: Melanie Olivarria (San Ysidro)
150: Jasmine Ballesteros (Montgomery)
160: Sonia Baniqued (Mar Vista)
170: Larisa Vasquez (Montgomery)
189: Samantha Stevens (Castle Park)
235: Melissa Sesma (Mar Vista)
Second Team
101: Bridgette Greene (Otay Ranch)
106: Diana Lopez (Chula Vista)
111: Patricia Miessner (Eastlake)
116: Elizabeth Hafen (Eastlake)
121: Sofia Mencias (Chula Vista)
126: Mariana Marquez (Chula Vista)
131: Rosa Zuniga (Hilltop)
137: Ariana Negrete-Juarez (Castle Park)
143: Melanie Olivarra (San Ysidro)
160: Ariel Rodriguez (Chula Vista)
170: Sabrin Farha (Eastlake)
Athlete of the Year
Lucero Perez Betancourt
(Otay Ranch)
