Flag football may be the fastest-growing high school girls sport but girls wrestling set the precedent, and it continues to grow in many areas.
This was the first year that the Metro Conference was divided into two leagues for girls wrestling: the Metro-Mesa League and the Metro-South Bay League.
The Metro-Mesa League consisted of Olympian, Eastlake, Bonita Vista, Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Montgomery. The Metro-South Bay League included Sweetwater, Castle Park, Chula Vista, San Ysidro, Mar Vista, Mater Dei Catholic and Southwest.
It was a notable 2025-26 mat campaign for all the teams.
Olympian won its seventh consecutive league title with a 5-0 dual meet record while Sweetwater captured the Metro-South Bay League title with a 6-0 record. It was the National City school’s first league banner in the sport of wrestling since 1970.
Olympian improved to 41-1 in dual meets since 2019; the Lady Eagles’ lone loss was to Hilltop in 2020.
“I believe what kept us successful is that we keep a standard here at Olympian,” Lady Eagles coach Jesse Perez said. “I make every girl believe that they can be the top person in San Diego if they are on this team. With that level of confidence, it helps these girls push through adversity.
“We have four top girls leading this year: Jianna Goodwin, Maddy Hogue, Natalia Righellis and Elisa Najera. These girls should be heading to the state championships this year.
“The team has definitely exceeded my expectations. We lost over eight girls in our lineup last year and these younger girls stepped in to fill those spots and are doing a great job. I want to also add that our principal Vicky Mitrovich is a major part of our success. There is no other principal in San Diego who supports wrestling the way she does.”
Sweetwater is coached by Joseph Fonseca (Sweetwater class of 2018) and Alina Solis (Olympian class of 2024.
“In my first year as head coach, I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who played a role in our success this season,” Fonseca said..”Huge thank you to Jay Fabunan for his guidance and mentorship throughout the year. Our success came from a complete culture change at Sweetwater — building team unity through shared warm-ups, stretches and fun activities. Our kids are always willing to learn, never give up, and the best part is they motivate and coach each other every day. We may not have had the most experienced athletes, but we learned to wrestle for each other, and that made all the difference.
“This team exceeded expectations, going from winless the past two seasons to 6-0 with the girls and 5-1 with the boys. The energy in the room set the tone early, and with such a young group, the future is incredibly bright.”
Top girls for Sweetwater through the dual meet season included Krisabella Villalobos (first at Marauder Invitational, first at Queen of the Desert, third at South Bay Classic and Queen of the Beach, 6-0 in league duals) and (soccer star) Alexi Montoya (top 12 finish at Goddess of Olympia, second at Eastlake, second at Brawley, third at Mar Vista. 6-0 in league duals).
Mat queens
The Metro Conference held its championship tournament Saturday at Chula Vista High School with 98 varsity participants. A junior varsity field was also contested.
Olympian topped the 13 varsity schools in attendance with 282.5 points, followed on the scoresheet by runner-up Bonita Vista with 194 points, Eastlake (third place) with 167.5 points, Mater Dei Catholic (fourth place) with 116.5 points, San Ysidro (fifth place) with 84 points, Hilltop (sixth place) with 79 points, Chula Vista (seventh place) with 71 points, Otay Ranch (eighth place) with 65 points, Sweetwater (ninth place) with 54 points, Castle Park (10th place) with 49.5 points, Mar Vista (11th place) with 44 points, Southwest (12th place) with 20 points and Montgomery (13th place) with 17 points.
Eastlake’s Emma De Mesa (122 pounds) earned the outstanding lower weight award while Olympian’s Maddy Hogue (142 pounds) earned honors at the tournament’s outstanding upper weight.
Sweetwater (Villalobos at 102 pounds) and Mater Dei Catholic (Kaila Strother at 192 pounds) each recorded their first individual conference championship in school history.
Wrestlers with family ties included Hilltop’s Tatianna Barrientos (132 pounds) and Olympian’s Reia Kawashiro (172 pounds), both of whom continued family traditions with mat championships. Barrientos is the sister of former Metro champion Nadia Barrientos while Kawashiro is the sister of former Metro champion Daia Kawashiro.
Otay Ranch’s Maliyah Lumahan defeated Bonita Vista’s Lillyana Torres-Wynne in a close match to become the Metro Conference’s first four-time champion.
Olympian’s Natalia Rhighelis (157 pounds) and Elisa Najera (237) both became three-time conference champions while Bonita Vista’s Ella Edvalson (147 pounds) and Eastlake’s De Mesa are both now two-time conference champions.
On the day, Olympian finished with six weight class champions and two second-place finishers while Eastlake navigated the field with three champions and one runner-up. Mater Dei Catholic had three finalists (one champion and two runners-up) while Hilltop, Otay Ranch and Bonita Vista each had two finalists (one champion and one runner-up).
Twelve Metro schools recorded at least one finalist. Sweetwater had one individual champion. Chula Vista had two runners-up while Mar Vista, Castle Park and Southwest each had one runner-up.
Next up for local mat women are four divisional section tournaments Feb. 7 Division I at Rancho Bernardo, Division II at San Ysidro, Division III at Ramona and Division IV at Valley Center:
The Masters state-qualifying tournament, drawn from the top wrestlers at the four divisional tournaments, is scheduled Feb. 21 at Eastlake High School.
The state tournament is Feb. 26-28 in Bakersfield.
Metro Conference Championship Tournament
TOP INDIVIDUALS
102 pounds: 1. Krisabella Villalobos (Sweetwater), 2. Gabriella Ramriez (Eastlake), 3. Veronica Pereira (Chula Vista), 4. Emma Payan (Bonita Vista)
107 pounds: 1. Jianna Goodwin (Olympian), 2. Elizabeth Byland (Hilltop), 3. Genesis Tovar (Montgomery), 4. Jaslene Pena (Bonita Vista)
112 pounds: 1. Maliyah Lumahan (Otay Ranch), 2. Lillyana Torres-Wynne (Bonita Vista), 3. Eliza DeGuzman (Olympian), 4. Hadiya Galvante (Olympian)
117 pounds: 1. Olivia Grace De Los Reyes (Eastlake), 2. Evynn Kilby (Olympian), 3. Alicia Melendez (Sweetwater), 4. Victoria De la Vega (Eastlake)
122 pounds: 1. Emma De Mesa (Eastlake), 2. Arianna Moises (Chula Vista), 3. Kailani Topasna (Mater Dei Catholic), 4. Mia Maldonado (San Ysidro)
127 pounds: 1. Kareli Rascon (Eastlake), 2. Khandes Narvesa (Mar Vista), 3. Karolynna Rivera (Bonita Vista), 4. Ashley Arredondo (San Ysidro)
132 pounds: 1. Tatianna Barrientos (Hilltop), 2. Avery Sterling (Mater Dei Catholic), 3. Abby Quiros (Bonita Vista), 4. Lexi Diaz (Olympian)
137 pounds: 1. Sulay Ramirez (Olympian), 2. Audrina Perez (Castle Park), 3. Briseis Ramirez (Olympian), 4. Lilia Mora (Mar Vista)
142 pounds: 1. Madelyn Hogue (Olympian), 2. Lyla Ibarra (Mater Dei Catholic), 3. Xiamara Wright (Bonita Vista), 4. Arlene Miramontes (Hilltop)
147 pounds: 1. Ella Edvalson (Bonita Vista), 2. Aynarra Quintero (Olympian), 3. Natalia Broussard (Mater Dei Catholic), 4. Sophia Navea (Olympian)
157 pounds: 1. Natalia Righellis (Olympian), 2. Viviana Romo (Chula Vista), 3. Keyrey Martinez (San Ysidro), 4. Leila Keeran (Bonita Vista)
172 pounds: 1. Reia Kawashiro (Olympian), 2. Anaaya Skipper (San Ysidro), 3, Ivanna Ruiz (Bonita Vista), 4. Taylor Morton (Eastlake)
192 pounds: 1. Kaila Strother (Mater Dei Catholic), 2. Isis Rivas (Otay Ranch), 3. Chloe Diaz (Olympian), 4. Ahlani Dominguez (San Ysidro)
237 pounds: 1. Elisha Najera (Olympian), 2. Angelina Hamel (Southwest), 3. Adriana Shepard (Otay Ranch), 4. Alyssa Riggs (Bonita Vista)
Team standings
1. Olympian 282.5, 2. Bonita Vista 194, 3. Eastlake 167.5, 4. Mater Dei Catholic 116.5, 5. San Ysidro 84, 6. Hilltop 79, 7. Chula Vista 71, 8. Otay Ranch 65, 9. Sweetwater 54, 10. Castle Park 49.5, 11. Mar Vista 44, 12. Southwest 20, 13. Montgomery 17
Eastlake High School Senior Night
Photos by Jon Bigornia
San Diego Section Boys Wrestling Rankings
106: 3. Ryder Barang (Mar Vista), 4. Anthony Hernandez (Otray Ranch), 9. Abdiel Rangel (Eastlake)
113: 3. Nicholas Tuatoo (Olympian), 10. Armando Nunez (Sweetwater)
120: 4. Uiel Diaz (Southwest)
126: 7. Edwin Flores (Bonita Vista), 10. Frank Zambada (San Ysidro)
144: 4. Nathan Banaszek (Bonita Vista)
150: 10. Alan Jean (Montgomery)
165: 3. Ricardo De La Torre (Hilltop), 9. Ron Pizarro (Mater Dei Catholic)
175: 3. Aaron Marcial (Mar Vista), 6. Madden Poderick (Bonita Vista)
190: 8. Lukas Mendez (Hilltop)
285: 7. Isaiah Sary (Otay Ranch), 10. Erik Nealson (Hilltop)
San Diego Section Girls Water Polo Rankings
Division I
1. La Jolla 16-5, 2. El Camino 16-2, 3. Valhalla 16-6, 4. San Marcos 16-7, 5. Mission Bay 13-6, 6. Rancho Bernardo 13-8, 7. Torrey Pines 8-8, 8. Carlsbad 7-6, 9. Helix 10-8, 10. Westview 8-7, 11. Patrick Henry 11-7, 12. Grossmont 7-8, 13. La Costa Canyon 5-15, 14. Mt. Carmel 6-15, 15. Oceanside 8-8, 16. Granite Hills 7-13, 17. Bonita Vista 13-5, 18. Clairemont 4-14, 19. Cathedral Catholic 5-14, 20. Bishop’s 14-8
Division II
1. Eastlake 17-2, 2. Coronado 11-3, 3. Francis Parker 7-8, 4. San Dieguito Academy 10-5, 5. Poway 15-4, 6. Mater Dei Catholic 11-9, 7. Our Lady of Peace 11-5, 8. Del Norte 13-7, 9. High Tech high San Diego 7-12, 10. Rancho Buena Vista 7-7, 11. Ramona 10-9, 12. West Hills 10-11, 13. Otay Ranch 7-9, 14. Santana 4-14, 16. El Capitan 8-12, 17. San Pasqual 4-11, 18. Pt. Loma 5-12, 19. Mar Vista 3-19, 20. University City 4-12
Division III
1. Olympian 18-5, 2. Classical Academy 12-8, 3. Fallbrook 9-6, 4. Mission Hills 6-5, 5. Sage Creek 7-8, 6. Montgomery 6-3, 7. Hilltop 7-6, 8. Canyon Hills 6-8, 9. Vista 5-10-1, 10. CVLCC 7-7, 11. Canyon Crest Academy 2-5, 12. Mira Mesa 2-10, 13. Scripps Ranch 11-4, 14. Southwest 2-6, 15. Escondido 1-3, 16. Valley Center 2-13, 17. Mt. Miguel 3-13, 18. San Ysidro 4-11, 19. Sweetwater 1-1, 20. Chula Vista 0-8, 21. Orange Glen 0-3, 22. Monte Vista 4-12
