The San Diego Section finished last weekend’s eighth annual California state girls wrestling state championship tournament in Visalia with perhaps its strongest showing, netting eight place-finishers, among them a pair of South County mat women: Hilltop senior Jasmine Plasencia and Mar Vista senior Sonia Baniqued.
- Plasencia, the San Diego Section champion at 106 pounds, finished seventh in her weight class at the state tournament.
- Baniqued, the runner-up at 150 pounds at the section finals, placed eight in her weight class.
The two-day state tournament took place last Friday and Saturday at the Visalia Convention Center.
Helix Charter High School senior Destiny Lyng, a two-time state medalist, led the San Diego contingent with a second-place finish in her 139-pound weight class.
The section’s other place-winners included El Camino junior Madlyne Navarro (third at 237 pounds), Ramona junior Savannah Kiddoo (fourth at 113 pounds), San Pasqual senior Emily Velazquez (fifth at 191 pounds), Lincoln junior Phonisha Pruitt (seventh at 128 pounds) and La Costa Canyon sophomore Maddie Konopka (seventh at 145 pounds).
“I’m really proud of how the section performed this past weekend,” explained High Tech High Chula Vista coach Trevor Keifer, who served as tournament director for the San Diego Section championship tournament, which took place Feb. 10 at Sweetwater High School. “We doubled our placers from last year, which is a huge improvement. The section as a whole really stepped it up this year. I look forward to seeing if we can continue this success into next year.”
South County schools qualified 11 wrestlers to compete at last weekend’s state meet.
Plasencia, a four-time section champion and three-time state qualifier, lost her first match but finished the tournament strong with a 4-1 showing, including three consecutive wins in the single-elimination wrestle-backs.
Plasenica (29-7) pinned Gabrieleno junior Cassidy Do, the Southern Section third-place finisher, in 4:49 in the seventh-place match.
Baniqued, a returning state qualifier, lost her first match but came back with three elimination wins, including two by pin, before finally wrestling for seventh place. She lost by a 3:45 pin to Lynbrook senior Kennedy Miedema, the second-place finisher from the Central Coast Section, in the seventh-place match.
The Mar Vista wrestler finished the season 28-4.
Other South County qualifiers included Olympian’s Yesenia Marin Deguire (103) and Alexa Downs (123), HTH Chula Vista’s Sarina Kuninaga (113), Hilltop’s Amber Plasencia (128) and Nahdia Barrientos (133), Otay Ranch’s Dayna Mitchem (152) and Aylin Salas (191), and Montgomery’s Larisa Vasquez (162) and Jasmin Ballesteros (172).
Amber Plasencia (27-12) finished 3-2 with one pin; she was one win away from earning a place-finish in the tournament.
Marin Deguire finished 1-2 in her weight division.
Mat attack
Lyng’s second-place showing was the highest medal performance by the section’s contingent of 28 state qualifiers.
Lyng, who plans to compete at next month’s National AAU championships in Oklahoma, finished 4-1 at this year’s state tournament. She collected three pins and a 16-0 technical fall to reach the championship match against Westminster sophomore Aine Drury.
Drury, the top qualifier from the Southern Section and a state runner-up last year, ended Lyng’s dominant run through the weight bracket by out-pointing the San Diego Section champion 9-4 in the finals.
Lyng (22-3) fell behind early and conceded points to her opponent while trying to catch up.
Drury was especially dominant in her run to the state championship by recording four pins — two in the first period and two in the second period — before defeating Lyng in the finals.
Drury pinned Westview’s Kira Satnick, the San Diego Section runner-up, in 1:05 in the second match of the day.
Satnick failed to advance out of the consolation wrestle-backs.
Lyng opened the tournament by pinning El Monte senior Jennifer Garcia in 4:29. Lyng then pinned McNair junior Tayah Basped in 1:27.
The Lady Highlander wrestler advanced to the semifinals by recording a 16-0 technical fall against Albany sophomore Johanna Qiu. Lyng then pinned Kennedy sophomore Lauren Camp in 1:45 to advance to the championship round.
State of mind
The top eight place-winners in each weight class received official recognition at the girls state meet.
Navarro, the San Diego Section champion, advanced to the semifinals on the strength of two second-period pins but lost by a first-period pin against eventual state champion Tavi Heidelberg, a junior from McClatchy and the reigning Sac-Joaquin champion.
Navarro did not waste any time in getting back into medal contention by pinning Casa Grande sophomore Lillian McCoy, the North Coast Section runner-up, in 59 seconds in the consolation semifinals.
Navarro pinned Pacheco junior Vaifale Tagivale, the Sac-Joaquin Section runner-up, in 4:47 in the bronze medal match.
Heidelberg out-pointed Monroe junior Cristina Santoyo by a 7-3 score in the championship match.
Kiddoo, the San Diego Section champion, also advanced to the semifinals, powered by 6-5, 5-2 and 8-4 wins by decision. However, the Ramona wrestler lost by a 3:49 pin to Mt. Whitney junior Ashley Venegas, the Central Section runner-up, to end her run in the championship bracket.
Kiddoo defeated North Coast Section champion Julie Tran, a senior from James Logan, by an 8-2 decision to advance to the bronze medal match. However, Kiddoo lost by a 1:39 pin to Corona senior Roslyn Chang, the third-place finisher from the Southern Section, to place fourth in the weight class.
Kiddoo earned the outstanding lower weight award at the section championship tournament while Lyng earned recognition as the outstanding middle weight wrestler.
Mat attack II
Keifer suggested the good showing could result in an additional state qualifier for the section next year when the weight class brackets are expected to increase to 32 wrestlers from the current 25 wrestlers.
The top two place-finishers in each weight class at the section finals currently qualify to compete at the state meet.
Golden girls
Gracie Figueroa (121 pounds) and Alleida Martinez (111 pounds), both of team champion Selma, became four-time state champions, only the third and fourth girls wrestlers to do so in CIF state history.
Selma (142 points) claimed a record third-consecutive state title while Northview (85 points) and Corona (78 points) finishing in second and third place, respectively.
Additionally, Angelina Gomez (101) of Northview, Rory Coscia (116) of Enochs, Candice Corralejo (131) of Del Oro and Alexandra Castillo (189) of Birmingham each claimed their second individual state championship title.
A pair of freshmen, Cheyenne Bowman (126) of Rowland and Katja Osteen (160) of Chaminade, each won a state crown.
Other state champions at this year’s tournament included Lincoln-Stockton’s Elysia Urrea (106), Newark Memorial’s Emmily Patneaud (143), Selma’s Jerzie Estrada (150) and San Fernando’s Adelina Parra (170) along with Westminster’s Drury and McClatchy’s Heidelberg.
2018 State Invitational Championships Final Results
101 pounds: Angelina Gomez (Sr., Northview) d. Lizette Rodriguez (So., James Logan) Dec 3-1
106 pounds: Elysia Urrea (Sr., Lincoln-Stockton) d. Marissa Ritchie (Jr., M.L.King) Dec 12-10
111 pounds: Alledia Martinez (Sr., Selma) d. Ashley Venegas (Jr., Mt. Whitney) F-1:56
116 pounds: Rory Coscia (Sr., Enochs) d. Tara Othman (Sr., Benicia) Dec 4-3 TB2
121 pounds: Gracie Figueroa (Sr., Selma) d. Catlin Cardenas (Sr., Corona) MD 9-0
126 pounds: Cheyenne Bowman (Fr., Rowland) d. Desiree Estrada (Sr., Cerritos) F-2:14
131 pounds: Candice Corralejo (Sr., Del Oro) d. Dalia Garibay (Jr., Freedom) Dec 5-0
137 pounds: Drury Aine (Sr., Westminster) d. Destiny Lying (Sr., Helix) Dec 9-4
143 pounds: Emmily Patneaud (So., Newark Memorial) d. Julia Padilla (Sr., Northview) Dec 4-2
150 pounds: Jerzie Estrada (Jr., Selma) d. Liliana Vegara (Jr. Gregori) MD 8-0
160 pounds: Katja Osteen (Fr., Chaminade) d. Yelena Makoyed (Jr., Bella Vista) F- 0:49
170 pounds: Adelina Parra (So., San Fernando) d. Emily Sandoval (Sr., James Logan) Dec 4-2 SV
(189 pounds: Alexandra Castillo (Sr., Birmingham) d. Fola Akinola (Jr., Menlo Atherton) Dec 6-1
235 pounds: Tavi Heidelberg (Jr., McClatchy) d. Cristina Santoyo (Jr., Monroe) Dec 7-3
Team Scores (Top 10):
1. Selma 142
2. Northview 85
3. Corona 79
4. Menlo Atherton 64
5. San Fernando 60
6. James Logan 59
7. Birmingham 55
8. Millikan 47
9. Hillcrest 44
10. Ridgeview 43
