FLAMES’ EDWARDS SHINES AT WRESTLING
Accomplishments: Raven Edwards is not a big fan of standing on the sidelines.
The Lodi High girls wrestler, a junior who competes in the 137-pound class, has made up for lost time and shined at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Championships at Stockton Arena on Feb. 22. Edwards took third place and finished with a 4-1 record. Edwards posted an 11-1 major decision win over Nevada Union’s Amanda Beall in the third-place match. Edwards jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first round.
“I went out there with the mindset of I just need to focus on wrestling,” Edwards said. “Go out there on the mat and get done what needs to be done.”
Edwards’ performance also earned her and all girls who placed in the top six of their weight classes a trip to Bakersfield. That is home of the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships. The championships begin today at Mechanics Bank Arena — formerly known as Rabobank Arena —and runs through Saturday.
The only loss for Edwards at the Masters was in the semifinals to Central Catholic of Modesto’s Faalia Martinez, who pinned Edwards 30 seconds into the second round. This was the second meeting between the two in a week; they faced each other at the section’s regional tournament at Central Valley High of Ceres on Feb. 15. Edwards, who lost to Martinez in the first meeting, feels it’s just another building block toward becoming a better wrestler.
“I needed to work harder and be a little bit more offensive in the match,” Edwards said.
On Wednesday, Edwards, who has a 23-8 record this season, and Flame teammate Anna Rodriguez (131) left Lodi to compete at the state meet. Before their departure, they fine
tuned some of their moves entering into today’s state meet.
“It was a lot more 1-on-1, focusing on specific things we need to work on,” Edwards said. “A lot more technique. I’ve just been focusing on not thinking about ‘oh, this person could be better than me.’ It doesn’t matter once you get on the mat. Just focus on wrestling and doing what I know how to do.”
Edwards likes to use different formations in an attempt to pin down her opponents. That can begin with the ankles, working her way up to an opponents back and arms.
“That’s more one of the common moves that I use,” Edwards said.
Another area that Edwards has worked on this season is getting through adversity in tougher matches.
“Just being able to push past that and focus on what I need to get done,” Edwards said.
Edwards is even happier to advancing to the state meet. In December 2019, she sustained a knee injury that sidelined her for two weeks.
“My knee had been bothering me for a while,” Edwards explained. “Then during practice, it got landed on.”
Edwards and Flame teammates have seen the program grown. According to Lodi coach Keith Mettler, there are 14 girls on this year’s team. He will lose two to graduation this spring. During the 2018-19 season, there were 17 girls on the squad. Lodi only had four girls out for the sport during the 2015-16 season.
“The wrestling program has helped me grow a lot,” Edwards said. “The girls are like family to me. The coaches are really supportive; they really push us to do our best. They believe in us. I think it’s a great sport.”
After the state meet ends this weekend, don’t be surprised if Edwards tries to get more girls on the Lodi High campus to come out for wrestling for the 2020-21 season.
“I wish a lot more girls would come out to try it out,” Edwards said.
Edwards started wrestling her freshman year at Lodi High.
“One of my friends started talking about it,” recalled Edwards. “It’s a competitive sport, and I really enjoy putting all the work in.”
After the high school wrestling season is over this weekend, Edwards will shift her focus to the school’s girls track and field team. She was on the Lodi High girls cross-country team last fall that won its 17th consecutive league title.