Kelley crowned state champ
Scotts Valley senior now second local female, fifth overall, to take first place
>> Scotts Valley High wrestler Danica Kelley was on her back, close to being pinned in the final at 135 pounds at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships on Saturday night.
The proverbial lights were about to be turned off on her sensational senior year and prep career. Then Kelley, seeded No. 2 and trailing 5-0, flipped the switch. She earned a reversal and recorded a quick pin of No. 4 Alex Maday of Whitney at the 1:43 mark in the first period.
In Central Valley towns like Bakersfield, wrestling-starved fans show up in droves to watch the championships, whether they have a horse in the race or not. The near capacity crowd at 10,000-seat Mechanics Bank Arena erupted during Kelley's finish.
Kelley didn't show it, but she was overjoyed.
“I've been wrestling for seven year now and never even placed at state,” said Kelley, a three-time state qualifier. “This was a pretty exciting jump. I was pretty stoked.”
After her win, Kelley calmly got up, had her hand raised by the referee at the center of the mat, went to the opposing coaches' corner to shake their hands, and then returned to her corner to hug her coaching staff.
Minutes later, in the bowels of the stadium, she cried tears of joy. After back-to-back years of lackluster showings in Bakersfield, she accomplished the objective. The unthinkable, really. She was, finally, a state champion.
“She's a year-round wrestler and doesn't take any time off,” said Falcons coach Nick Reyes. “It's a beating on her body. Literally, blood, sweat and tears. She deserved this. It was a long time coming.”
Kelley's tears were shed for others. “I was going back to all these peo
ple who have put time into me,” she said, gathering her thoughts. “It was like, `Hey, thank you. It paid off.' “
Maday finished 4-1 with a pin against No. 1 Kayla Edwards, a Rancho Buena Vista senior who won the San Diego Section, in the semifinals.
Kelley went 5-0, with four wins by pin, to give her a perfect 30-0 record this season. The Boulder Creek resident became Santa Cruz County's first state champion since Scotts Valley's Dominique Parrish, currently a member of the U.S. Women's Freestyle Team, repeated as champ at 116 pounds in 2015.
Kelley became the fifth county wrestler, boy or girl, to place first at the tournament began since it began in 1973. She joins Parrish, Watsonville's Dave Barnes
(1979, 127 pounds) and Gus Paz ('82, 132), and San Lorenzo Valley's Cody Rodebaugh (2009; 140).
After hearing the news, Paz sent a text message to be forwarded to Kelley. “Congrats. Welcome to the club, state champ!!!”
Kelley said she was going to whatever it took to get off her back in the final.
“I was like, `Don't get pinned,' ” she said. “So I kept on squirming. I was going to rip apart my shoulder to get out of it because it's a lot better than getting pinned.”
Kelley also pinned No. 3 Maci Stemmons of Monte Vista-Danville, the North Coast Section champ, in 2:59 in the semifinals on Saturday morning, then waited for nearly six hours for the finals to begin.
Typically, Kelley prays and dances to get hyped up for her matches. It must been a heck of a prayer before the final, as well as before her quarterfinal match on Friday, when she turned
in another miraculous finish. She spotted No. 7 Braya Cruz of Clovis North, the Central Section champ, four points in the second period while inadvertently applying a full nelson, a technical violation, and rallied from the deficit in the third period for a 5-4 decision after earning a two-point takedown and three-point nearfall.
“She's just a grinder at heart,” Reyes said. “I don't know if she's drawing from something because she's always had it.”
Kelley said she wasn't nervous while trailing in the quarterfinals and final. Experience paid dividends.
“There are rarely times I get worried,” Kelley said. “I feel like I can win this at any point. It's not arrogance, it's just `I've been here before.' “
On Thursday, she pinned Kayla Ganac of Los Osos in 3:24 in the Round of 32 and Renice Gonzalez of Colony in 6:00 in the Round of 16.
Kelley rewarded herself
with some Oreo cookies after her win in the final. There was a good chance the family-sized pack wouldn't make it to the morning, she said.
She'll be back on the mat soon, training for the California USA Wrestling Freestyle Championships at Selland Arena in Fresno on May 31-June 2., and she's in the process of choosing where to compete in college.
“This gives me a little bit of confidence in my process,” Kelley said. “I want to wrestle in college. So it's, `OK, I'm on the right path here.' “
Wrestlers from 260 schools qualified for the girls tournament. Walnut won the team title with 96 points. Kelley and teammate Kayse Martinovsky (140) helped the Falcons tie for 20th with 32 points.
Earlier this month, Kelley won her third Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League title and repeated as Central Coast Section champion.