TOKAY’S CURTISS EARNS STATE MEDAL
Accomplishments: Cassidy Curtiss is happy about the progress she’s made over the past year.
The Tokay High girls wrestler, who competes in the 235-pound class, took seventh place at the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Feb. 29. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class — girls and boys — earned medals at the state meet. Curtiss was the only area wrestler in either gender to earn a medal.
“It feels real good,” said Curtiss of earning a medal. “I wanted to get better than eighth. I wanted to see if I could get better than that.”
Facing Woodcreek of Roseville’s Kyle-Ann Bobo in the seventh-place match, Curtiss, a junior, pinned Bobo.
“It was a tough match,” Curtiss said. “She was a really good wrestler; she was very strong.”
Curtiss used a power-half move to pin Bobo.
“You put your elbow on their head and your other arm under her arm pit, and then lock your hands together and drive your shoulder and your elbow up,” Curtiss described of the move that led to the pin.
The victory led to Curtiss finishing the season with a 30-7 record.
“I knew that I really had to listen to my coaches, and really focus
on wrestling and not wing it,” Curtiss said.
Curtiss was one of four Tokay girls wrestlers who competed at the state championships. The other Tigers were Gabrielle Medeiros (101), Samira Mason (111) and Madelyn Evans (143). All of those wrestlers ended their season on the second day of the three-day tournament.
“They were like, ‘oh, it’s on you now,’” said Curtiss of feel
ing some pressure toward earning a state medal. “I had a lot of pressure.”
One of the Tokay coaches gave Curtiss four simple words to help motivate her that led to her placing.
“Just do your best,” Curtiss said. “It was a great experience and I had a lot of fun.”
Curtiss was an alternate in the same weight class for the 2019 CIF State Wrestling Championships. But all of the girls who qualified in the 2019 meet competed.
“I was really happy with what I did this year,” Curtiss said. “You don’t think about being a state placer until after. Once you think about it, you’re like ‘wow, top seven or top eight in the state, that’s really cool.’ Because when you’re at state, it’s very nerve-racking.”
Now in the off-season, Curtiss is starting to set her sights on a better senior year. That will begin with competing at freestyle tournaments in the spring and summer. That includes competing in regional and national tournaments.
“Work on my conditioning and work on my moves some more,” Curtiss said.