4 locals place at Masters
Monache standout pins her way to state meet
Pin after pin, Monache High School's Charlotte Kouyoumtjian continued to dominate the Valley.
It took the top-seeded sophomore wrestler just 12 seconds to pin her opponent, second-seeded Arianna Juarez of Foothill, in the CIF Central Section Grand Masters 118-pound championship match at Lemoore High School Saturday.
“I didn't even have enough time to soak it in,” Kouyoumtjian said. “I didn't know what happened. I just like — I didn't think about it. I was just doing what I felt like doing. And I pinned her and I got up and I was like, `Yes! The war is over.'”
Juarez and Kouyoumtjian met last week in the CIF Central Section Southeast Area championship match, but the result was a 5-4 decision in Kouyoumtjian's favor.
“[This week] we go out, take her down, hit a quick cradle, boom,” MHS head coach Jim Short said. “That's the Charlotte that I like, that's the Charlotte everyone wants to see. If she takes that to state, I'll bet on her any day for a full match.”
The three-day state championship meet begins Thursday, and Kouyoumtjian still has her work cut out for her after wrestling just 2 minutes and 29 seconds through four matches over two days. Why so little time? Because Kouyoumtjian pinned all her opponents in under a minute, and her 12-second pin tied for the fastest pin of the tournament. Her longest match was a 56-second pin against Bakersfield's Joceylen Ramirez in the opening round.
“I think I'm doing better now because my matches used to be longer in the beginning of the season, cause I wasn't right in my head,” Kouyoumtjian said. “But I had to make some mental adjustments and now I've figured out how to wrestle like I used to.”
Short also said, “When she gets out of her head and just acts and reacts, I think she's just as good as anyone in the state of California. When she thinks, I think we all start to hesitate, and that's where she gets in trouble. Tonight she just act, react for the last two days.
Page 2B