San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
WRESTLING DYNASTY IN THE MAKING
Brawley takes CIF section crown over Mira Mesa
In 2021, nobody in the state of California has done girls wrestling like San Diego.
In fact, San Diego is the only section to get it done.
Despite all the challenges of COVID-19, 41 teams gathered at Santana High School on Saturday for the Section Girls Wrestling Championships. While Brawley claimed another team title, all the girls were the winners.
“I feel so lucky for the girls to have this chance to wrestle CIF,” said Steele Canyon coach and tournament director Trevor Keifer. “A lot of teams faced a lot of challenges all year, many of the girls were disenchanted, but we were able to pull it off.”
For Brawley, winning team titles on the girls side is becoming as much of a regular thing as the boys. The Wildcats amassed 161 points to win the team title over runner-up Mira Mesa, who had 103 points.
“I’m proud of the girls, they had less than a month to prepare for this,” said Brawley coach Ray Leon. “All the girls here I know missed all the camaraderie of the team.”
Leading way for the Wildcats were champions Arianna Gonzales at 113 pounds and Savannah Gomez at 145.
“It took a lot to find a way to do things safely,” said Gomez, a senior who recently qualified for the national team at the Cadet Team Trials in Irvine, Texas.
Gomez, who was second in the state a year ago before the shutdown, needed just 20 seconds to pin Ayleen Gomez of Olympian in the final.
While gym time was hard to find, a pair of Valley Center senior teammates had perfect training partners.
Twin sisters Savanna and Sierra Meffort earned backto-back titles on the mat at 162 and 172 pounds.
Savannah, who was third in the state last year, pinned Yisal Arias of Brawley in 47 seconds, followed by Sierra’s fall over the Wildcats’ Dylan Jardon at the buzzer of the first period. Sierra didn’t compete at state last year after suffering a season-ending arm injury.
“I was so happy for (Savannah) last year, but I had a lot of self-doubt coming in this year,” said Sierra. “I’m so glad we could both win.”
Also pulling off impressive performances were Karen Salais of Calexico and Ariah Barragan of Imperial.
Salais, a third-place finisher in the state a year ago as a sophomore, pinned Helena Insko of Mira Mesa in 5:44 at 118. Barragan, a fifth-place state medalist last year, pinned West Hills’ Chloe Tolentino in 2:35 at 128.
“I feel real happy with winning but really would have liked to have had a chance to win at state,” said Salais.
“I trained hard this year, lifting and working out whenever I could.”
“I would train anywhere I could,” said Barragan. “Mostly in my garage, but I also went to Arizona and competed there this past year.”
Other champions on the day were Kailey Smith of Granite Hills (103), Birta Mccaskill of Mira Mesa (108), Anya Rodriguez of Mar Vista (123), Annabel He of Rancho Bernardo (133), Kyla Pattillow of Mira Mesa (139), Kayley Garcia of Vista (152), Forshay Mallard of Crawford (191) and Angelina Leal of Olympian (237).