San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MONTGOMERY’S EVELYNN CORONADO WRESTLES WITH FULL AGENDA
Senior is capt. of two teams, class secy., homecoming queen
Evelynn Coronado is one of the favorites heading into the San Diego Section girls wrestling tournament Feb. 4.
But it won’t be her first title — that one came last month when Montgomery High won the Non-tumbling, All-girls Cheerleading championship.
Winning has come in waves for the Aztecs senior this year as she also was voted Homecoming Queen.
“That was really surprising,” she said of getting the crown placed on her head at halftime of Montgomery’s 20-0 football victory over Sweetwater. “You get the sash, the crown and the whole (cheerleading) team cheered. Then there were fireworks.”
She’s also senior class secretary where she’s already working on Senior Night in addition to being heavily involved in the Special Olympics/best Buddies Cheer Team.
And she’s the captain of both the wrestling and cheer squads.
While juggling isn’t her forte, she’s having to do a lot of that as after competing in the Metro Conference wrestling championships on Friday, she tried to get a good night’s sleep before getting up early to travel to Manhattan Beach for state cheerleading.
Whew! All while maintaining a 3.3 GPA.
“I stay up late at night or go to the Magic Center (library) at lunch to study — I don’t waste time,” the 17year-old said.
Asked which sport she likes best, she doesn’t hesitate to say wrestling where, starting last week, she had an 18-4 record, including being unbeaten against section girls, in the 235-pound weight class.
She’s hoping to improve on her third-place finish in last year’s section championships, which qualified her for state, where she won her first match and then lost the next two. Consider that the two other section competitors, El Cajon Valley’s Valeria Rocha (fourth) and Olympian’s Angelina Leal (sixth), battled deep into the tournament.
“I learned the wrestlers at state are very tough,” said
Coronado who admitted being awed by the huge crowds at Mechanic’s Bank Arena in Bakersfield. “You can’t go in there scared. It was a great experience, and it pushed me to get stronger and work on my technique.
“My goal is to win the state championship, but at worst be in the top five.”
Coronado, who stands 5-6, started the season ranked No. 8 in the state by Calgrappler.
“If she just focused on wrestling, she’d be really, really good,” said Aztecs coach David Jarumayan, “but I support her being active at school.
“I call her a gamer because she’s very competitive and she wants to learn. She works hard, but she’s not obsessive — a good listener.
“Since we don’t have any other 235-pound girls, she practices against her cousin, Abel.”
If Coronado expected her cousin to take it easy on her, she should have known better. Remember, he’s family.
“He’s tough, and he shoots a lot,” said Evelynn of her 240-pound cousin. “That prepares me for my matches, so I have to take it seriously. Sometimes I get mad at him but all that does is make both of us more aggressive. I’ve known him forever, so it’s great.”
In cheerleading, she’s the one who hoists up the smaller girls and says she’s never dropped one of them.
The 16-member cheerleading team will be going to the JAMZ Mountain West National Challenge in Utah in April, so there’s no slowing down.
As the captain, she has had to keep the girls focused since early summer when they started working every day.
Wrestling is a different story as she balances the girls and the boys, trying to boost all of their confidences.
Of course, there are times Coronado just has to rush.
She attended every football game as a cheerleader but during the winter, cheering and basketball tend to overlap.
“There are times when I would have to go straight from cheerleading practice and to a basketball game,” she said. “The boys basketball team (17-3 to start the week) is really good, but I think our cheerleading team is better.”
Spoken like a true captain. parking lot near the bathrooms and clean up the J-street part of the park. Waivers are required for people under 18 and are available at bit.ly/3wbzhvx. Email it to andrea@sandiego350.org or bring a hard copy. Learn more at sandiego350.org/teams/youth4climate.
Dog adoption event set at brewery
North Park’s The Original 40 Brewing Company is hosting a dog adoption with Bonita-based PAWS 4 Thought Animal Rescue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The open-air and dog-friendly brewery is at 3117 University Ave., San Diego, and will have several pups on hand for application for adoption. PAWS 4 Thought is a nonprofit, all-breed rescue organization handling shelter dogs that had been at risk of euthanization. Visit paws4thoughtrescue.com.