SPRING VALLEYSPRING VALLEY — A year ago headed into the wrestling postseason, Poway’s Xiomara Gallego was crushed. She was wrapping up a great regular season, 14-0 and Reno Champion. The last match before CIF, she dislocated her elbow and her season was over.
She made up for at Saturday’s San Diego Section Division 1 Girls Wrestling at Steele Canyon High School when she upset Mira Mesa’s three-time state medalist Birta McCaskill 3-1 in the 115-pound final.
“This means a lot to me,” said the Poway junior, who was second in CIF and Masters as a freshman. “Things weren’t going that good at the start this year. Maybe around December I started to feel right, before that I was frustrated with all my moves.”
Poway entered the Sectional with only six wrestlers, but five made the finals and four were victorious. Those numbers weren’t enough as defending champion Olympian scored 199 team points to outdistance second-place San Marcos by 25 points. Steele Canyon finished third with 159 and Poway close behind with 157.
“This year was definitely my best,” said Olympian 125-pound champion Alina Solis, who decisioned Poway’s Alyssa Jones 5-1 in the final. “This really shows all the hard work pays off.”
Olympian ended with three champions, with Natasha Mason winning by medical forfeit at 105. Their other champ was a total surprise, even to herself.
Sophomore Natalia Righellis first upset top-seeded Peyton Wells of Granite Hills in the semifinals and then pinned Steele Canyon’s Gaona in 3:03 in the 155-pound final.
“Honestly I thought I’d get fourth or fifth and not qualify (for masters),” itted Righellis, whose victory set off the Olympian celebration.
“In fact I faced her (Gaona) and she pinned me twice. I didn’t even think about it though.”
Until Solis beat Jones at 125, Poway was on a tear in the finals winning four of the first five weights.
Scripps Ranch sophomore transfer Ava Fodera started it off with a medical forfeit win at 100 pounds.
Another transfer, Eden Hernandez, soon followed with a pin of Brianna Ross of San Marcos in 2:35 at 110 pounds.
“Everything is completely new for me here,” said Hernandez, a sixth-place finisher in the state last year wrestling at San Clemente. “We had like 40 girls at San Clemente, but here we have like six or seven but I think I like it better. We’re so much closer.”
Gallego won next and then senior Alejandro Valdiezo made it three straight for the Titans with a 7-0 victory over San Marcos’ Emma Mangers.
Other champions on the night included Granite Hills’ Kyli Stanley (130) and Lucia Ledezma (140), Rancho Buena Vista’s Kayla Edwards (135), Rancho Bernardo’s Maisen Vesco (145), Steele Canyon’s Marina Gonzalez (170), San Marcos’ Diane Duarte (190) and Mira Mesa’s Angel Hill (235).
“It was nerve-racking,” said Olympian head coach Jesse Perez of the team race. “I don’t take any credit for myself for this a lot of people contributed — the other coaches and most the girls. I was pacing the whole time.”
Farmer is a freelance writer.
GIRLS WRESTLING
San Diego Section Division I Championships
At Steele Canyon High School
Team: Olympian 199, San Marcos 174, Steele Canyon 159, Poway 157, Mira Mesa 149, Central Union 147.5, Rancho Bernardo 142.5, Granite Hills 107, San Pasqual 74, Mission Hills 64.
Individuals:
Finals
100 – Fodera (Pow) def. Frazao (SM) med. ff; 105 – Mason (Oly) def. Proctor (SC) med. ff; 110 – Hernandez (Pow) pin Ross (SM) 2:35 ; 115 – Gallego (Pow) dec. McCaskill (MiM) 3-1; 120 – Valdiviezo (Pow) dec. Mangers (SM) 7-0; 125 – Solis (Oly) dec. Jones (Pow) 5-1 ; 130 – Stanley (GH) pin Beltran (CU) 4:27 ; 135 – Edwards (RBV) def. Busse (DN) inj. def; 140 – Ledezma (GH) dec. Snider (RB) 10-3; 145 – Vesco (RB) pin Coles (MiM) 2:35; 155 –Righellis (Oly) pin Gaona (SC) 3:03; 170 – Gonzalez (SC) pin Tapia (SM) 1:13; 190 – Duarte (SM) dec. Mora (CU) 2-1; 235 -Hill (MiM) pin Najera (Oly) 1:25.
Third place
100 – Lopes (RB) pin Long (SR) 4:21; 105 – Sampson (MiM) pin Hernandez (RB) 1:27; 110 – (Cbad) pin Ng (SR) 1:30; 115 – Lopez (Vi) pin Sandoval (Oly) :26; 120 – Gutierrez (MH) pin Rebar (MiM) 3:32; 125 – Julie-Newsom (TP) pin Degannes (MH) 4:59; 130 – Hopkins (SC) pin Alatiw (Oly) 4:40; 135 – Rodriguez (CU) inj. Def. Wilson (RB); 140 – Victoria (Oly) pin Manalansan (MiM) 1:23; 145 – Wood (SM) pin Bayona (SD) 1:46; 155 – Camacho (Vi) dec. Wells (GH) 11-6 OT; 170 – Cervantes-Cruz (SP) pin Llamas (SY) 2:05; 190 – Rodriguez (SC) pin Bayardi (RB) 1:46; 235 – Angel (Cx) pin Murguia (SC) :27.
