BAKERSFIELD — For proud Poway High School parents Matilda and Rene Lopez, this year’s wrestling state championships is a special place.
In Thursday’s opening rounds of the state wrestling championships at Mechanics Bank Arena, the pair watched their freshman daughter Noemi Cordero win a pair of matches to advance to the quarterfinals in the morning. Then, in the boys’ afternoon session, they watched sophomore son Rene Cordero split a pair of matches, just falling short of upsetting the No. 6 seed but remaining alive for a medal.
Noemi Cordero’s efforts helped the Poway girls sit in the No. 2 position in the team race. Rene Cordero chipped in to help the Titans’ boys end the afternoon with a narrow lead, with less than 10 points dividing the top three teams.
“We’re really a close family and each other,” Noemi Cordero said. “My mom wrestled in high school and my dad really wanted us to learn martial arts to be able to defend ourselves.”
Matilda Lopez was one of the pioneers in girls wrestling in the county, grappling at El Capitan High School until she graduated in 1995. There was only one other girl wrestling in the district at the time, she said.
“My husband and I knew the benefits for them to wrestle,” she said. “It’s hard sometimes when they are all wrestling at different places. At least here they’re in one place.”
Noemi Cordero won a pair of first-period pins against seniors in her state debut. She downed Livingston’s Katlynn Oswald in just 43 seconds and followed it up with a 31-second pin of Birmingham’s Delilah Barragan.
The San Diego Section advanced 12 girls into Friday’s quarterfinals, four from Poway. The Titans will enter the second day in second place with 25.5 points. Orange Vista leads the way with 27.5 points.
Along with Noemi Cordero, the No. 2 seed at 110 pounds, the other Titans girls to advance were Ava Fodera at 105, Ava Ebrahimi at 120 and Xiomara Gallego at 140.
Gallego scored a sudden victory takedown to edge Clayton Valley’s Isabel Leyva 6-3, to advance to the quarters. Her win is proof of the depth of the San Diego Section at 140. Rancho Bernardo’s top-seeded Mary Snider advanced along with Granite Hills’ second-seeded Lucia Ledezma to the quarters.
Other San Diego girls advancing were San Marcos’ Brianna Ross (115), Torrey Pines’ Ruby Julien-Newsom (130), Olympians’ Vania Victoria (130), Brawley’s Lauren Zaragosa (135), Clairemont’s Roxanne Raab (135) and Mira Mesa’s Angel Hill.
Poway’s boys, meanwhile, ended the day advancing 10 into the quarterfinals and 113 points. Trailing right behind is Bellflower John Bosco with 105.5 and Clovis Buchanan with 103.5.
Titans advancing to the quarterfinals are Edwin Sierra (120), Robert Jones (126), Billy Townson (132), Arseni Kikiniou (144), Bailey Holman (157), Mario Carini (165), Gunnar Neal (175), Dominic Dotson (190), Angelo Posada (215) and Mick Moylan (285).
“I feel like some of our young guys may have tried a bit too hard today out of the box,” said Poway coach John Meyer. “They’re all trying hard we’ll talk them up (Thursday) and come back tomorrow.”
Three Granite Hills boys are alive into the quarterfinals, led by Ames-Michael Hoevker at 138. ing him are Junior Bumanglag (175) and Esteban Sanchez (215).
