Last year, the girls’ wrestling team finished strong, with three returning wrestlers – Isabel Garcia, Joselin Hernandez, and Alondra Juarez – placing at CCS and advancing to State.
This year those three and a crop of newcomers tried to improve that performance. In their quest to improve on last year’s results, the returners qualified in the national tournament off-season. “I trained all summer, twice a day, to get ready for the season,” Hernandez said. Coach Miguel Rodriguez was very happy with the off-season.
The returners had a huge responsibility since they were role models for the newcomers. “As a returner, there are a lot of expectations such as winning CCS again and placing at state,” Hernandez said. “The competitiveness makes me want to someday win a championship as a team and hopefully individually too,” freshman Angelina Juarez said.
Going into the PCAL finals, the team was 5-0 in dual meets and looking to capture the league title. Wrestling with 13 girls, they finished 1st with 247.5 points. “I did well, I met my own expectations,” Juarez said. “As a team, we did good because newcomers placed really high and it was super cool seeing them place.” The girls that placed first and brought the most points to the team were freshmen Vanessa Rocha and Luna Hernandez-Sandoval, along with Garcia, Juarez, and Hernandez.
At the CCS Girls Southern Regionals, those who placed in the Top 8 moved onto CCS Masters. The girls made a clean sweep, taking 1st as a team. The top 8 girls were freshmen Rocha, Briana Ochoa, Yoselin Lopez, Isabella Frias, and Areli Rodriguez; junior Nayely Jimenez; Garcia, and seniors Illiana Serrano, Juarez, and Hernandez. “We all have been working hard to accomplish our goal which is to be CCS champs as a team,” Hernandez said. “Placing first in regionals is just a step closer to that goal.”
At CCS Masters, the girls took 2nd place as a team. Juarez, Hernandez, and Garcia all advanced to State.
Unfortunately, the team did not place at State, but the girls enjoyed the season. Juarez went 2-2 at State. “This season was great overall, but I did not exceed my expectations,” Juarez said. Garcia went 1-2 at State. “The season was long and hard but it was a great season overall,” she said. “Being with the girls made it a great experience.” Hernandez went 2-2 at State. “This season I wrestled way better than last year. I did way better at tournaments and I saw myself improve a lot,” Hernandez said. “I had a lot of high expectations for myself which I was not able to meet all of them, so I’m kinda bummed about it. But as a team, we did great. We fell short of our goal of being team CCS champs, but I’m proud of how far we got.”
