For the second time in two years, San Benito will have a representative at the CIF Girls Wrestling State Championships.
With two wins during the weekend’s Central Coast Section championship at Oak Grove High School in San Jose, San Benito’s Athena McGoff earned a second-place finish and a berth in the state championships later this month.
As the girls battled for a spot in the CIF State Championships, the boys squad warmed up for the Feb. 24-25 CCS finals with the El Camino Colt Wrestling Invitational in South San Francisco. The Balers finished in 19th place – out of 44 teams – with 46 points.
But it was McGoff’s finish that highlighted the weekend.
Wrestling in the 235-pound division, McGoff made her way to the division championship with a pin in the second round and a close-decision win over Overfelt’s Raquel Lozano in the third round.
McGoff was the only Baler – four wrestled – to advance to the finals of her division.
In the finals, McGoff was pinned in the match’s first 24 seconds.
Her finish, though, was good enough to earn a spot in the state finals on Feb. 24 and 25.
The other Balers struggled in the CCS finals.
Only Darian Maroney, wrestling in the 126-pound division, earned another win for the Balers on Saturday.
After being pinned by Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Gavrielle Thompson, Maroney won her next two matches by decisions to make it to the third round of the consolation bracket.
Maroney’s run ended, though, on a pin in the third round of the consolation bracket.
Alexis Sumaya, wrestling at 108 pounds, was pinned in the first round by Westmont’s Katelyn Moreno. After earning a bye in the consolation bracket, Sumaya was pinned by San Jose’s Brianna Shupe.
After earning a first-round bye, San Benito’s Samantha Barrientos fell in the second round of the 114-pound division to Milipitas’ Jeannie Bauzon. In the consolation bracket, Barrientos earned another bye before losing by a 5-2 decision to Terra-Nova’s Sophia Mahoney-Rohrl.
In South San Francisco, the Balers varsity squad had one of its best showings of the year. All six wrestlers won a match, and San Benito ended the tournament with two fifth-place finishes.
Wrestling at 106 pounds Elijah Riddle placed fifth. Riddle opened the tournament with back-to-back pins in the first two rounds. In the tournament quarterfinals, Riddle was pinned by Palma’s Hunger Rehbien. In the consolation bracket, Riddle won his final two matches to finish the tournament with a 4-1 record.
Dominic Cortes, wrestling at 138-pounds, and Jacob Rea, wrestling at 182 pounds, also went 4-1 during the tournament.
Rea finished in fifth place overall in his weight class. After receiving a first-round bye, Rea advanced to the quarterfinals with a pin over King City’s Isaiah Valladerez.
In the quarterfinals, Rea lost his only match of the weekend to Aptos’ Deniz Kapkin. Afterward, Rea took his final two matches in the consolation bracket.
San Benito’s Toby Sherman, 126-pound weight class, finished with a 3-2 record. Patrick Ippolito, 113, finished with a 1-2 record. And finally, Tim Castillo, 170, finished 3-1.
The Balers season continues at the CCS finals on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25.
