Lady Eagles, Lady Crusaders claim San Diego Section CIF girls wrestling championships

Girls wrestling made its debut on the mat two decades ago. The first girls section championship tournament was approved in October 2011.
The sport has continued to grow since then in many different directions.

The Metro Conference awarded official league dual meet championships in 2025-26: Olympian in the Metro-Mesa League and Sweetwater in the Metro-South Bay League.

Dual meets were integrated alongside boys teams for a complete spectrum of competition on the mat in both gender fields.

The section crossed a milestone last weekend with the unveiling of its inaugural Division IV championship tournament at Valley Center High School. Nineteen teams competed in all four divisionals for a total of 76 schools.

Rancho Bernardo High School hosted the Division I tournament while San Ysidro High School hosted the Division II meet. Ramona High School hosted the Division III tourney.

The section held three divisional tournaments in 2024-25.

Mater Dei Catholic, Castle Park and Mar Vista high schools helped make history by competing in Saturday’s Division IV tournament.
It was indeed a history-making event for Mater Dei Catholic, which captured its first girls wrestling CIF championship in school history.

Veteran coaches Dale Siscon and Gabriel Ruz head the Mater Dei Catholic coaching staff.

“These girls have really taken this to heart — they’re bringing it,” Ruz said.

The Lady Crusaders soared above the mat with 112 points to edge runner-up Valley Center (96 points), third place Crawford (94 points), fourth place Liberty Charter (91 points) and fifth place Coastal Academy (90 points).

Mater Dei Catholic led the way with three weight class champions, one runner-up and one bronze medalist to qualify five grapplers for the upcoming San Diego Masters state-qualifying tournament Feb. 21 at Eastlake High School.

Queens of the mat included champions Kailani Topasna (120 pounds), Beatriz Rockholt (170 pounds) and Kaila Strother (190 pounds). Natalia Corrao-Broussard (145 pouunds) finished with the silver medal while Lyla Ibarra (140 pounds) finished third in her weight class.
Overall, the Lady Crusaders advanced four wrestlers to the championship match.

Mater Dei Catholic also picked up one Masters alternate (fourth-place finisher) with Eva-Arabella Tehrani at 100 pounds.

There was one all-Metro Conference finals as Topasna defeated Castle Park’s Karla Corral at 120 pounds.

Castle Park finished seventh in the Division IV field with 70 points and four Masters qualifiers: Corral (120) with a silver medal and Emma Grajeda Croce (100), Eli Serna (110) and Noahlamie Velasquez (125) with bronze medals.

Mar Vista finished in 17th place with four points and one Msters alternate (Forever Whaley, fourth at 190 pounds).

This year’s four divisionals highlighted the increasing competitiveness in the region.

Sixteen wrestlers will compete in each of the 14 weight classes at the upcoming Masters tournament that includes the top five place-winners from both the Division I and Division II tournaments and the top three place-winners from both the Division III and Division IV tournaments.

The top three place-finishers in each weight class at Masters will punch their ticket to the state championship meet Feb. 26-28 in Bakersfield.

Dynasty on tap
Olympian won its sixth consecutive Division I team championship with an inspired performance to edge runner-up Mira Mesa 194-188 on the scoreboard.

Steele Canyon finished third with 166 points.

“I told the girls that it was going to be a tough day, but I believed in them,” Lady Eagles head coach Jessie Perez said. “If any girl hadn’t won a match they won on Saturday,we would have lost.

“The score was so close but our two returning Masters champions sealed the deal for us. I’m pretty sure this is the most dominant sports team ever in the Metro Conference.”

Olympian’s CIF team championship included two individual champions (Natalia Righellis at 147 pounds and Elisa Najera at 237 pounds), two silver medalists (Jianna Goodwin at 102 pounds and Madelyn Hogue at 142 pounds), one bronze medalist (Elyza Guzman at 107 pounds), four fourth-place finishers (Briseis Ramirez at 132 pounds, Aynnara Quintero at 137 pounds, Sulay Ramirez at 157 pounds and Chloe Diaz at 192 pounds) and one sixth-place finisher (Evynn Kilby at 112 pounds).

That’s a treasure trove of nine Masters qualifiers (and one alternate) for a team that graduated eight out of 14 weights from last year.
Najera’s pin in 30 seconds in her finals match against San Marcos’ Nirvana Tapia clinched the team title for the Lady Eagles in exciting walk-off fashion.

Najera improved to 28-5 on the season while Righellis is 30-6.

Eastlake’s Olivia Grace Delosreyes was counted among the division champions at 115 pounds.

The Lady Titans finsihed seventh in the team standings with 103.5 points with five Masters qualifiers overall. Kareli Rascon was second at 125 pounds. Emme De Mesa was fourth at 120 pounds while Sydney Weevie (140 pounds) and Arianni Benitez (190) were both fifth.

Sweetwater (14th with 37 points) made history with its first two Masters qualifiers: Krisabella Villalobos (fourth at 102 pounds) and Alexi Montoya (fourth at 107 pounds).

Otay Ranch finished 13th with 42 points.

Next up
Four Metro Conference teams participated in the Division II tournament: Bonita Vista (fourth, 163.5 points), San Ysidro (eighth, 75 points), Chula Vista (10th, 46.5 points) and Hilltop (11th, 44.5 points).

Bonita Vista reaped 10 Masters qualifiers, including champion Ella Edvalson at 145 pounds, runner-up Alyssa Riggs at 235 pounds and bronze medalist Xiamara Wright at 140 pounds. The Lady Barons also recorded two fourth-place finishers (Emma Payan at 100 and Ivanna Ruiz at 170) and five fifth-place finishers.

San Ysidro’s medal haul included three Masters qualifiers: Keyry Martinez (third, 155), Ahlani Dominguez (third, 190) and Naomi Anaya (third, 235). Masters alternates included Amarissa Romero (sixth at 135) and Anaaya Skipper (sixth at 170).

Chula Vista’s honor roll included Viviana Romo (second at 155), Pamela Garcia (fifth at 140) and Arianna Moises (sixth at 120). Romo and Garcia both made the Masters cut.

Hilltop’s Angel Torres finished fifth at 100 pounds as a Masters qualifier while the Lady Lancers nabbed four Masters alternate spots. Elizabeth Byland (105), Tatianna Barrientos (125), Valerie Pablo (145) and Isabella Verganza (155), who all recorded sixth-place finishes.
Montgomery (14th, 13 points) and Southwest (tied for 16th place, zero points) both participated in the Division III tournament. Neither team produced a Masters qualifier.

Tourney host Ramona emerged on top with 165 points ahead of runner-up Santana (162.5 points).

Eastern exposure: Girls wrestling takes the spotlight again

The Grossmont Conference held its first dual meet championship season in 2025-26 with teams in both the Grossmont Hills League and Grossmont Valley League.

Dual meets were integrated alongside boys junior varsity and varsity teams for a complete spectrum of competition on the mat in both gender fields.

The section crossed a milestone last weekend with the unveiling of its inaugural Division IV championship tournament at Valley Center High School. Nineteen teams competed in all four divisionals for a total of 76 schools.

Rancho Bernardo High School hosted the Division I tournament while San Ysidro High School hosted the Division II meet. Ramona High School hosted the Division III tourney.

The section held three divisional tournaments to cap the 2024-25 season.

Liberty Charter High School and Mountain Empire High School helped make history by competing in Saturday’s Division IV tournament.

The Lady Lions placed fourth with 91 points with five medalists —sophomores Adriana Loya (155 pounds) and Ella Godby (235 pounds) as weight class champions, silver medalist senior Brooklyn Lockwood (125 pounds) and sophomore Braelyn Rodriguez (145 pounds) and freshman Taryn McClain (170 pounds) as bronze medalists.

The five Liberty Charter grapplers will get a chance to advance to the upcoming state tournament by competing at the San Diego Masters tournament Feb. 21 at Eastlake High School.

Lockwood is a third-year wrestler while Rodriguez and Godby are both second-year wrestlers. Loya and McClain have both found success as first-year wrestlers.

The Lady Lions finished just six points out of second place in a blockbuster showing.

Mountain Empire placed eighth with 67 points and three Masters qualifiers: Delayna Mallon in second place at 100 pounds, Mirriam Hayes in third place at 130 and Josalin Shawcroft in third place at 135 pounds. Avianna Woodley (105) and Keailani Pantohja (170) both finished fourth in their respective weight classes as Masters alternates.

This year’s four divisionals highlighted the increasing competitiveness in the region.

Sixteen wrestlers will compete in each of the 14 weight classes at the upcoming Masters tournament that includes the top five place-winners from both the Division I and Division II tournaments and the top three place-winners from both the Division III and Division IV tournaments.

The top three place-finishers in each weight class at Masters will punch their ticket to the state championship meet Feb. 26-28 in Bakersfield.

This is the third season that Liberty Charter has fielded a girls wrestling team. It started with just four wrestlers and has since grown to eight. The team has grown each year and has built a fun character-driven, positive program.

Coaches include Hass Paquette (head coach), John Luzzi (assistant), Isabella Luzzi (assistant) and Dan Baker (assistant).
“Our team is not in a league yet, but hopes to join a league in the future,” John Luzzi said. “We hosted two non-league duals this year on campus for the first time against Crawford High School and Guajome Park Academy.”

The team also participated in regular season tournaments.

Top records include Godby (19-8), Loya (13-5), McClain (14-12), Lockwood (12-11) and Rodriguez (11-13).
“These girls have learned a lot this year about grit and perseverance,” John Luzzi said.