Granite Hills High School will be represented by two wrestlers at this weekend’s California state championship tournament at Bakersfield’s Mechanics Arena.
Kailey Smith made history as the school’s first female state qualifier after winning her 103-pound weight class at the inaugural San Diego Section girls Masters tournament Feb. 21 at Steele Canyon High School.
Joel Corella was among the latest group of state qualifiers after recording a meteoric second-place finish in his 140-pound weight class at last weekend’s San Diego Masters boys tournament at Southwest El Centro High School.
Corella was among three East County qualifiers in the boys field. Overall, eight wrestlers — three boys and five girls — will represent the region at this weekend’s state meet.
Competition starts Thursday, Feb. 27, and concludes with finals and awards on Saturday, Feb. 29. Live scoring will be offered through the www.cif-state.org website.
“It was such an awesome season,” Granite Hills head coach Jesse Sheard said. “It was a proud coaching moment watching these kids put it all together. Our kids bought in all season and left a lasting impression for fellow Eagles coming to wrestle at Granite.”
The top four place-finishers in each of 14 weight classes at last weekend’s Masters boys tournament punched their tickets to the state meet.
Corella, the second-place finisher in his weight class at the preceding Division II finals, won his opening three matches to advance to the semifinals.
Corella opened the tournament with a bang by pinning Rancho Bernardo’s Richard Sunni in 3:44. The Granite Hills wrestler then captured a tight 3-2 decision over La Costa Canyon’s Dylan Drach in the quarterfinals to earn a berth in the semifinal round.
Corella topped Olympian’s Mico Gonzalez by an 8-6 decision to advance to the championship round against Poway’s Zane Stoddard.
Stoddard stopped Corella’s win streak with a 14-0 major decision.
“Joel amazed me,” Sheard said. “He was focused the whole weekend and had his mind set on making the finals. He upset a few kids along the way and wasn’t letting anyone or anything get in his way.
“Being the sixth seed, he knew he had some work to do, but as he says every tournament ‘seeds don’t mean anything.’ He didn’t let it bother him.
“I love watching him wrestle and the emotion he brings to the match. He’s a great leader to have on our team and sets the standard high for wrestlers at Granite. Last year after placing eighth at CIF and not qualifying for Masters to this year placing second at CIF and second at Masters, he’s made a huge improvement.”
Granite Hills, the 2019-20 Grossmont Hills League champion, led the 10 East County teams competing at Masters with a ninth-place team finish among the 68 participating teams.
“Overall, we wrestled well,” Sheard said. “Our boys went out and gave it their all. We placed top 10 which hasn’t been done since 2012.”
The Eagles entered the tournament with eight qualifiers.
Ivan Miramontes (147) finished fifth in his weight division after compiling a two-day record of 5-2. He lost his first match but battled back with four consecutive elimination-round wins, including two by pin and another by a 14-3 major decision, to advance to the consolation semifinals.
However, Brawley’s Jose Gutierrez denied him a trip to the state meet on the strength of a narrow 4-3 victory.
Miramontes scored some personal pride points by winning a 10-8 decision over Mt. Carmel’s Sebastian Day in the fifth-place match.
Josh Runge (154) and Skyler Hillberg (172) both won their opening two matches before being eliminated. Runge won by a pair of third-period pins while Hillberg won by a first-period pin and a 4-0 minor decision.
Izak Arredondo (184) finished 3-2 with two pins while Justin Carroll (134) finished 2-2. Spencer Earp (108) finished 1-2 with one pin.
Sheard credited the team’s success to both its coaching staff and, of course, the wrestlers themselves.
“Our coaching staff is amazing,” Sheard said. “The dedication they put into these kids is huge. Every one of them plays a huge role in the success we’ve had so far.
“When we took over a few years ago we told them we are setting the goals high, and each year we expect to beat the year before, and they did that this year. The kids deserve all the credit. They worked hard to accomplish this.”
Almost famous
Second-seeded Granite Hills saw its championship hopes dashed in a 10-9 triple overtime loss to sixth-seeded La Costa Canyon in the semifinals of this year’s San Diego Section Division II girls water polo playoffs Feb. 20 at La Jolla High School.
The Lady Eagles finished 23- 6-1 overall after winning their second consecutive Grossmont Valley League championship this year.
“It was a tough loss, but I’m very proud of their accomplishments,” head coach Page Small said. “It was a successful season.”
The teams finished in a 7-7 tie through regulation and 9-9 through two full overtime periods before LCC’s Mia McDonald scored the game-winning goal 54 seconds into the sudden-victory period.
Freshman Chloe Morgan led Granite Hills on the scoreboard with three goals and four assists while senior Audrey Laskey collected three goals and two assists.
Senior Chase Dowling scored two goals while junior Aidyn Gaeir had one goal.
Senior goalie Nia Payne had two assists and 28 saves.
“This team was effort-based, they would always compete with maximum effort until the final buzzer,” Page said. “I’m very proud of what these players and program have been able to accomplish the past two years.”
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After winning the Grossmont Valley League title and posting a school-record 14-game winning streak, the season ended for the Granite Hills boys basketball team in Tuesday’s San Diego Section Division III semifinals following a 85-60 loss at top-seeded San Ysidro.
The fifth-seeded Eagles finished the season 17-10.
Granite Hills defeated 13th-seeded Hoover, 49-48, in last Friday’s quarterfinal playoffs on a three-point shot by Caleb Erickson at the buzzer. It was Erickson’s first and only basket of the game.
Senior guard McKay Roberts led the Eagles with 19 points.
