Flag football may be the fastest- growing girls high school sport at present, though girls wrestling had that beat when it made its debut a couple decades ago.
The first girls section championship tournament was approved in October 2011. The sport has continued to grow since then in many different avenues.
The Grossmont Conference held its first dual meet season in 2025-26 with teams in both the Grossmont Hills League and Grossmont Valley League. Official league champions were recognized.
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 firstyear 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.
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.
The boys divisional championships are scheduled this Saturday, Feb. 14, at four sites: Division I at Del Norte High School, Division II at Southwest El Centro high School, Division III at Lincoln High School and Division IV at Mar Vista high School.
Liberty Charter, Mountain Empire and Christian will be competing at Mar Vista in Imperial Beach.
The top seven place-finishers in both the Division I and Division II tournaments advance to Masters, the top six in Division III and the top four in Division IV.
The section’s Masters state qualifying tournament is slated for two days with 24 wrestlers in each weight class gleaned from the four divisionals. The opening day is Friday, Feb. 20, and concludes Saturday, Feb. 21. Olympian High School will host the event.
