Granite Hills High School senior Kailey Smith keyed Grossmont Conference competitors at last Saturday’s San Diego Section girls wrestling tournament at Santana High School with a first place showing in her 103-pound weight class.
Smith, a returning state qualifier, pinned all three of her opponents in the first period to march off the mat with the gold medal.
She was the lone East County champion in the 45-team single division event to conclude the season.
There will not be a girls section Masters state-qualifying tournament or a state championship event this year.
Smith was impressive on the mat in this shortened season, placing runner-up at the 18-team Granite Hills Invitational on May 8 and first place at the Grossmont Conference championship tournament on May 15 while wrestling boys.
She lost by a respectable 9-2 decision to Olympian’s Abram Cline at the Granite Hills Invitational and defeated Grossmont’s Andrew Mercado at the conference finals by a score of 7-2.
Smith was just as impressive at last Saturday’s all-girls event with a 1:08 pin of Steele Canyon’s Bella Sevillano in the quarterfinals, a 1:39 pin of Imperial’s Sandra Arguelles in the semifinals and a 54-second pin of Brawley’s Jaylee Cazares in the championship round.
East County recorded three second-place finishers in the 137-deep entry field.
West Hills’ Chloe Tolentino placed runner-up in her 128-pound weight division while Grossmont’s Sarah Stevens placed runner-up in her 133-pound division.
El Cajon Valley’s Valeria Rocha Ibarra finished second at 237 pounds while Steele Canyon’s Faith Manis placed third in the same weight class.
Tolentino opened the tournament with three quick pins measuring 42 and 40 seconds and another in 1:29 but was pinned in the final in 2:25 by Imperial’s Ariah Barragan.
Stevens won her opening two matches — a 4:39 pin against Olympian’s Makenna Harbin in the quarterfinals and a 17-5 major decision over Clairemont’s Riley Higgins in the semifinals. However, Stevens could not continue her winning streak after dropping a 7-0 decision to Rancho Bernardo’s Annabel He in the championship round.
Rocha Ibarra pinned her way to the finals with falls of 21 and 37 seconds but lost a close 10-7 decision to Olympian’s Angelina Leal in the championship round.
Brawley, braced by two individual weight class champions, won the team championship with 161 points while Mira Mesa, also with two individual CIF champions, placed runner-up with 103 points.
Boys wrestling
The San Diego Section will hold its traditional four divisional boys wrestling championships this Saturday at selected sites around the county.
East County will be the site of the Division IV tournament, which will take place at Mount Miguel High School, starting at 9 a.m.
Other divisional sites include Mission Hills High School (Division I), San Pasqual High School (Division II) and Montgomery High School (Division III).
There will be no section Masters state-qualifying tournament or state championship event this year.
Weight classes will feature 16- man brackets; each wrestler is allowed two family members in attendance.
Mountain Empire, Mount Miguel and Christian will compete at the Division IV tournament while El Cajon Valley, West Hills, Santana, Monte Vista and El Capitan will compete at the Division III tournament.
Grossmont, Valhalla, Granite Hills and Steele Canyon will compete at the Division II tournament while Helix will compete at the Division I tournament.
For more information, visit the website at www.cifsds.org.
