With the inaugural San Diego Masters girls state-qualifying tournament held last Friday at Steele Canyon High School and four section boys divisional tournaments taking place on Feb. 15 around the San Diego Section, it was a whirlwind weekend for high school wrestlers.
There was plenty to cheer about.
Kailey Smith became the first Granite Hills female wrestler to win a Masters individual weight class title after claiming the gold medal in her 103-pound weight class.
Smith (16-1) finished 3-0 on the day with two pins and a technical fall. She pinned West Hills’ Alexis Taitano in 1:34 in the quarterfinal round and then out-pointed University City’s Victoria Urquiza, 18-2, in the semifinals.
Smith pinned Brawley’s Arianna Gonzales in 5:41 in the championship match.
Smith had finished runner-up in her weight class at the preceding weekend’s Division I championship tournament at San Ysidro High School.
“Kailey has worked hard all season for this,” Granite Hills coach Jesse Sheard said. “She’s tough as they come and made sure she did what needed to be done to be a Masters champion. Her attitude and work ethic are amazing. After losing that finals match at CIF she was determined to win it all at Masters. I’m so proud of her and honored to coach her. She deserves to be Granite Hills first ever girls Masters champion.”
Heavy metal
The Division II boys wrestling championship tournament took place on Saturday at Steele Canyon High School. Grossmont Hills League champion Granite Hills recorded three individual runner-up finishers to highlight a strong fourth-place team finish in a deep field.
Joel Corella (140), Josh Runge (154) and Skyler Hillberg (172) all finished second in their respective weight classes.
Corella (26-10) made a statement with a 3-1 record on the day.
“Joel has come a long way,” Sheard said. “He placed eighth at CIF last year to taking second this year. He’s put in the time in the offseason and it’s translating on the mat. He’s a great kid and leader to have in our program. With the way he’s going I believe he has a shot at making it to state. As a coach I love watching him compete and be successful. He’s an all-around great kid.”
The top seven place-finishers in each of the 14 weight classes from the Division II tournament earned the right to compete at this weekend’s (Feb. 21-22) San Diego Masters state qualifying tournament at El Centro Southwest High School.
Granite Hills totaled eight Masters qualifiers.
Besides Corella, Runge and Hillberg, the Eagles’ honor roll also includes Ivan Miramontes (third, 147), Logan Ransdell (third, 287), Justin Carroll (fourth, 134), Carson Boehm (fourth, 162) and Izak Arredondo (seventh, 184).
Carroll, Miramontes and Ransdell all recorded two pins in the tournament.
Spencer Earp (eighth, 108) and Tanner Vielguth (eighth, 222) both qualified as alternates.
The top four place-finishers in each weight class at the Masters tournament qualify for the state tournament the following weekend in Bakersfield.
Mountain Empire’s Abraham Penuelas won his 222-pound weight class at the Division IV tournament at Army-Navy Academy. He finished the tournament with four pins.
Making a splash
Second-seeded Granite Hills (23-5-1) defeated 10th-seeded Santana, 11-9, in last Saturday’s San Diego Section Division II girls water polo quarterfinal playoff match at La Jolla High School to advance to Thursday’s semifinals against sixth-seeded La Costa Canyon (14-14) at 7:30 p.m. at the same site.
Thursday’s semifinal winner advances to Saturday’s championship game at 1 p.m. at LJHS.
Freshman Chloe Morgan led Granite Hills with five goals in the quarterfinal victory while senior Audrey Laskey scored four goals. Seniors Chase Dowling and Kassie Villa both scored one goal.
Morgan was the assist leader with three while senior Nia Payne contributed two assists and 15 goalie saves.
“The game was back and forth in scoring for three quarters and all tied up at 8-8 going into the fourth quarter,” Granite Hills head coach Page Small said.
The Lady Eagles outscored Santana 3-1 in the final quarter to secure the win.
The Granite Hills-La Costa Canyon winner will play the winner of Thursday’s other semifinal pitting top-seeded Mar Vista and 12th-seeded Classical Academy in the Division II championship game.
Making the grade
Both the Granite Hills boys and girls soccer teams and boys and girls basketball teams qualified for this year’s CIF winter sports playoffs.
Granite Hills (12-5-4), which went undefeated to win this year’s Grossmont Hills League title, received the No. 1 seed among Division I girls soccer teams and a bye to Satuday’s quarterfinals.
The school’s boys soccer team, which received the No. 7 seed in Division III after winning the Grossmont Valley League championship with an 8-2 league record, defeated 10th-seeded Bishop’s, 5-0, on Tuesday to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals.
Granite Hills received the No. 5 seed among Division III boys basketball teams and the No. 15 seed among Division IV girls basketball teams.
On the boys side, Granite Hills (15-9 overall) won the Grossmont Valley League championship with a perfect 8-0 league record while the Lady Eagles (8-18 overall) finished fifth in the Grossmont Valley League standings.
For updates, visit the website at www.cifsds.org
