Paloma Valley girls wrestling team wins CIF championship

Members of the girls wrestling team at Paloma Valley High School celebrate winning the CIF championship Saturday. Courtesy Paloma Valley Facebook page

Luis Robles was still trying to take it all in Sunday morning, just hours after the Paloma Valley High School girls wrestling team won the CIF championship Saturday at Beaumont High.

"My reaction when it happened was, my chest got tight and I screamed like a crazy man," said Robles, program director and head coach of the Wildcats girls and boys wrestling teams. "Once we got to the final round, I told a few girls who asked me that yes, we could clinch the team title. I was doing the math. We had the lead in every round and never gave it up."

The CIF wrestling finals is a showcase for individuals, with CIF champions crowned in 14 weight classes. The Wildcats got one of those too, when Kassandra Ayard pinned her opponent in the finals of the 189-pound weight class to become the first CIF individual champion in the program's history. But it was truly a team effort by the Wildcats, who qualified eight wrestlers for next weekend's CIF State meet in Bakersfield.

Paloma Valley finished with 165 points, well ahead of second-place Hillcrest (142). It was an impressive performance for the Wildcats, who knew they had a chance to win the title but were up against some tough competition.

"I knew we could win, but I thought we were really up against it with some of those other schools," Robles said. "One team had five transfers who were top wrestlers. Another had a state champion that transferred in. Meanwhile, we have a program of home-grown wrestlers, girls who walked through the door and wanted to compete."

No one represents that aspect of the program more than Ayard, who displayed the type of work ethic on Saturday that was necessary to take her from a No. 7 seeding in her weight class to a championship. She trailed 2-0 in the first period of her final-round match against Kaycee Fitero of Cerritos before gaining the upper hand in the second period and scoring a pin.

"In the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, she won her matches by one point," Robles said about Ayard. "Then she pinned her next two opponents."

The eight state qualifiers is a record for the girls wrestling program at Paloma. Here's the complete list of wrestlers advancing, listed by weight and their finish in their division:

101 -- Jayden Von Moos, second place
111 -- Alyssa Guardiola, seventh
121 -- Makayla Correra, seventh
126 -- Luisita Jara, sixth
137 -- Janelle Gomez, fifth
143 -- Maya Cruz, eighth
189 -- Kassandra Ayard, first
235 -- Desiree Cortez, fifth

The CIF State meet will be held Thursday through Saturday at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.