Wrestling coach looks back on state meet, standout season

The Paloma Valley girls wrestling team won the CIF Southern Section championship this season. Photos courtesy of Paloma Valley wrestling Facebook page

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Luis Robles knew it would be hard to meet the high expectations he set for the large contingent of Paloma Valley High wrestlers who competed in the CIF State meet last weekend. Coaching 10 wrestlers over a grueling three-day tournament was an exhausting experience, he admitted upon the Wildcats’ return from Bakersfield.

But even though the Wildcats were not able to bring home any medals, Robles said he believes the impact to the program from its best season ever will have a positive carryover.

“We had high expectations, so we fell a little short,” Robles said. “But overall, it was an exciting experience and we continued the trend of success. Our girls finished tied for 29th place out of 261 teams that qualified, and we had two girls finish in the top 12 at their weight. That’s just one mat short of a medal.”

The most successful Wildcat wrestler at the meet was senior Maya Cruz at 143 pounds. She won her first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals to Rowland High’s Cheyenne Bowman, the top-seeded wrestler in the division. Bowman went on to win the state championship.

Cruz dropped into the consolation bracket, where she lost to Gianna Anaya of San Fernando High on Saturday. Even so, by finishing one round short of a medal, she finished in the top 12 wrestlers in her weight class, Robles said.

The other Wildcat wrestler still in action on the third and final day of competition Saturday was Kassandra Ayard at 189 pounds. After losing her first-round match on Thursday, she won her next three matches in the consolation bracket on Friday before losing on Saturday. She also finished in the top 12 of her weight class.

Robles said the other six girls wrestlers and two boys wrestlers from Paloma Valley fought hard and that all contributed to the legacy of the program.

“It was the first time ever that we had a state quarterfinalist, and the first time we sent two boys (Roman Carrillo and Cameron Owen) to state,” Robles said. “All competed great.

“It was a grueling week of wrestling and kind of heartbreaking in a way. It was rough after the high we had last week. After each loss and that final hugging moment, knowing it was the last match of their career … that was tough.”

Only two members of the Wildcats girls wrestling team are not seniors – Mikayla Correa (121 pounds) and Janelle Gomez (137). They will provide a strong bridge to the next generation of wrestlers, however, and Robles is ready to welcome new wrestlers into the program.

“We need to reload strong,” Robles said. “We already know there are girls interested in wrestling next year for us. I think the buzz is there. We need to make sure everyone knows that in our program, girls don’t wrestle against boys. They have their own team. Wrestling can be a sport for girls just like other sports can. It’s a sport that can teach life lessons.”

After the experience they had before a large audience in a huge arena over the weekend, Correa and Gomez expressed the confidence Robles believes is indicative of the success of the program.

“They watched the finals Saturday night,” Robles said about his two returning wrestlers. “They said to me, ‘Coach, you will be in that corner with us one day.’”

Having completed a season in which the Paloma Valley girls won the CIF-SS team title and the boys finished as CIF runner-up in the Division 2 dual meet tournament, the future is indeed bright for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats boys wrestling was the runner-up in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 dual meet tournament.