Wildcats boys, girls wrestling teams remain undefeated

Elijah Benavidez, shown in a match earlier this season, scored a big win on Tuesday. (Photo by Rick Rowell)

The boys and girls wrestling teams at Paloma Valley High School remained undefeated Tuesday with home victories over highly regarded Birmingham High of Van Nuys by scores of 46-28 and 48-28.

The highlight match for the boys was the first one of the meet, in the 152-pound weight class. Paloma Valley’s Elijah Benavidez, ranked 26th in the state, came out strong and scored a major decision over Noah Elliott, who came in undefeated and ranked in the top 16. Elliott had just defeated the No. 6 wrestler in the state in a recent meet, but he was no match for Benavidez on Tuesday.

In the girls meet, Karissa Turnwall won in a close decision over Birmingham standout wrestler Abby Perez. Turnwall medaled in the state tournament with a seventh-place finish last year.

In an unusual scheduling situation, Paloma Valley comes right back with a league meet against Elsinore on Wednesday. Wildcats coach Luis Robles said he and the Birmingham coach have tried for a year to find a suitable date for a nonleague meet and settled on Tuesday.

“We’re both of the mindset that we aren’t afraid to expose the kids to a high number of matches,” Robles said. “We were supposed to meet last year, but we got shut down with COVID at that time. We aren’t banged up from tonight, so we’re good for the Elsinore match.”

The Wildcats boys team improved its season dual meet record to 9-0. The girls are 5-0.