Paloma girls win CIF wrestling title; boys finish second

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Paloma Valley wrestling completed another dominating weekend, with the girls winning their third straight team championship and the boys finishing second in the CIF individual championships.

Karissa Turnwall and Makayla Correa repeated as individual champions for the Wildcats girls team, which wrapped up the team title before the final round was even held. Paloma Valley finished the event with 202.5 points, well ahead of second-place Sultana (152).

Five other girls advanced to next weekend’s CIF Masters meet. They are Jiana Rivers (second, 116 pounds); Gabby Jimenez (fifth, 143); Athena Saenz Franco (second, 170); Melissa Moreno (sixth, 189); and Celi Orozco (seventh, 235).

“I’m just in awe of how dominant we were this weekend,” coach Luis Robles said about the girls team. “We have Karissa and Makayla, who are some of the state and nation’s best, but the rest of our team is pretty young and raw. Our girls wrestled the best they had all year and dominated the CIF tournament every single round, and even clinched it way before the finals.

“We had two first-year wrestlers, one a freshman, finish as CIF runner-ups. Winning three CIF titles in a row just is incredible.”

Although they finished a close second place behind Temecula Valley, the Wildcat boys team also had an impressive performance. They had a school-record 13 wrestlers place, and six finished in the top five to qualify for the Masters Meet next weekend.

Syruss Flores and Simon Flores (no relation) each won individual titles to lead the way. Also qualifying for Masters were Cristian Mier (third, 138 pounds); Elijah Benavidez (second, 152); Javon Major (second, 170); and Ben Sohrab (fifth, 195).

The other Wildcats who won medals were Uriel Cruz (seventh, 106); Justin Brown (eighth, 120); Jake Barnes (eighth, 126); Jose Jimenez (eighth, 145); Aiden Platte (sixth, 160); Daniel Diaz (seventh, 182); and Chris Flores (seventh, 285).

“I am super proud, extremely,” Robles said about the boys team. “This was a once in a lifetime season the boys had. I am bummed they don’t get to celebrate with a title. They worked hard and just came up short.

“Our boys were impressive all year and fell just short against an amazing Temecula Valley team in a close race.”