The 2011 CCS Championships are around the corner, Saturday to be
exact, at Oak Grove High School, pitting the section’s best against
one another.
Inside the sauna-like wrestling room at Gilroy High School, the Mustangs girls’ wrestling team goes through its pre-practice routine Tuesday afternoon – a bunch of laps around the dinky space. A glossy layer of sweat beads along the their hairlines and drips down to their brow.
Head coach Steven Hernandez tunes to the Neil Diamond station through his iPhone, much to the chagrin of the team.
“No more Neil Diamond,” a few of them shout from underneath their hoodie sweatshirts.
Two-plus hours of technique training and grappling ensue. Another day’s worth of grin-and-bear-it practice in the books.
“A lot of the girls had been saying they were going to come out, and this year they did,” Hernandez said. “The dedication has been extremely strong.
“Some parents don’t want their girls wrestling against boys. It’s nice to be able to offer this option.”
This season, eight wrestlers came out for the first-year girls squad, a pleasant surprise in Hernandez’s eyes.
Two years ago, there wasn’t a girls’ group. Senior Jasmine Yanez – defending CCS champ and two-time All-American – used to be the only girl on the GHS team. Last season, Brittany Lorenzana joined the program and promptly placed second at CCS.
“You see the development of the sport at the high school level every year,” Hernandez said. “The competition is getting stronger every year.”
The landscape of girls wrestling has changed dramatically. As evidenced by numbers alone, the sport has grown in popularity among female prep athletes. So much so that the CCS held the first girls’ championships in 2010. And this year, for the first time, the section tournament is its own entity held separate from the boys. The 2011 CCS Championships are around the corner, Saturday to be exact, at Oak Grove High School, pitting the section’s best against one another. And to top it off, the California Interscholastic Federation is sanctioning the inaugural state championship meet Feb. 25-26 in Lemoore.
At least 168 athletes representing 53 schools are expected this weekend.
“It’s great to know that it happened before I graduated,” Yanez said regarding the recent exposure girls wrestling has received. “We always pushed to have our own league so the girls can prove how far they’ve come. It’s finally being recognized.”
Yanez (108 pounds) and fellow senior Lorenzana (128), freshman Courtney Pipkin (98), sophomore Amorita Fregoso (118) and sophomore Megan Nebesnick (154) will throw their talents into the mix Saturday, with a berth to the state meet available to the top-four finishers in each weight class. Aubrey Young, Vanessa Martinez and Jennifer Garcia, though they contributed to the team earlier in the season, will not enter the CCS meet due to various injuries.
“We have always wanted the team. It’s nice to finally say we have a girls team. It’s like ‘hey, there are the Gilroy girls.’ We are building it up,” Yanez said.
“This year we finally have a team of dedicated girls who all want to be here. To be able to have pride as a team is nice. It’s a great feeling to know that you are part of it.”
Hernandez said the newcomers have all grown into their own styles and have taken to the rugged sport with ease.
“Their technique has come up tremendously, their fitness has come up tremendously,” Hernandez said. “They have won some, they’ve lost some. They are good first-year wrestlers and over the next couple of years they are just going to develop and get better.”
The girls have been busy this season, participating in six tournaments, including a top-15 finish at the prestigious Napa Valley Classic last month.
“It’s been really fun, really awesome, just to have girls there that can relate to you,” Lorenzana said. “It’s a tough sport. It goes to show how strong women are becoming. It’s been amazing. I love it.
“Women’s wrestling is growing and becoming more popular. Hopefully it keeps climbing that hill and opening doors for more opportunities for women.”
Wrestling at the CCS Championships is slated to begin at 10 a.m. The finals are scheduled for 6 p.m.
— Sophomore Brenda Lopez will represent Christopher High at 112 pounds.
