There is a slight time differential between boys and girls wrestling matches on the Central Coast.

There is no intensity difference.

The Pioneer Valley and Righetti girls got after it at Righetti Wednesday night in the first-ever dual meet for the two programs. The visiting Panthers put on a powerful display, winning the first round of varsity matches 72-6 and the second round 66-6.

High school boys wrestling meets consist of three periods of two minutes each. The Pioneer Valley-Righetti girls match had three periods of 1:30 each. No match went the distance, though. There were a raft of forfeit wins for the Panthers.

Righetti had only six wrestlers, some of whom did double duty. Girls have competed in the Warriors' wrestling program before but, “This is the first time we've had an actual girls team,” Righetti Athletic Director Eric Albright said.

There has been a state wrestling tournament for girls. “The CIF has split girls programs into Northern and Southern sections and is trying to work it so there will eventually be sectional and league competition,” as there is for boys, said Albright.

As for the first-year Pioneer Valley program, “We have 30 young ladies,” said Panthers coach Justin Magdaleno. “These girls are working out from 6-9:30 p.m. five nights a week and working out on Saturdays. They have study hall. They work very hard on their conditioning.”

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It showed.

Pioneer Valley's wrestlers went out hard from the start and often got startlingly quick pins. Ashley Spencer's was the quickest, 13 seconds at 154 pounds in the second round.

Liz Alipia, at 138 pounds, took five seconds longer to get hers. Jasmine Williams earned a stop in 29 seconds at 165 pounds, also in the second round.

In the first round, Jessica Trujillo won her match in 57 seconds at 235 pounds. Teammate Desirae Ionata won her 146-pound match in the same amount of time then.

“I'd been watching guys (wrestle), and I was thinking ‘What would it be like if we had a girls team here?,'” said Ionata, who's a sophomore.

She found out.

“At school, some of the people think it's really cool that I wrestle. Some people think ‘Girls WRESTLE?' I think we showed them that girls can wrestle.”

Ionata was certainly more than capable in her debut match. “At first I was pretty scared,” she said. “Then adrenaline took over,” and she got the job done.

Liz Salcedo is a Pioneer Valley senior. She wrestled at 189 pounds Wednesday night and took just 59 seconds to get a pin.

She said she became interested in wrestling because “It's another skill I want to pick up.

“I do Tae Kwan Do. I want to be a stunt woman.”

No match went the distance Wednesday night. Deidre Burson (165 pounds) and Aubrei Estrada (114) earned Righetti's wins with pins.

Estrada rebounded after Pioneer Valley's Veronica Morales stopped her in the first round of matches. Other Pioneer Valley winners by pin included Rebeccah Herrera (108 pounds) and Laura Stewart (235) in the first round; and Angelica Gonzalez (108) in the second.

Pioneer Valley competes in the Thousand Oaks Tournament Saturday. Both teams compete in a three-way meet at Oxnard Pacifica next Wednesday.

Boys wrestling

Pioneer Valley 68, Santa Ynez 12

Nine Panthers earned pins as Pioneer Valley won its first dual match of this season and pushed its 2007 record to 4-2.

Panthers Andrew McCormick (112 pounds), Martin Ruiz (119), James Sanchez (125), Raul Ojeda (130); Chris Barela (140); Elias Montoya (171); Alex Grandy (189); John Morales (215); and Dominic Gonzales (heavyweight) all stopped their opponents early.

Girls soccer

Santa Ynez 3, Dos Pueblos 0

Santa Ynez improved to 2-0 on the young season with an impressive win over Dos Pueblos, a CIF Division I squad.

Pirate Aolani Rueff scored all three goals - two unassisted - adding to her four goals scored in Santa Ynez' season-opener against Nipomo. Rueff's first goal came in just the fifth minute. Her second came in the 60th minute on an indirect free kick from Monica Pesqueda. She also scored unassisted in the 73rd minute.

Goalie Hannah Zellekamp finished with 11 saves.

Santa Ynez faces Arroyo Grande today at home.

Righetti 3, Lompoc 0

Ana Francisco and Heather Rivera led the surge as the Warriors' defense shut down the Braves in a season opener at Righetti's Warrior Stadium.

Corrie Koertge scored Righetti's first goal. Sierra Duarte scored the next two. Kara Lai and Heather Soden had assists.

Goal keeper Haley Hawes made four saves for Righetti, which plays at St. Joseph at 3:30 p.m. today in another non-league game.

Water polo

St. Joseph 14, Atascadero 8

Maggie Evans pumped in five goals for the Knights as they racked up a non-league win at home.

Kelsey Ellis scored three times for St. Joseph. Katie Pena and Sierra Peltcher scored twice each. St. Joseph won the varsity game 10-8.

Girls basketball

Dos Pueblos 51, Santa Ynez 28

Annie Fredrickson and Whitney Moir scored 10 points each for the Pirates, who suffered a season-opening loss on the road.

Fredrickson pulled down nine rebounds. Santa Ynez committed 29 turnovers.

The Pirates play at the Gold Coast Tournament in Santa Barbara this weekend.

Sports writer Kenny Cress can be reached at 739-2237 or by e-mail to kcress@santamariatimes.com

November 29, 2007