“Yes and no,” its coach replied to a question of whether or not people were enthusastic about Pioneer Valley's inaugural girls wrestling team.

There were supporters, Panthers coach Justin Magdaleno said. There were also, “A lot of doubters. Some within the student body. Some within the faculty.”

“At first, some people looked at the team like we were a joke,” said junior 121-pound wrestler Katrina Catayas. “Then some of them saw us wrestle, and they changed their minds.”

“Once we started winning, some people started looking at us in a different way,” junior Alyssa Jeffres, who wrestles at 132 pounds, said.

Pioneer Valley did not compete in a league, but it did go 5-0 in dual matches. The team finished second at the CIF Southern Section Tournament earlier in the month.

PVHS senior Laura Stewart wrestles in the heavyweight division. She took gold at the tourney. Stewart is the fourth-year school's first CIF sectional champion in any sport.

“I was totally surprised by what I did at the CIF tournament,” said Stewart. “This is my first year wrestling. I didn't know what to expect.”

Advertisement

In fact, ALL of Pioneer Valley's girls are in their first season of wrestling.

Stewart and her teammates' second place showing is the highest CIF sectional finish yet for the school. The Panthers were eight points behind winner West Covina South Hills and “15-to-17 points ahead of (Oxnard) Pacifica, which finished third,” Magdaleno said.

Jeffres placed fourth at the sectional tournament. Senior Connie Preciado was another Panthers wrestler who placed highly there. She finished sixth at 146 pounds.

“Some guys here figured out that girls can actually wrestle,” said Preciado.

“I'm in Tae Kwon Do,” she added. “Wrestling helps me some with that. Some of the moves are the same.”

Stewart, Jeffres, Preciado and Catayas are four of 22 Panthers who will make the trip to the CIF Girls State Wrestling Tournament which takes place Friday and Saturday at Hanford West High School. Action begins at 9 a.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Panthers are ranked third in California, behind Hogan High School from Northern California and South Hills.

“The CIF girls wrestling format differs from the boys',” said Magdaleno. The state CIF office usually divides member sports into 10 sections.

“In girls wrestling, there's only Northern and Southern sections,” said Magdaleno. “Everything from Bakersfield south is the Southern Section. Everything north of Bakersfield is the Northern Section.” There is no specific qualifying for the state competition at the Southern Section meet.

There is at least one similarity to the boys' format. Magdaleno said those who place highly enough at the state meet will qualify for the girls national wrestling tournament. The boys have a national wrestling meet as well.

Magdaleno believes he has several wrestlers with a chance to place highly at the state meet. He mentioned Stewart, Jeffres, Preciado, Catayas, Liz Salcedo (165 pounds), Elena Cantu (154) and Ashley Woods (146).

Woods is “our stud in the making,” said Magdaleno.

“I believe the top eight finishers medal at the state meet.”

Former high school wrestler Mary Whitestine is one of Magdaleno's assistants. “Mary wrestled for a year at Santa Maria and then three years here,” Magdaleno said. “She actually wrestled with the guys. Righetti took her to some of their girls tournaments they wrestled in, she competed representing Pioneer Valley, and she did quite well.”

If the scoffers Catayas alluded to had seen Magdaleno's squad in action before the season started, they would have known that the team was no joke.

“During the summer about 14, 15 girls started training,” the coach said. “They really went after it. We got more as the months went on, and these girls have been very dedicated.”

Magdaleno is a 2001 Righetti graduate. He said he was an assistant coach with various Panthers boys wrestling programs, including Kevin Ilac's boys varsity last year.

“When I was told I'd be starting a girls wrestling program, I was hoping, praying, I'd get 14, 15 girls,” Magdaleno said.

“We started with 32.” A few were grade or injury casualties . Now the program is 27 wrestlers strong.

“Our routine is always the same during wrestling season,” Catayas said with a chuckle. “Go home, eat, work out, go to bed - and do homework before.”

Jeffres grinned. “Especially homework.”

When they're not competing, said Magadaleno, “Every weeknight these girls are in the wrestling room for two hours and in the weight room for another hour.

“I hit the ground running with this program,” he said. “We started holding all kinds of fundraisers. We got two big sponsors, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and the Los Alamos Valley Men's Club.

“They donated around $7,500. With their help, we were able to get singlets for the girls, warm-ups, head gear.”

In addition, “Our athletic director (Jim Doyle) has paid for all my transportation costs as well as all of my tournament fees,” said Magdaleno.

The coach has a supportive family too, with “my mom, Lydia, and my dad, Louie. I think my mom is our biggest fan.”

“She's always in the stands cheering us on,” said Jeffres.

Magdaleno said team leaders Catayas and Cynthia Sanchez (122-pounds) did their job in a recent tri-meet at Pacifica.

The Panthers defeated Righetti and the host team there. “Katrina and Cynthia were the ones who really got the rest of the girls going emotionally, and that helped us beat Pacifica,” said Magdaleno. “It was the most exciting match I've ever been a part of.

“If Cynthia wrestles the way she is capable of, she should do well at state.”

Magdaleno reflected a bit on his rewarding first season with the Panthers girls.

“I've formed a real coach-athlete bond with this group. Having never coached girls before, I knew of nothing else to do but to treat them exactly the same way I treat boys.

“They've responded. They've shown that girls can take a guy's sport and do it quite well.”

January 31, 2008