STOCKTON — Sierra’s Stefany Perez and Manny Zavala each finished fourth Saturday in the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Boys and Girls Wrestling Championships at Stockton Arena and will lead a contingent of eight local wrestlers to the three-day California Wrestling Championships beginning Thursday at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.
Perez (111 pounds) started the day with a semifinal loss to Bella Vista’s Amaya Yoshizumi and headed to consolation where she pinned Franklin’s Jennifer Reyes in the first period for her third pin of the tournament, setting up the match with Melissa Tejada of Yuba City in the 111-pound consolation final.
Tejeda eked out a 6-3 decision, giving fourth place to Perez.
“I think I have done pretty good so far,” Perez said. “There have been some challenges but I feel pretty good and I will work to get better from here.
“I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am, especially from where I started. I’m actually very proud of myself, but there is still room for improvement.”
Zavala stumbled in the 285-pound semifinal, getting pinned by Stagg’s Sam Hinojosa. Zavala rebounded in the consolation semifinal with a second-round pin of Felipe Dematos of Lodi, Zavala’s fourth pin of the tournament and second in as many days over Dematos as the two met in the second round on Friday.
He was forced to default in the consolation final due to an injury received in his match against Hinojosa, finishing fourth.
“It was a good run,” Zavala said. “I got to qualify for state and I’m happy about that.”
Ripon’s Katelyn Cardoza (150) lost her first two matches of the day to land in the fifth-place match with Marissa Magana of Enochs. Cardoza was clinging to a 1-0 lead in the third period when she tallied two more points for the 3-0 win.
“The match was pretty close,” Cardoza said. “Today was not my day, so getting that win was definitely a proud moment.
“It was a really close match and she was tough, but I am here to win and that’s what I did. And now I go on to state.”
The top six boys advanced to the state championships, but the girls take seven. East Union’s Grace Lacanglacang faced Lincoln of Stockton’s Aaliyah Montantes for seventh place at 106 with the winner going to Bakersfield and the loser staying home.
Down 4-0 in the second period, Lacanglacang battled back to take the lead in the third period and then got the pin.
“I am really competitive so I like winning,” Lacanglacang said. “I saw something I could take advantage of. I have been practicing the quarter and it was pretty cool to see it in a match.”
Also going to Bakersfield are Amaiya Guyton (116, fifth, East Union), Yadhira Rodriguez (121, Manteca, sixth), Marisa Rush (131, sixth, Sierra) and Riley Rangel (137, sixth, Ripon).
Sierra’s Alyanna Loaiza (121) was eighth.
