By Phillip Brents
The Alpine Sun

     History — or rather, herstory — was made Dec. 9 at Mater Dei Catholic High School when the San Diego Section’s first-ever all-girls high school wrestling dual meet took center mat. Twenty-seven girls from throughout the county assembled for a spine-tingling, as well as bone-jarring, experience. The Steele Canyon Cougars stole the spotlight.
     There’s no question that girls wrestling has started to make headway in the San Diego region after lagging behind much of the state. Steele Canyon continues to carry the torch for the sport in the section and won both ends of the double dual against a collection of wrestlers from El Camino, San Pasqual, Mira Mesa, San Diego, Escondido and Mater Dei high schools.

Steele Canyon’s Elizabeth Pedersen had control of her opponent during the history-making all-girls dual meet on Dec. 9. The Steele Canyon Cougars hold the torch for the sport of girls wrestling in the San Diego Section.

     The Cougars, who started their girls program three years ago with eight wrestlers and then upped that count to 12 last year, are fielding the equivalent of a full varsity and junior varsity lineup this season with 29 wrestlers. Fifteen girls were present Dec. 9 as Steele Canyon left its mark with dual victories by scores of 40-18 and 30-21.
     “We’re going to claim the first couple CIF titles when it’s approved,” Cougar coach Trevor Keifer said with pride. “Most of my girls are freshmen and sophomores. My top girls are in show choir and didn’t even get to wrestle. Three of my girls wrestled in their first matches.”
     Not counting forfeits, 20 matches were contested on the mat.
     Vanessa Kellems recorded the first victory for Steele Canyon with a 17-second pin at 126 pounds, followed by a 1:36pin at 132 pounds by teammate Elizabeth Pedersen. Marky Simmons kept the Cougars’ momentum rolling with a 2:27 pin at 138 pounds. Three matches later, Tanzania Guest, also competing at 126 pounds, scored an 18-second pin in her first-round match.
     Heavyweight Indya Stevens started the second rotation off with a 56-second pin for Steele Canyon, while teammate Pamela Feldman followed with a 48-second pin at 118 pounds. Marcella Schneider, also competing at 118 pounds, engineered one of the more thrilling comebacks in the dual by fighting off a pin attempt before finally recording a pin in 3:44 pin.
     Schneider’s teammates on the Cougars bench rose to their feet in unison as the referee slapped his hand on the mat to signal the pin.
     Guest scored a 27-second pin in her second match to claim dominance on the mat.
     Two highly-ranked girls did not compete for Steele Canyon in the Mater Dei duals: Irene Esquibel and Reyna Reyes. Esquibel is ranked sixth in the nation and second in the state in her 138-pound weight class while Reyes is ranked among the top 12 wrestlers in Southern California in her division.
     Many of the girls at the history-making dual meet already had a few matches to their credit after competing in two early season tournaments in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Steele Canyon placed sixth at the Rebels Clash at Savanna High School in Anaheim on Nov. 28. The Cougars took 11 girls to a non-scoring tournament in Thousand Oaks on Dec. 5, with eight Steele Canyon girls returning home with medals. The Rebels Clash attracted the top five teams from the Southern Section.
     A season-ending San Diego County girls tournament is scheduled at El Camino High School.
     “I was excited to be a part of this,” Mater Dei head coach Scott Ullsperger said. “It’s a wonderful start to girls wrestling in San Diego. We’d like to host the first official CIF championship.”
     Ullsperger credited assistant coach Jerry Matsumoto with setting up the event. “We wanted to expose girls wrestling (to other student-athletes),” Matsumoto said. “It was great for the girls who competed.”

Girls of Steele
     Steele Canyon hosted a high profile eight-way dual tournament on Dec. 19. The eight teams — six from outside San Diego County — were divided into two pools, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the Cardinal Division and the bottom two teams from each pool advancing to the Navy Division. Every team received five matches, facing both teams from opposite pools in their division to close out the day.
     Steele Canyon finished first in Pool B with dual victories against West Covina, Savanna and Santa Paula while Pacifica finished first in Pool A with dual wins against Northview, Baldwin Park and San Pasqual. West Covina (2-1) finished runner-up in Pool B while Northview (2-1) finished runner-up in Pool A.
     The Cardinal Division was thus comprised of Pacifica, Steele Canyon, West Covina and Northview and the teams finished in that order after two ensuing duals.
     The final order finish in the Navy Division was Baldwin Park, Savanna, Santa Paula and San Pasqual.
Two Steele Canyon wrestlers were named to the all-tournament team: Reyes and Esquibel.
     Rounding out the all-tournament team were the following wrestlers: Katey Chavez (Savanna), Zuli Marquez (Pacifica), Justine Stewart (West Covina), Nicole Freeman (Savanna), Maria Morales (Pacifica), Alex Perez (Pacifica), Katie Black (Santa Paula), Soibahn Esquera (West Covina), Ceci Andrade (Northview), Alexandra Savage (Mira Mesa), Justine Jue (Santa Paula), Brazel Marquez (Northview), Sam Ortiz (West Covina), Alyssa Luna (West Covina), Rocio Cortez (Western), Johanna Navarro (Northview), Belen Reyes (Baldwin Park), Xochitl Perez (Baldwin Park), Holly Tinnell (Pacifica), Ashley Gueraro (Savanna), Karen Perez (Savanna), Alex Gonzlaez (Pacifica), Brenda Gonzalez (West Covina), Malinda Gomez (Baldwin Park), Lisette Tenorio (Santa Ana) and Veronica Hernandez (Northview).

Men of Steele
     East County male wrestlers excelled in the Maruader Invitational Dec. 12 at Mira Mesa High School. Steele Canyon finished second in the team standings behind team champion Mt. Carmel while Grossmont finished in third place.
     Four Steele Canyon mat men won individual weight class titles: Jesse Cardenas (112 pounds), Adam Cham (135 pounds), Jacob Dunning (145 pounds) and Todd Graff (152 pounds). Three Cougar grapplers finished second in their weight divisions: Brady Beamon (125 pounds), Dylan Lincoln (140 pounds) and Victor Lopez (285 pounds). Overall, Steele Canyon advanced seven wrestlers to the championship round.
     Three Cougars finished third: Jake Lincoln (119 pounds), Ryan Doolittle (130 pounds) and Anthony Cazares (215 pounds).