Marina girls’ wrestling wins CIF Central Division title
Marina High School claimed victory by the slimmest of margins on Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Central Division individual girls’ wrestling championships at La Quinta High School.
The Vikings had five wrestlers win their respective weight classes, and they needed every single one of them, as Marina edged Walnut 226.5-226 to earn the section title.
Senior Kaelani Schufeldt (101 pounds), senior Kacey Schafer (106), junior Jordyn Chrisco (116), junior Presley Anderson (121) and senior Alexandra Lopez (143) finished atop their weight classes for the Vikings.
Marina also received victories in the medal round from seniors River Todd (126, third), Laci Tipton (131, fifth) and Sadie Scheer (137, fifth). Those performances helped the Vikings fend off Walnut, which had four individual champions crowned in its own right — Anaya Falcon (111), Jasmine Macias (126), Jordan Carrillo (160) and Sara Gaskin (189).
“I would say [those were] big ones,” Marina coach Chris Rasmussen said of the wrestlers that won their final consolation matches. “None of them got bonus points in the final round, but we went into the last round saying that if we can win every match, that we’ve done everything that we can do to win this tournament.”
The Vikings have nine wrestlers advancing to the CIF girls’ wrestling Masters Meet, which Marina will host on Feb. 18 and 19. The boys’ wrestling Masters Meet will be held at Sonora on the same dates, and the CIF State wrestling championships will be contested at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield from Feb. 24 to 26.
“Nobody really got upset to put them into the consolation bracket,” Rasmussen said. “It’s just where we thought they would land. The goal was to qualify [for Masters], and then when we had the chance to win this tournament, it was to go out and try to win that last round.”
Lopez became a two-time CIF champion, while Schufeldt earned her first individual section title after making a previous appearance in a championship bout.
Rasmussen, a Los Angeles Rams fan, had an extra special weekend with his rooting interest winning the Super Bowl.
“The kids were like, ‘Coach, we hope the Rams win tomorrow, too, for you,’” Rasmussen said. “I was like, ‘Well, you know, I kind of made a deal with the man upstairs that if we can win a CIF title, I don’t care who wins the Super Bowl. I’ll give that one up.”
Additional local teams competing in the Central Division finals were Edison (31st, 20 points), Corona del Mar (35th, 16 points), Newport Harbor (36th, 13 points) and Huntington Beach.
Freshman Ruby Pung placed third at 111 pounds for Edison. Newport Harbor sophomore Skyler Gassel was seventh in the 131-pound bracket, and Corona del Mar freshman Camille Tauro finished eighth among 116-pounders at the tournament.
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