It was a podium weekend at the CIF State Wrestling Championships for the Moore League as four wrestlers took their spot among California’s best.
Lakewood’s Ashley Wafer highlighted the weekend with a personal best third-place finish taking the bronze medal at the CIF State Wrestling Championship in the 235-pound bracket on Saturday.
“I was thinking about how it’s the last match of my high school career,” Wafer said about her mindset before the third-place match. “So I need to leave it all on the mat.”
Wafer had a phenomenal season taking silver at the CIF-SS individuals Southern Division and taking gold at the CIF-SS Masters meet.
Millikan’s Chris Anguiano continued his historic junior year taking seventh in the 157-pound bracket at the CIF State Wrestling championship. This marked his second straight year on the podium and his third straight year qualifying for state.
Anguiano has had one of the best years in Long Beach history, adding his state podium finish to his gold medals from the CIF individual Northern Division and CIF-SS Masters Meets.
“I definitely am happy of everything I’ve accomplished and very grateful to my coaches and teammates for helping me throughout the whole season,” Anguiano said. “But I definitely feel like this year was just another step to completing the big goal of winning a state title and bringing it home my senior year.”
Long Beach Poly seniors Berlynn Solia-Tago and Selieni Paseka both made girls’ program history, finishing on the podium to become the first Jackrabbits to podium at the State Championships.
Solia-Tago finished fourth in the 170-pound bracket, while Paseka took sixth place in the 190-pound bracket Championships. For Solia-Tago, she had no doubt she’d place this year after making it out of the blood rounds.
“I knew I was going to get there,” Solia-Tago said. “I would’ve gotten there my sophomore year if it weren’t for my injury. Getting there isn’t a program, getting passed blood rounds in a heavier division than last year and coming into the season with three tournaments before CIF I knew would be a challenge. When I missed my mark at the semis with an injured arm, I was going to take third or fourth. I’ll take that as a win. Making Poly history is an absolute honor.”
For Paseka, she added to her historic career after wrestling for the first time her sophomore season. After winning gold at the Masters meet, the senior was happy being able to make the podium this year.
“It feels good to finish off my senior year as a state placer,” Paseka said. “All the blood sweat and tears were worth it in the end. Couldn’t have done any of it without my Coaches, especially coach Ken (Lee).”
Although Poly senior Lincoln Chung didn’t make it to the podium, he went 3-2 over the weekend to cap his senior year.
“It was an amazing year for these individuals to represent Poly,” Long Beach Poly coach Ken Lee said. “They have been consistently working hard and pushing everyone around them. It is amazing to see all of their hard work come to fruition. This was definitely one of those special years where all of the parents, coaches, and athletes came together to really push each other to their greatest potential. They truly left it all on the mat this season and I am extremely proud of them.”
