The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
It’s a good day to be a Bruin — especially if you’re a member of Wilson’s Flag Football team. After a stretch of struggles in recent years, the Bruins have all the pieces they need to have a successful season in 2026.
In the past two years, Wilson has built an 11-40-2 record behind an undedicated team. Head Coach Duane Haldeman said this year’s squad of Bruins brings a completely different energy to the program.
“The fact that we’ve already won four games out of six and have 22 to go says a whole lot of where we’re going,” Haldeman said. “The difference in our program is we just haven’t had a full team of committed, dedicated, true athletes that are required to play this sport until now. We’re playing as Wilson again, plain and simple.”
This year’s dedicated group of Bruins has a good mix of both returners and newcomers that are leading the charge.
Entering into this season, quarterback Jayme Zamora returned for her senior year. Zamora played for Wilson when she was a freshman but took two years off waiting for a better team culture and recovering from injury.
Zamora totalled up over 3000+ yards on offense during the summer league, leading her team to a club championship in the process. When the Bruins took the field against Kennedy in only their second game of the season, Zamora tore her ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
“It’s devastating,” Haldeman said of losing his senior captain. “Jayme could take it to the house on any play. If she gets one step on you, she’s gone because she was a world class sprinter and she makes all kinds of moves. So it’s just really, really tough not having her — you can’t replace her.”
Despite missing the rest of season with injury, Zamora will continue serving as a leader for the program. With a talented group of youngsters stepping up to the challenge, this leadership is more important than ever.
“When literally anybody criticizes the freshmen during practice or during a game, they don’t take it personally, they’re very quick to fix it,” Zamora said. “They’re very quick to work toward making themselves better, which is something we lacked my freshman year.”
Even with this massive loss to Wilson’s program, Haldeman said the team is all rallying together to continue on what Zamora started. With all the other players stepping up, the Bruins will still have a potent offense this season.
“We now have legitimate student-athletes that are self-motivated,” Haldeman said. “They want to be there. They want to do the preparation.”
One of the players stepping in as quarterback will be freshman Kingsley Medlen, who was voted as one of this year’s captains by the rest of her team. Medlen will be a problem all over the field, shifting into receiver and corner, as well.
“I would compare her to Baker Mayfield — she’s a very elusive runner. She’s a playmaker,” Haldeman said. “She is always trying to spin and twist, and she would do backflips if she could to make a play.”
Two other players will see time as quarterback with freshmen Elsa Habig and Skylar Metcalf getting into the mix. Adding to the offense is another young talent in freshman Emma Henning, who will slot in as a receiver for Wilson.
Freshmen Daniela Navarro Somers and Aliana Gutierrez are two other key pieces in this year’s Bruins squad. They’ll team up with a core group of returners balancing the team as Wilson looks to get back on the winning side of the game.
“Our girls are talented. They work hard. They’re prepared. They control what they can control, which is their preparation,” Haldeman said.
One of these important returners is sophomore Kira Ines. In her freshman season last year, Ines scored 18 touchdowns and was a problem on defense too, picking up interceptions and flag pulls all over the field, Haldeman said.
Senior Alyssa Castanon will join Ines as a top returner, playing pretty much any position on the field. With Castanon’s versatility, Haldeman said she will be a problem for opposing defenses.
“She can block, she can catch, she can pull flags, she can cover, she can throw, she can do everything,” Haldeman said of Castanon.
With all these pieces coming together, Haldeman expects his team to have a better season than in years past. Already off to a 4-2 start, Wilson isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon.
“We certainly would like to have a winning record, which we’ve never had before, and we’d like to make the playoffs. Despite how young we are, we have enough to accomplish those goals,” Haldeman said. “These girls truly care about each other, and they’re not worried about what position they play. They just want to win, they believe they can win, and there’s no reason why they can’t.”
The determination to continue getting better is what makes this year’s Wilson team stand out, Haldeman and Zamora said. Whether it’s a small correction or something big that needs to be fixed, the Bruins are doing anything they can to win and continuously improving in the process.
“Our strengths, being that they’re so young, is that they have so much more room to improve.,” Zamora said of this year’s team. “They’re so good right now, but they could be so much better. Once we get to that point, we’re going to be dominating. We’re going to be amazing.”
The Bruins are fresh off a 19-6 win over Bellflower and will play Desert Hot Springs on Aug. 19 to continue their 2026 campaign. Their Moore League competition will kick off Sept. 9 when Wilson travels to Millikan.
