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Granada High has been one of the elite high school wrestling programs in Northern California for years, dating back to my days in the daily newspaper industry.
But the one thing the Matadors had never secured was an individual California Interscholastic Federation state title.
That is until now.
SJ Martin capped a 37-2 senior year by taking the girls 120-pound state title Saturday in Bakersfield.
“It was a really good weekend,” said Sean Jackson, one of the Granada wrestling coaches.
In addition to the state title by Martin, teammate Maile Nguyen also found a spot on the medal platform, finishing sixth at 105 pounds.
“Both the girls had medaled last year as juniors, so there were expectations,” Jackson said. “But this California. A medal one year doesn’t guarantee you anything.”
Martin lost in the finals as a junior, with Nguyen finishing fifth last season.
In the offseason, Martin gained international experience for the United States, but she also suffered an elbow injury that took her off the mat for a while.
“It was all about returning to form early in the season,” explained Jackson. “Her visualization of her goals kept her on track.”
Martin, who will wrestle at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania next season, has been coached by her father since she was young and it was that which really helped.
“Her determination and a very good support group were the key to her season,” said Jackson.
Once at state, the top-seeded Martin plowed through the competition. She opened with a pin of Tatiana Colmenero of Gilroy in 59 seconds. That followed with a pin of Kenzie Herrera of Reedley in 57 seconds.
In the quarterfinals, she pinned Mariana Gonzalez of Buchanan in 1:17, then advanced to the finals with a pin of Eliana Garcia of Northview at the 2:13 mark.
Once in the finals, Martin came through with a 12-0, majority decision of Ava Ebrahimi of Poway.
Nguyen played for the Granada flag football team before wrestling season but found her niche. Once she locked in her future – she will be wrestling for North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, a power in women’s wrestling – she set about making her senior season a great one.
As the No. 7 seed, Nguyen made it to the quarterfinals before falling to future North Central teammate Kaiya Maggini of Del Oro.
That dropped Nguyen into the consolation bracket where she battled back to a pair of hard-fought wins, ending up losing to Jocelynn Mendoza of Gilroy.
She ended her Granada career second all-time in wins with 149 wins. She finished as the all-time leader in pins with a 102.
“I coached Maile since she was a little kid,” Jackson said. “It was very rewarding to watch both of them grow and have the success they did.”
CIF basketball
On the girls’ side of the tournament, Carondelet by virtue of the Cougars 50-49 win over San Ramon Valley in the NCS Open final, was seeded No. 4 and the Wolves No. 5.
If you do the math, that means the Cougars will host the Wolves in the first round on Wednesday night. It will be the fourth time the two sides have met this year with San Ramon Valley holding a 2-1 lead.
The winner will play at top-seeded Mitty on Saturday night.
In the boys’ Open play, De La Salle is seeded fifth and will play at No. 4 Modesto Christian. The winner will play at top-seeded Riordan on Saturday night.
Division I play starts Tuesday night with No. 7 Dougherty Valley hosting Destiny Christian (10) at 7 p.m. The winner will play the winner of Lincoln (15) at Clayton Valley (2).
In D-II play, Granada (3) will host Clovis (14) and Amador Valley (7) will host Serra (10). Both games are set for a 7 p.m. start on Tuesday.
The Amador-Serra winner will play the Sacramento (2)-Bullard (15) winner. The winner of the Granada-Clovis game will play the winner of the Oakland Tech (5)-Milpitas (11) game. Those games are set for Thursday night.
CIF soccer
In the girls’ tournaments, Carondelet is seeded No. 8 and will open at No. 1 Gregori on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. The winner faces the winner of Saint Francis-Buchanan on Thursday.
In the D-II event, No. 5 Amador Valley is at No. 4 Mitty for a 3 p.m. game. The winner is at the winner of the Davis (1)-Las Lomas (8) game on Thursday. San Ramon Valley (7) is at Vista Del Lago (2) in a 5 p.m. game.
The winner of that one faces the winner of Cardinal Newman (3)-St. Ignatius (6).
In boys’ play, Monte Vista (7) is at Granite Bay (2) in D-I play. The winner takes on the winner of Clayton Valley (3) and Everette Alvarez (6).
In the D-II tournament, San Ramon Valley (8) is at Clovis (1) in a 5 p.m. game with the winner facing the Vintage (4)-Turlock (5) winner on Thursday.
De La Salle (2) is hosting Leigh (7), with the winner taking on the Hillsdale (3)-Berkeley (6) winner.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
