14 Inland girls wrestlers have reached the quarterfinals at CIF State Championships

Fourteen Inland girls wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective weight classes as the first day of the CIF State Championships took place Thursday at Dignity Health Arena in Bakersfield.

Orange Vista’s Zahra Stewart and Chino’s Natalie Blanco remain in the hunt in their quests to claim a second straight state title.

Stewart won the 125-pound state title last season but is competing at 135 pounds this year. Stewart is the top seed and opened up the tournament by pinning Karianna Delgado of Sacramento Inderkum at the 1:26 mark. Stewart then scored a 17-2 technical fall over Anais Hernandez of St. Helena to reach the quarterfinals. Stewart faces No. 8 seed Izel Padilla of Victorville Excelsior Charter in the quarters.

Blanco is the defending champion at 155 pounds and this year’s top seed at that weight. She opened defense of that title with a 15-0 technical fall over Makayla Castellanoz of Visalia Golden West. Blanco then pinned Liberty Evans of Mountain View at the 1:25 mark to advance to the quarterfinals. Blanco will square off against No. 8-seeded Catania Dekeyrel of Novato San Marin in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Stewart was 1 of 5 wrestlers from Orange Vista to punch a tickets to the quarterfinals.

Audriana Rodriguez scored a takedown with 10 seconds remaining to pull out a 12-10 decision against No. 8-seeded Ann Porter of Gilroy in a 105-pound first-round match. Rodriguez then pinned Layla Ward of Oakland Tech at the 1:08 mark of the second round. Rodriguez will take on No. 1-seeded Angelica Serratos of Santa Ana in the quarterfinals.

Sophia Galindez pinned Diana Maldonado of Mountain View St. Francis at the 1:35 mark of a 145-pound first-round match. Maldonado had a 12-7 lead when she pinned No. 8-seeded Emma Malen of Marysville at 5:39 in the second round. Galindez faces top-seeded Jestinah Solomua of Corona in the quarterfinals.

No. 3-seeded Tiffany Bell pinned Celeste Rodriguez of San Jose (55 seconds) and Valerie Cervantes of Escondido San Pasqual (45 seconds) to reach the quarterfinals of the 170-pound bracket. Bell takes on Sophia Lopez of Upland in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

Gia Coons is the No. 3 seed at 235 pounds and pinned Angie Munoz of Salinas (0:40) and Samyra Abraham of Oakley Freedom (3:59) to advance to the quarterfinals. Coons will square off against No. 6-seeded Isabella Lorenzana of Marina in the quarterfinals.

Corona had two wrestlers advance to the quarterfinals, Solomua and 120-pounder Itzel Herrera.

Solomua is the top-seeded wrestler at 145 pounds. She pinned Cora Stevenson of Palo Alto Gunn (1:20) and then scored a 17-0 technical fall over Caroline Jimenez of Dinuba to advance to the quarterfinals. Solomua faces Orange Vista’s Galindez on Friday.

Herrera pinned No. 7-seeded Arabella Rascon of El Centro Central (2:58) in the first round and then registered a 14-1 major decision over Annika Scott of Folsom to reach the quarterfinals. Herrera will face No. 2-seeded Ava Ebrahimi of Poway on Friday.

Upland also had two wrestlers reach the quarterfinals, Lopez and 115-pounder Rebecca Dezan.

Lopez is the No. 6 seed at 170 pounds, She picked up an 8-0 major decision over Alyvia McKenzie of Shasta and then pinned Alain Cooper of Stockton Lincoln (1:24) to reach the quarterfinals. Lopez takes on Orange Vista’s Bell in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Dezan scored a 10-0 major decision over No. 8-seeded Maliah Poueu Ramos of Windsor in the opening round and advanced to the quarterfinals after pinning Deana Smith of Sacramento Kennedy. Dezan faces No. 1-seeded Aubree Gutierrez of Huntington Beach Marina in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Colony’s Mia Hernandez is the No. 1 seed in the 100-pound bracket. She was leading 15-4 when she pinned Marlye Wongrat of Chico at the 1:36 mark of the first round. Hernandez registered a 13-1 major decision over Kaila Robles-Rials of San Jose Presentation. Hernandez takes on Alexandra Marin of Clovis Buchanan in the quarterfinals.

Hamilton’s Evelyn Lopez is the No. 6 seed at 120 pounds. She scored an 11-3 major decision over Janali Gonzalez of Bakersfield Highland in the first round and then pinned Hannah Villareale of San Mateo (3:40). Lopez squares off against No. 3-seeded Jordan Deleon of El Dorado Hills Oak Ridge on Friday.

Aubreyelle Baeza is the No. 6 seed in the 190-pound bracket. She pinned MacKenzie Miller of Orangevale Casa Roble (1:27) and Jazmine Mendez of Gilroy Christopher (0:49). Baeza squares off against No. 3-seeded Onyi Oragwam of Bakersfield Centennial in the quarterfinals.

Adelena Martinez of Hemet was one of the bracket busters on the first day. She pinned Madison Vandiver of Brawley (1:52) and No. 5-seeded Alicia Espinoza of Ceres Central Valley (1:46) to reach the 235-pound quarterfinals. In both matches, Martinez was taken down early, but she won by turning reversals into pinfalls. She faces No. 4-seeded Ashley Wafer of Lakewood on Friday.