From Register Staff

Napa High School seniors Lauren Philipps and Devery Mitchell placed third in their respective weight classes at the California State Girls Wrestling Championships, which were held last Friday and Saturday in Hanford.

Philipps, the No. 1 seed at 138 pounds due to her first-place finish at the regional qualifying event two weeks ago in Rocklin, had to battle back from an early round loss to the eventual second-place finisher. She posted a 5-1 record with two pins in a bracket of 20 wrestlers.

Mitchell, competing in her first state tournament, posted a 4-1 record with two pins in the 165-pound weight class. Her only loss was a close decision to the eventual first-place finisher.

Prep Girls Wrestling

• Vintage wrestlers

place at state meet

Coming off a team championship the previous weekend at the South City Invitational in South San Francisco, members of the Vintage girls wrestling team competed in the California State Girls Wrestling Championships this past weekend at Hanford West High School.

Michele Querin led the way for Vintage with a strong 5-2 record and a fourth-place finish. Querin, the team captain, won all five of her matches by pin, and wrestled extremely well in her other two matches.

Querin was ranked sixth in the state and ninth in the nation to start the season, and with this past weekend’s performance has moved up to fourth and sixth overall, respectively.

“Michele could easily move up another notch or two in the national rankings before it’s all said and done,” said Vintage coach Jim Lanterman. “She’s wrestling at a higher level right now, and is putting in the time and effort she’ll need to get herself ready for the national championships. A number of schools are talking to her about collegiate wrestling.”

Nastassia Michalek, a senior wrestling in her first season for Vintage, finished ninth overall in a weight class featuring 24 wrestlers.

“Most people didn’t believe us when we told them she was a senior in her first year,” said Lanterman. “She competes like a much more experienced wrestler than she really is.”

Michalek spent much of the season nursing an injured knee, and competed in her first tournament just three weeks ago. She has medaled in each of the three tournaments leading up to the state event, and was also approached about continuing her wrestling career in college.

Sophomores Chelsi Aguayo and Heather Farace and junior Danni Beltran all performed well in their first state championship, as did freshman Mariah Phelps.

“It’s a learning experience for them,” said Querin. “You have to bring a different intensity level to state. I think the girls saw that this weekend and they’ll be better prepared for it next season. It should also help them with the national championship tournament.”

The U.S. Girls Wrestling Association national championships are next in line for Vintage. This annual event will be held in Lake Orion, Mich., April 1-2.

Prep Wrestling

• Justin-Siena 58, Tamalpais 9

Felipe Jojola (105), Cory Hamilton (114), Sean Aberjero (121), Billy Wilcoxson (127), Stephen Rouse (132), David Cello (142), Danny Gaynor (147), Matt Beutner (162), Shane Raftery (173), Billy Rogers (191), Shea Giaquinto (217) and Casey Tompkins (heavyweight) all won their matches for the Braves in last Thursday’s Marin County Athletic League dual meet.

Meanwhile, Justin-Siena competed in the 33-team Oakland Winter Classic last Saturday. The Braves wrestled extremely well, taking fifth place as a team and earning six individual medals.

Joey Sanchez (154) placed third, going 4-1 for the day and losing only to the eventual champion. Felipe Jojola (105) and Shane Raftery placed fourth, Billy Wilcoxson (132) and Matt Beutner (162) placed fifth, and Tony Villalobos (121) was sixth.

Prep JV Girls Basketball

• Vintage 53, Napa High 46

Vintage built a five-point halftime lead on the hard work of Kelsey Zeller, who scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in that half. A run by Napa left Vintage with a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Jordan Price then scored 11 of her 15 points in that quarter to put Vintage ahead to stay. Lauren Bishofberger sank two free throws late in the quarter to seal the win. Ashley Jarecki led the rebounding with 10, followed by the two freshmen, Price and Zeller, each with eight. Jarecki had six assists, followed by Hannah Wise with four. Vintage’s defense was led by Jarecki, Wise and Bishofberger. The Crushers are 9-2 in the Monticello Empire League and 19-3 overall.