Athlete of the Week: M-A’s Folashade Akinola

Akinola came back from Bakersfield last season with a second-place finish. This year, she returned for her senior season with a vengeance, posting an undefeated record on the year, capped by five wins at the state tournament, with all five coming by way of pin.

“Cartwheels everywhere,” M-A head coach Phil Hoang said of Akinola’s reaction to her victory in the championship match against Kelseyville sophomore Jasmin Clarke. “The crowd was roaring. I think she has a lot of fans because she’s been at state every year. It’s not easy to pin a girl at 189 pounds, I can tell you that.”

The Daily Journal Athlete of the Week needed three periods to pin Clarke. She battled into the second before taking the lead, choosing to wrestle from the bottom to start the period and scoring a quick escape to take a 1-point lead.

“I just really tried to keep my head on,” Akinola said. “I remembered last year. … I was definitely a little gassed and tired. So I tried to keep my head on.”

Not that the flamboyant Akinola ever looks overly guarded on the mat. She’s renowned for the spring in her step, the occasional smile on her face. When it comes to locking up, though, she is as fierce as anyone. And once she sees her opportunity, she is the best in the state in 189s at pouncing.

“I think Fola is definitely dictating the pace of this match,” Hoang said. “But she found the opportunity to go on top by the third period and, she does this very well. She put a lot of pressure on the opponent’s back”

When Clarke made the mistake of bringing her legs to her head, Akinola executed a textbook cradle hold. She powered her opponent to her back. The pin, 38 seconds into the final period, came swiftly thereafter.

“It was the perfect opportunity,” Akinola said. “So I grabbed it, and took her back, and that was it.”

The individual championship was a fitting sendoff to the first generation of M-A girls’ wrestling, which has been officially recognized by the Central Coast Section for the past three years. Akinola’s title is M-A’s second-ever girls’ state wrestling championship. In 2016-17, Chelsea Wilson brought home the title at 106s.

Akinola opened with three first-period pins, taking down Chico senior Serena Ferea, Bonita senior Veronica Palmer and Golden Valley senior Kayvette Osorio to reach the semifinal round. Against Monroe senior Angela Buenrrostro in the semis, Akinola rattled off a pin in the second period.

Not once did Akinola’s march toward the top of the podium ever feel in jeopardy, she said.

“I felt it was one of my best performances,” Akinola said. “So, yes, I was in control.”

It was an emotional Saturday finale as well. M-A took second place in the team competition, with four of its seven wrestlers placing in individual competition. Six of M-A’s seven state qualifiers are seniors, with the state tournament serving as the swan song of their varsity wrestling careers.

Akinola raved about the performance of senior Angie Bautista at 126s. After entering unseeded in the bracket, Bautista took sixth place, including a key victory over Lincoln-San Jose senior Mia Olmos, an old nemesis of M-A’s who had never lost in a head-to-head matchup with the Bears.

“It was really big,” Akinola said. “And our team is still talking about it.”

Akinola entered with some local fans in Bakersfield, and made plenty more in during the three-day tourney, Hoang said. She also had a special guest there for Saturday’s finals, her first wrestling coach, Nathan Pantoja, with whom Akinola started wrestling seven years ago at the East Palo Alto Wrestling Club.

“There was some tears,” Akinola said. “It was really emotional, not just the four years but the seven years I’ve been wrestling, coming full circle and paying off.”

Not to mention, her finishing with the ultimate curtain call — cartwheels. Plenty of cartwheels.