CCS wrestling champs crowned

Halterman went 3-0 on the day, pinning her was to the title in the 190-pound tournament. She walked onto the finals mat with her signature game face, but it quickly dissipated upon scoring a first-period pin of Christopher junior Jazmine Mendez in the finals.

“I was just feeling super happy because I know I’ve beaten the girl before, but I was very nervous coming into it,” Halterman said.

Meisenbach was more relaxed heading into the 140s final against Santa Teresa senior Peyton Frost. The South City senior was coming off a junior season in which she reached the CCS podium with a fourth-place finish, good enough to qualify for the CIF State Wrestling Championships.

Taking a more serious path to the postseason this year, Meisenbach spend her prematch warmup sparring with San Mateo junior Hannah Villareale — her offseason teammate of the South San Francisco Gator Wrestling Club — who took CCS runner-up at 120s.

The sparring served Meisenbach well, as she scored a flawless 12-0 major decision. The senior went 4-0 on the day, with three first-period pines before majoring in the finals to claim South City’s first CCS girls’ wrestling title since 2014-15.

“They all were first period, so under two minutes,” Meisenbach said. “And I was just having fun. I was hitting moves that I was working on this week. I was having fun. ... In the finals, I just stayed in my under hook and I tried to go from there.”

Four Peninsula Athletic League wrestlers reached the CCS championship finals, all in the girls’ tournament. Villareale posted a 3-1 record, falling in the finals via first-round pin by Lynbrook junior Mia Gonzalez. Menlo-Atherton junior Eva Bhattacharya spent her prematch warmup jogging around Watsonville High School, but finishes a 3-1 day falling via 7-0 decision to Gilroy senior Jaelle Cortez in the finals.

In the boys’ tournament, one San Mateo County wrestler reached the finals with Serra junior Sebastian Garcia taking second place at 157s. Garcia was facing the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the state at 157s, according to CalGrappler.com, Gilroy senior Jacob Perez. Garcia fell via major decision 14-4.

Serra tied two program records, finishing fourth place in the CCS team standings, equaling last year’s finish. The Padres also qualified four wrestlers for the state tournament, matching last season’s program record as well. The difference this year is all four state qualifiers — junior Ryan Doleeschal, 113s, third place; sophomore Soloman Zumbardo, heavyweights, third place; and sophomore Leon Bleess, 175s, fourth place — are all eligible to return next season.

“Two are sophomores, two are juniors, which is really exciting,” Serra head coach Mike Klobuchar said.

Two HMB wrestlers bound for state tourney

Along with Halterman, Half Moon Bay junior Kat Abramenko qualified for the state tournament with a fourth-place finish at 130s. Abramenko punched her ticket to Bakersfield with a win in the third-place bracket semifinals over a familiar rival, Terra Nova senior Ava Mendez, via 7-1 decision.

“She was super happy,” Temko said. “They’ve kind of had a rivalry all year. Both multiple time returning section placers, and they’re in the same weight class. So, that was a big win for Kat. She wrestled super sound, and didn’t do anything too risky, and just stuck to the game plan and did everything we told her to do. So, it was awesome.”

Abramenko fell in the third-place match to San Mateo native Katherine Love, a St. Francis-Mountain View junior, who earned a second-round pin.

Halterman is heading to the state finals for the first time, and was in her return to the CCS postseason after missing the tournament last year due to illness. The junior, who has swept her way to PAL and CCS championships, said she wasn’t thinking about the state finals until she clinched the bid with her semifinal match Saturday.

“I didn’t think that far ahead,” Halterman said. “From the previous CCS champions, a lot of them said they went like 1-2 or something, at least from my school. So, if I were to do that, then I’d be fine with it. But if I were to place, then even better.”

In the finals, Halterman rebounded from a Mendez’s early takedown, on a risky move she calls a “yoshi-goshi.”

“I was trying to yoshi-goshi, where you step in front of the person while they throw you so you can end up getting a throw on them,” Halterman said. “It didn’t work out for me.”

Halterman returned to the fundamentals, hand fighting until she executed a head-and-arm throw.

“It didn’t concern me too much,” Halterman said of the early deficit. “That’s happened before where that girl has gotten the first points on me. So, I was OK with it ’cause I knew I could come back from it.”

Other state qualifiers

The top four placers in each bracket qualify for the state tournament, while top six earned CCS medals.

Other country state qualifiers include:

St. Francis’ Love, third place, girls’ 130s; and Mills junior Kelailah Johnson, fourth place, girls’ 190s.

Other county medalists include:

Terra Nova’s Mendoza, fifth place, girls’ 130s; Sequoia junior Yuki Ahmann, fifth place, girls’ 125s; Burlingame sophomore Nora Scopazzi, sixth place, girls’ 135s; Capuchino junior Jesse Chavez Jr, fifth place, boys’ 126s; Hillsdale junior Troy Roser, fifth place, boys’ 190s; Serra senior Trsiten Klemish, sixth place, boys’ 215s; and Woodside senior Carlos Latu, fifth place, heavyweights.