From the Sports Archives: Vasquez is a quick study

Now a senior standout at El Camino, Vazquez has found her niche in wrestling’s lightweight divisions. She ranks No. 4 among Central Coast Section grapplers in the 108-pound division, making her the second best in the weight class out of the Peninsula Athletic League after No. 1-ranked Chelsea Wilson from Menlo-Atherton.

Through one of the busiest weeks of her varsity career, Vazquez held up like a champ last week by posting a 7-2 record in individual matches, earning a pair of medals through two tournament appearances and helping the El Camino boys’ team to a dual-meet victory over Capuchino.

It took Vazquez two years to find her way onto the mat. When she arrived at El Camino as a freshman, all she knew was she wanted to fight. Her inspiration came from the boxing world. In addition to having two cousins who boxed recreationally, a good family friend, Ariana Borrero, was making inroads as a pro boxer out of Baby Face Boxing in Pacifica.

“She kind of made me feel like I should push myself, that I should do what I want to do,” Vazquez said. “That helped a lot because I felt like — I’m comfortable where I am now.”

Vazquez’s father, however, instead guided her towards martial arts.

“My siblings and I have always been roughhousers and I have a few cousins in boxing,” Vazquez said. “My original intent was to do boxing … but my dad told me I might be better off in jujitsu.”

So, Vazquez studied the discipline for two years and last year added Muay Thai to her regiment for a time. Yet through both of her underclassman years at El Camino, Vazquez opted to play soccer — not wrestle — during the winter season.

It was a simple decision for Vazquez. El Camino did not have a girls’ wrestling team. And while the program still doesn’t have enough female wrestlers to field a girls’ team — there are currently three girls, along with Sidney Brooks and Trinity Diokno in the mix for the Colts — there were zero girls on the team during Vazquez’s freshman and sophomore years.

“I didn’t see any girls on the wrestling team at first,” Vazquez said. “I think I wanted someone there, someone like me. It is hard to be on the team when there aren’t any girls. But I think that’s the best part, pushing yourself to do something no one else does. So, I do wish I had joined earlier.”

Through two years of soccer, however, Vazquez suffered a recurring ankle sprain and was constantly on crutches.

“So I figured it was time to do what I always wanted to do,” Vazquez said.

Joining the team with Brooks as a junior, Vazquez had never wrestled. And while she is still admittedly a work-in-progress as a pure wrestler, her mixed martial arts training proved her saving grace.

“It’s one of those things where she’s kind of a wild card,” El Camino head coach Ray Reyes said. “She’s got a mixed martial arts background … so that’s why she’s comfortable being out there. She’s one of those people that can pull a lot of moves out of a hat and do things other girls haven’t seen.”

Vazquez’s most crushing jujitsu move as of late has been her head-and-arm throw, a maneuver that helped her to a third-place medal at the Terra Nova Seaside Showdown last week. She also medaled with a second-place finish at The Amazon tournament at San Rafael High School.

With a current record of 18-6, Vazquez may still be refining her technique. But her innate ability to roughhouse has her eyeing win No. 20 as early as this week.

“The technique isn’t always there,” Reyes said. “But the strength is.”