SV’s Kelley wins section title as 1 of 5 locals to advance to state

CCS WRESTLING

Watsonville High’s Danisha Nunez, left, wrestles Michelle Nguyen of Yerba Buena during the Central Coast Section Championships in Watsonville on Saturday. PHOTOS BY RAUL EBIO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

Santa Cruz High’s Dylan Gates, right, wrestles Ryan Marquardt of Archbishop Mitty during the CCS Championships in Watsonville on Saturday.

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By Jim Seimas

jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com

Scotts Valley High junior wrestler Danica Kelley went 4-0 at 121 pounds to win her weight division at the Girls Central Coast Section Championships at Watsonville High on Saturday.

Kelley, the No. 1 seed, pinned Gunn senior Helene Jose in two minutes to claim the title.

Kelley, who placed second at 116 in 2022, won three matches by pin, and won a 3-1 decision over Gilroy senior Jordyn Perez in the semifinals.

The top four girls finishers in each of the 14 weight divisions advance to the 2023 CIF State Wrestling Championships at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Thursday through Saturday. The top three boys in each class extended their season.

Aptos junior Janie Houser, Watsonville senior Danisha Nunez, Santa Cruz senior Cynthia Rosales-Perez and Scotts Valley junior Kayse Martinovsky also qualified for the state championships.

Houser (126 pounds), the No 5 seed, took second place. She dropped a 9-2 decision to Gilroy freshman Tamara Grace in the final. Houser finished 3-1 with a pin in 55 seconds and two wins by decision.

Nunez (101) and Rosales-Perez (170) took third place. Nunez earned a 9-0 major decision over Alisal senior Celeste Meza in their final match, while Rosales-Perez pinned Monterey junior Katrina Dunklin in 2:18.

Scotts Valley junior Kayse Martinovsky (131) took fourth. She dropped a 6-4 decision to Fremont sophomore Aila Duus in their final match.

Aptos Mikayla Santoella (170) and Pajaro Valley sophomore Jocelyn Santana (189) took fifth. Santoella’s final opponent, Santa Clara senior Jade Bracamonte, suffered an injury. Santana pinned Burlingame senior Erika Jiang in 1:51 in their final match.

Evergreen Valley (213.0) won the team title. Gilroy (133.0) took second, and Salinas (124.0) was third. Scotts Valley (42.0), the top finisher from Santa Cruz County, took 13th.

In the boys’ competition, the county finished with four placers but no state qualifiers.

Harbor senior Corbet Whitlock (220) was the top local. He finished in fourth place after losing by fall in 2:41 to Los Gatos senior Om Shastri.

Monte Vista Christian sophomore Rykin Resureccion (132) pinned Aptos senior Andrew Acevedo in 2:59 for fifth place.

Harbor senior Diallo Thomas dropped a 4-1 decision to Calrmont senior Luke Peasley to take sixth place.

Gilroy (279.0 points) won its 20th straight team title. Los Gatos (228.5) took second, and Saint Francis (109.5) of Mountain View was third. Harbor was the top finisher from the county. The Pirates (35.0) took 15th.