The fastest growing high school sport in the nation was on full display on Saturday, Feb. 1, when Windsor played host to 50 teams and an estimated 300 female athletes at the second annual Goddess of the Vine wrestling tournament.
The all-day event, second only in size to the all-girls Napa Valley Classic Tournament last month, began with preliminary matches at 9 a.m. and ended with the championship rounds in the afternoon.
The size of this year’s Goddess of the Vine demonstrated the growth of the sport, far surpassing last year’s tourney, which featured just 18 teams and 200 wrestlers.
Castro Valley was crowned the 2020 team champion, placing six wrestlers in the top five to score a tournament best 156 points. Rounding out the top five teams were Tokay (105), Benicia (102.5), Eureka (102) and Live Oak (101). Windsor finished in 15th place overall.
The Lady Jaguars boasted four tournament placers, with three athletes advancing into the semifinals. Leading the way were 152-pound sophomore Savannah Burger (4th place), 160-pound Jolette Torres (4th place), 172-pound Destinee Groves (6th place) and 145-pound Ellery Charlton (7th place). Other competing wrestlers for the Jags were 118-pound Arianna Dixon (1-2), 133-pound Maxine DeMars (1-2), 189-pound Maribel Apineru (1-2) and Rebekkah Westmoreland (1-2). Windsor was without highly ranked sophomore Carmen Perez, who was out due to illness.
This week, the Lady Jaguars will travel to Ukiah in a North Bay League dual meet showdown, pitting the top two teams in the area.
“Both girls wrestling teams are 4-0,” Jags coach Rich Dixon said. “I was very frustrated from last year’s performance, losing 60-18 but I believe this year’s team is in a better mindset as a complete team.”
Boys take down Panthers
The Jaguars continued their winning ways in a boys dual meet against visiting Santa Rosa on Jan. 29, taking down the Panthers in a 42-29 victory.
Scoring wins for the Jags were 108-pound Kaeden Winn (by fall), 115-pound Kyden Hernandez (by forfeit), 122-pound Dominic Mertens (by forfeit), 128-pound Jon Fredrickson (by fall), 134-pound Jayce Toupin (by forfeit), 140-pound Juan Bernal (by forfeit) and 147-pound Kaeden Timmons (by fall).
