PITTSBURG — Middletown High School junior Maria Castaldo won at 100 pounds and teammate Sierra Egger finished second at 105 pounds during the North Coast Section Girls” Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Pittsburg.
Both Mustangs are now headed to the CIF State Championships on Feb. 24-25 in Lemoore. It will be the second trip in as many years for the sophomore Egger.
Also qualifying for state out of the Coastal Mountain Conference were Willits wrestlers Kim Agenbroad, who finished third at 146 pounds, and Ammethyst Kopman, who was third at 189 pounds.
While they didn”t qualify for state, four other CMC wrestlers -two from Middletown and two from Willits -did bring home section medals. Middletown”s Karen Castellanos upset Chelo Barton of James Lick High School, pinning her in the first period of their seventh-place match, and Middletown”s Brie Nelson placed eight at 118 pounds.
For Willits, Megan Nelson came in sixth at 165 pounds and Adri Borjon was eighth at 154 pounds.
“We did very well as a conference in the NCS,” Middletown coach Troy Brierly said. “We had eight placers and four state qualifiers this year. One Lake County school (Middletown) and one Mendo County school (Willits) got it done.”
Middletown placed seventh out of 39 in the team standings while Willits was 13th.
The top six teams all were bigger schools than Middletown, including one with a student body of 1,700, according to Brierly.
“That”s not bad for a school with 484 kids,” he said of the Mustangs.
Castaldo, the No. 1 seed at 100 pounds entering the tournament, lived up to that high ranking. She beat Gina Audiss of Montgomery 10-0 in the semifinals before pinning Eureka”s Ana Macias in the first period of the finals to become Middletown”s first section champion.
“We”ve had plenty of medalists, including five runner-ups, but she”s our first champion,” Brierly said.
Egger, the No. 3 seed at 105 pounds, pinned the No. 2 seed, Talissa Noriega of James Logan, in the semifinals. Facing No. 1 seed and defending section champion Lisa Tran of Newark Memorial in the finals, Egger lost by pin in the first round.
“Tran is amazing to watch. She”s that good,” Brierly said.
Brierly, who is in his final season as Middletown”s coach, said he couldn”t have been prouder of his wrestlers at the sectional meet.
“For her to do that in my final season meant a lot to me,” Brierly said of Castaldo”s section championship.
Egger is the first Middletown girl to reach the state finals twice. On the boys” side, only Steve Franklin has done that in the school”s history.
“So when I mention Steve Franklin, Mark Nielsen, Matt Coit, Danny Knight, Steve Brown, Zeb Beatty, Robby Avery, etc., I have to mention Maria Castaldo and Sierra Egger in the same sentence,” Brierly said.
“I am very pleased with all my girls this season. They”re wrestled with a passion to win that was infectious for coach (Brian) Hunt and myself. As I head toward my last few weeks as head coach, there are many things that I am proud of. One of them is fostering a culture that has allowed girls” wrestling to flourish here at MHS. I am a happy coach.”
