LAKE COUNTY >> Kailei Foltmer and Christina Wilson are making their first trip to the CIF State Girls’ Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Visalia Convention Center in Visalia.
Foltmer, a junior competing at 131 pounds, and Wilson, a freshman 121-pounder, qualified for the state tournament after finishing third in their respective weight classes Feb. 14 during the North Coast Section Championships at Ukiah High School. Neither wrestler was projected to reach the state finals based on their seeding going into the sectional competition. Foltmer was something of a known quantity as the No. 4 seed, however, Wilson was both unseeded and an unknown heading into the tournament, something that changed in the span of four straight consolation matches on day two of the tournament.
Foltmer pinned her final two opponents in Ukiah to punch her ticket to Visalia while Wilson, after notching three straight pins in the consolation bracket, scored a 9-7 overtime victory over No. 2 seed Randi McMahan of Maria Carrillo High School of Santa Rosa, a three-time state qualifier.
“She’s a tough girl, somebody not to mess with,” Upper Lake coach Brandon Sneathen said of Wilson, who is the first Upper Lake wrestler to reach the state tournament since senior Emily Knispel did it in 2011, the first year the state tournament was held for girls. “She’s wrestling against boys and beating up the guys in practice. She does good against me and I’m 190 pounds.”
Foltmer and Wilson will wrestle either two or three matches on Friday depending on how they fare. The first round of matches gets underway at 9 a.m. Foltmer draws senior Jackie Quintana of Beaumont High School, the fourth-place finisher in the Southern Section Championships. Wilson’s first-round opponent is sophomore AnaKaren Rodriguez of Porterville High School, the runner-up in the Central Coast Section Championships.
“I think she is in a good place,” Sneathen said of Wilson’s draw for the state tournament. “She’s the only freshman in her bracket and nobody knows who she is, which I think will work to her advantage.”
Wilson’s goal is to bring home a medal, which are awarded down to six places in each weight division.
“I think she is going to surprise some people. I think she’s going to turn some heads,” Sneathen said. “If she keeps wrestling like she’s been wrestling in practice, look out.”
First-round winners advance to round two of the championship bracket while first-round losers advance to the first round of the consolation bracket. Should Foltmer and Wilson win each of their first two matches Friday, they will wrestle again in the quarterfinals Friday night. Two losses on Friday ends your tournament.
Because the North Coast Section Boys’ Wrestling Championships take place on the same day as the girls’ state tournament, Wilson will be accompanying Upper Lake assistant coach Jeff Clevenger to Visalia while Sneathen heads to Union City with the Upper Lake boys.
