Downey wins back-to-back league title

DOWNEY - The Downey High School girls’ wrestling team won the San Gabriel Valley League Wrestling Championship last week.

The victory marked a back-to-back title for the Lady Vikings and with their second win in a row, have solidified themselves as the team to beat in league competition moving forward.

The Downey girls’ wrestling program has grown each year it has been in existence. This year’s varsity team consists of the young ladies wearing the grey jackets in the picture provided.

From left to right they are: Destiny, Gisele, Stephanie, Isabel, Vanessa, Kat, Stephanie, Sofia and Lily. These girls are coached by Roger Rios, Jorge Guerrero and Jose Aldape.

There is a highlight film of the Downey girls’ wrestling team and their league championship on Instagram @thenestfilmco. Special thanks to former Downey High School wrestling coach Miguel Soto for the information and the photo.

Coach Rios, his staff and wrestlers are excited to grow their program and once again claim the league title. League championship wrestling results will be available in next week’s Downey Patriot. 

■ The Downey High School boys’ wrestling team competed at the C.I.F Division 2 Wrestling Dual Meet Championships last Saturday at Victor Valley High School. The Vikings were eliminated in the first round of competition by Palm Desert, 65-15.

In Downey’s side of the 16-team bracket: Paramount defeated West Valley 45-36, Temescal Canyon defeated West Covina 55-24, Palm Desert defeated Downey 65-15 and Laguna Hills defeated South Hills 72-3 in first round competition.

Paramount defeated Temescal Canyon 45-33 and Palm Desert defeated Laguna Hills 37-18 in the quarterfinal round to advance. Palm Desert then defeated Paramount 41-31 in one semifinal and then defeated Paloma Valley, 40-36, in the championship final. Palm Desert is the C.I.F. Division 2 Dual Meet Champion.

Downey wrestling will now turn their attention to the San Gabriel Valley League championships being held tomorrow at Paramount High School. C.I.F. Individual competition will follow next weekend and that will be followed by the Master’s Meet in two weeks and the State Meet the weekend of Feb. 27-29.

■ The Warren High School boys’ wrestling team also competed at the C.I.F Division 2 Wrestling Dual Meet Championships last Saturday at Victor Valley High School.

The Bears were eliminated in the first round of competition by Alta Loma, 39-30.

In Warren’s side of the 16-team bracket: Victory Valley defeated Bonita 71-6, Santa Ana defeated Citrus Hill 40-36, Alta Loma defeated Warren 39-30 and Paloma Valley defeated Charter Oak 58-21 in first round competition.

Victor Valley defeated Santa Ana 60-12 and Paloma Valley defeated Alta Loma 42-31 in the quarterfinal round to advance. Paloma Valley then defeated Victor Valley 36-33 in one semifinal and was then defeated by Palm Desert 40-36 in the championship final.

Warren wrestling will also compete in the league championships tomorrow, with CIF individual competition next weekend.

■ The Warren High School boys’ soccer team currently has an overall record of 7-7-3 and are 6-3 in San Gabriel Valley League play.

The Bears defeated Dominguez at Warren, 5-0, on Jan. 23, defeated Lynwood at Lynwood, 1-0, on Jan. 28, defeated Paramount, 3-1, on Jan. 30, defeated Gahr, 6-0, on Feb. 3 and hosted Downey on Wednesday night (score unavailable at press time).

Although Paramount has already clinched the league title (8-1), Downey and Warren are still competing for second place. Whoever wins tonight’s game will finish league play in second place with a record of 7-3 and whoever loses tonight’s game will finish league play in third place with a record of 6-4.

Both teams, regardless of outcome tonight, should qualify for C.I.F. Division One postseason play.

The Warren High School girls’ soccer team has an overall record of 10-3-3 and a San Gabriel Valley League record of 9-0. The Lady Bears defeated Dominguez at Dominguez 13-0 on January 23, defeated Lynwood, 6-1, on Jan. 28, defeated Paramount, 5-0, on Jan. 30, defeated Gahr, 2-0, on Feb. 3 and hosted Downey on Wednesday night (score unavailable at press time).

The winner of Wednesday night’s game between Downey and Warren will determine this year’s league title. If Warren wins, they will finish at 10-0 and in first place by themselves.

If Downey wins, there will be a co-championship between both schools with records of 9-1.

The second-round game in league play carries more weight than the first-round games and postseason playoff seedings will reflect that.

■ The third rotation of middle school sports is complete after baseball and softball concluded last Wednesday.

Doty and Stauffer shared a co-championship in baseball with records of 4-2 and Doty was the champion in softball with a record of a 6-0.

As it stands now, Doty has 7.5 total championships, Stauffer has three championships, Griffiths has two championships and Sussman has .5 championship(s). Doty is looking to win the Champions Cup Trophy for the 7th year in a row.

Boys’ and girls’ basketball (6 teams) and boys’ soccer (2 teams) is the next rotation up for competition and will begin the first week in March.

The fifth and final rotation will include boys’ and girls’ track (6 teams) and will begin after spring break in April.