TVHS Wrestler Youngblood Captures First Girls CIF Regional Wrestling Title

Temecula Valley’s Cheyenne Youngblood powered her way to her first CIF State Regional title Saturday night at Beaumont High School.

Youngblood, second here last year as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman two years ago, scored a second round pin over La Puente’s Sueheidi Vargas.

“I’m feeling fantastic,” Youngblood said. “I was pretty nervous but I knew the win would come.”

All champions and qualifiers from Saturday’s regional will advance to the CIF Girls State Wrestling Invitational at Lemoore High School Feb 25-26.

Temecula Valley coach Veronica Kubes said. “Cheyenne just had to wrestle smart.”

Youngblood improved to 33-0 and took top honors in six girls’ tournaments this year.

“She was very aggressive but not as focused when she was a sophomore,” Kubes said. “Now she is aggressive and very focused.”

Beaumont High School wrestler Amanda Hendey, one of the more decorated grapplers in Southern California, was actually a bit nervous before her match.

But those jitters didn’t last for long.

Hendey, a two-time girl’s CIF champion and a defending state champion, was at her best during her championship final.

Hendey, competing at 126 lbs., pinned Northview’s Johanna Navarro in the final round (5:56) to win her second straight Regional title.

“I was confident but things were going through my head, like what if I get caught or things like that,” Hendey said. “I just went in and said if I go hard, things like that won’t happen.”

Joining Hendey at the State Championships in Lemoore will be her teammate Malina Nelson, who finished eighth at 108 pounds. Nelson won two matches before losing in the quarterfinals to eventual third place finisher Samantha Cardoza of Pacifica. Nelson dropped into the consolation bracket where she landed in the match for seventh and eighth, settling for eighth.

Hendey, who pinned Navarro in 30 seconds last year, led 5-0 after the first round and 7-0 after the second.

”I wrestled her before but this time she was tougher and wrestled smarter,” Hendey said. “But I was never scared and never told myself that might lose. The whole time I was confident.”

She was confident but wrestling in front of her home crowd in her final home event of the season did affect her.

“This is something I will really remember, probably for the rest of my life,” Hendey said. “It’s my last wrestling match at my home school.”

Hendey is competing in special territory at the moment. She is 35-0 dating back to her sophomore season. And she didn’t give up a point in her five tournament matches this weekend.

“Dominance,” Beaumont wrestling Coach Jason Lundblad said. “It’s what she has done all year. First, it’s the experience. Second, it’s her skills. Third, she has a calm about it all.”

A large contingent of local fans attended the tournament, making it a showcase for Hendey.

“It’s nice that her last home match is one that she won a CIF title,” Lundblad said. “And a lot of people got to see her do it.”

Hendey, however, wasn’t the only wrestler to make news.

Walnut 98 pounder Tricia Taira got off to a fast start, stumbled but recovered for a third place finish.

Taira pinned her first three opponents but then got pinned herself by eventual division champion Marina Sanchez of La Sierra. She won her first match in consolation to reach the match for third place where she recorded a 4-2 win over Mater Dei Catholic’s Briana Gamez.

Not bad for a second year wrestler.

“It’s been a fun year,” said Taira. “It was a good experience.”

Artesia qualified three wrestlers for the state tournament. Reanna Guzman took third at 138, Alexis Alcala took 4th at 146 and Bianey Flores took 10th at 114.

Guzman, who completed at the junior varsity level all season and was a runner-up at the Suburban League JV finals, won 5-0 win over La Sierra’s Jasmine Wright.

Alcala dropped into consolation after a semifinal loss. She won her first consolation match, , 8-0 over McLane’s Teresa Khamlusa, to reach the match for third place where she lost via third round pin to West Covina’s Jessica Vasquez.

“We brought seven girls, two lost in the semifinals and three are going to state,” Artesia coach Richard Carbajal said. “We are happy with that. It’s a tough tournament.”