It\u2019s time for wrestling in the Moore League as we head into the Winter season. The Long Beach Poly girls wrestling team has had a dominant run over the last few years, but the rest of the Moore League is looking to knock them from the top spot.
Poly
The Jackrabbits had a historic season last year as they claimed another league title and kept it rolling as they went on to win eight individual league titles at the Moore League finals last year.
Poly coach Ken Lee has plenty of reason to be optimistic this season as he has plenty of talent returning from last year. While they won\u2019t return CIF champion Dalila Preciado who was a CIF champion, the Jackrabbits have plenty of depth with talent returning across all weight classes.
Selieni Paseka is one of the top wrestlers returning for the Jackrabbits and is currently the top-ranked wrestler in her weight class in the CIF Southern Section.\u00a0
\u201cWe have a good group of girls coming back,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe also have a lot of new girls coming back and I\u2019m looking forward to see how they kind of fall into those cracks and work hard.\u201d
Paseka has already gotten off to a great start this season taking gold in the 190-pound bracket at the Lady Big Kat Tournament last weekend.\u00a0
Along with Paseka, the Jackrabbits will return Riley Pestanas, Nicole Comia and Kylie Carrera who all won league titles last year.\u00a0
They\u2019ll be joined by Devyn Kripp who was a runnerup\u00a0last year.
Lakewood
Whenever you\u2019re able to have a CIF champion on your team it\u2019s always a good thing. That\u2019s what Lakewood has in senior Ashley Wafer who has had a storied high school career that included winning a CIF title last season.\u00a0
The Lancers are the only Moore League team with a returning CIF champion and are looking to compete for a spot in the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs as Lakewood will be the host site for the D3 playoffs.
Wafer is excited heading into her senior year, and she will provide a lot of knowledge and know-how for her teammates.\u00a0
\u201cThe team has grown a lot this year,\u201d Wafer said. \u201cAlthough I miss (Esper) I think my new teammates are going to be good for the team.\u201d
Wafer is excited to enter the season after finally winning CIF.
\u201cI enjoy being CIF champion,\u201d Wafer said. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s about time.\u201d
At last year\u2019s the Lancers had five wrestlers make it to the title bouts with Kayla Selvidge, Esper Sanchez-Kinner and Wafer taking home league titles. Lakewood also took home three league titles \u2013 second most of all teams.
Millikan
The Millikan\u2019 girls wrestling team is entering the 2025 season with confidence and depth and head coach Daniel Lopez couldn\u2019t be more optimistic.
\u201cI\u2019m feeling pretty good about this team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re filling most of the weight classes this year, which has been a thorn in our side the last couple of seasons. Two years ago, we actually lost a close one to Poly because of a forfeit. This year, that shouldn\u2019t be an issue.\u201d
Millikan brings back a strong core, including all four of last year\u2019s league finalists. Returning league champions Katie Preciado and Gabriella Bonilla, along with runner-ups Amaya McIntyre and Isabella Martinez, headline a group with both experience and hunger.
\u201cAll four are returning,\u201d the coach said. \u201cThree of them are seniors, and Gabby\u2019s a junior. She\u2019s our captain and had a great offseason. She\u2019s looking to add another league title this year.\u201d
Senior Jaylen Escala is another wrestler to watch. After a strong summer, she\u2019s expected to compete at either 105 or 110 pounds.\u00a0
\u201cShe\u2019s really come alive,\u201d the coach said. \u201cWe\u2019re expecting her to surprise some people and shake up the league.\u201d
Millikan also has an influx of young talent. Around 35 girls are in the room this season, including 15\u201320 freshmen.
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a great group of newcomers and about five or six sophomores making the jump,\u201d he said. \u201cIn girls wrestling, you don\u2019t really have a JV level \u2013 you\u2019re varsity right away \u2013 so those girls who took their lumps last year are coming back much stronger.\u201d
Among the team\u2019s rising stars is sophomore Chelsea Pueo, who\u2019s earned praise for her dedication and steady improvement.\u00a0
\u201cShe\u2019s looking like one of my best wrestlers right now,\u201d the coach said.
As for returning standout Amaya McIntyre, she\u2019s coming off an injury but has made big strides in skill and composure.\u00a0
\u201cShe\u2019s always been fired up and scrappy, but now she\u2019s learning to control it and really wrestle,\u201d he said.
With key returners, improved depth, and an energetic freshman class, Milikan looks ready to challenge Long Beach Poly\u2019s recent run at the top of the Moore League \u2014 and maybe take back the crown.\u201d
Wilson
Wilson is ready to compete after having a solid offseason of work. After having five wrestlers make it to the league title bouts, the Bruins have a good core that will look to compete with the rest of the league.
Junior Maddie Emigh, who has shown steady improvement each year. Emigh had an impressive run last season, finishing as a runner-up and entering this season with high expectations.
Another standout junior, Adrienne Malsberger, has also been dominant in recent years. Though she has faced tough competition \u2013 including a top-ranked wrestler from Lakewood \u2013 Malsberger continues to close the gap and is poised for a breakthrough season. Her consistent performance and determination make her one to watch as the season unfolds.
Senior Jocelyn Flores brings veteran leadership to the lineup. A runner-up last year, Flores has continued to put in the work and looks ready to make another strong postseason push. Alongside her is fellow senior Danielle Roscoe, another proven competitor who provides both skill and stability to the upper weight classes.
While those athletes lead the way, the coaching staff emphasized that the entire squad is putting in serious effort and showing real promise.\u00a0
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a pretty cool group this year,\u201dWilson coach Set Wegter said. \u201cThey\u2019re coming back experienced and enthusiastic \u2014 two things that really matter for a good team.\u201d
Jordan
On the north side, the Panthers have a young team but coach Alberto De La Cruz is looking forward to how his team develops.\u00a0
\u201cWe are a relatively young program and we are trying to grow and find the right pace for the team,\u201d De La Cruz said.
Last season, Jordan had one league champion in Liliana Sarmiento who took the 172-pound title.\u00a0
Jaeden Acevedo, Emelia Defour, Alicia Martinez for the girls team. expect the team to perform really well,\u00a0
Compton\/Cabrillo
It will be another year where the Compton and Cabrillo programs combine to field a team as Cabrillo coach Vince Ortiz and Compton coach Joseph Williams work together to lead their team.
Ortiz is excited about Jaguar junior captain Juliana Reyes who returns to the team after a historic season.\u00a0
\u201cJuliana was our first ever CIF qualifier at Cabrillo,\u201d Ortiza said. \u201cAnd looking forward to her take it a step further this year.\u201d
The Jaguars are also looking forward to newcomer Carnijah Kirkland who is wrestling for the first time this season.
\u201cWe are expecting exciting things from her,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cThis will probably be the most experienced girls team Cabrillo has ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n
It should be a fun wrestling season. The girls league finals will be hosted by Poly on Jan. 29 and CIF playoffs will start that weekend on Jan. 31.<\/p>\n
2025 Moore League Champion:\u00a0Long Beach Poly<\/p>\n
2025 Moore League Individual Champions:
100 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Reighlene Valdez
105 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Riley Pestanas
110 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Nicole Comia
115 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Daniela Angles
120 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Roselyn Uce
125 \u2013 Millikan\u2019s Gabriela Bonilla
130 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Dalila Preciado
135 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Kylie Carrera
140 \u2013 Millikan\u2019s Kayde Preciado
145 \u2013 Lakewood\u2019s Kayla Selvidge
155 \u2013 Poly\u2019s Berlynn Solia-Tago
170 \u2013 Jordan\u2019s Liliana Sarmiento
190 \u2013 Lakewood\u2019s Esper Sanchez-Kinney
235 \u2013 Lakewood\u2019s Ashley Wafer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time for wrestling in the Moore League as we head into the Winter season. The Long Beach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-64010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}