Girls Wrestling | "Nothing less than first" for Kentwood's Navejas

TACOMA — Right after winning the 112-pound state wrestling title, Kentwood sophomore Antonia Navejas raced over to her corner of the mat and jumped into the arms of Ruben Navejas, her father and coach.

The two held that pose for several seconds as they celebrated being a part of history at the Mat Classic on Saturday at the Tacoma Dome in the first girls state wrestling tournament sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Girls wrestling featured only exhibition matches the previous three years at Mat Classic.

Hoquiam, which had a tournament-high six qualifiers, won the team title with 62 points, led by individual champions in sophomores Kelsey Klein (125) and Alex White (135). Kelso was second with 46, and Mount Baker of Deming third (42). Kentwood took fourth with 40.

Nobody showed more emotion after her victory than Navejas.

"I felt proud for my dad," Navejas said. "I wanted nothing less than first, and I showed my dad I could take first."

Navejas improved her record to 27-2 with an 11-1 win over Lucky Saengchanh, a senior from River Ridge in Lacey. Navejas beat Saengchanh 8-3 in the regional semifinals last week and knew she needed to score quickly.

"I had to put points on the board because I knew she might stall like she did last week," Navejas said.

Ruben Navejas had plenty to smile about as he watched his daughter dominate.

"That's one of my highest moments," Ruben Navejas said. "She put everything she had into that match."

Kentwood sophomore Jolene Crook-Meyers had hoped to win a state title as well, but she ran into an extra-motivated opponent in La Center junior Chris Cox at 130. Crook-Meyers had defeated Cox last week at regionals.

"It was my chance to redeem myself," said Cox, who pinned Crook-Meyers in 4 minutes, 30 seconds. "I'm speechless. I'm in such a daze, it's like a dream."

Cox, who wrestled mostly boys this season in compiling a 23-11 record, pinned all three of her opponents at state. Crook-Meyers also had pinned her first two opponents.

Another overpowering wrestler turned out to be Kelso senior Veronica Mendoza, who pinned Hoquiam senior Kyra Butler in 1:58 to win at 119. Mendoza pinned all three of her opponents at state.

Note

• Junior Sarah Rowen of Columbia River of Vancouver became the first girls state champion when she beat junior Tara Miller of Jackson of Mill Creek 3-2 at 103.