Drake Qualifies Its First Wrestler to State Tournament

It was the girls turn to shine at last weekend's NCS wrestling meet.

During the MCAL season wrestling is co-ed, but when it's time to move into the post-season the genders are split up. This meant that while the boys will be heading to Marin Catholic this weekend for the MCAL Championships, the Drake girls moved out of MCALs based on their season record and got a shot at North Coast Section competition in the East Bay this past weekend.

The Drake girls wrestling squad continued it's strong showing, bringing five girls to the tournament -- the most of any of the Marin squads -- and qualifying their first wrestler (male or female) to the state tournament in years.

Senior Alanna Hamilton took fourth at 146 lbs., sending her to the state meet and beating her fifth-place seed. According to Coach Johann Gerlach, Hamilton had a few tough matches to start the day, but then came back with some wins. She eventually secured a third-period pin against an opponent from Pittsburgh High School, which moved her into the third place match and guaranteed her a place in the Girls State Tournament in Lemoore on Feb. 24 and 25.

"When Alanna won this match to propel her into the third and fourth place match, I simply lost it! I was ecstatic," said Gerlach. "And I can't even begin to know how Alanna felt, but her smile was the biggest I've ever seen in the four years of knowing her. It was incredibly inspiring!"

The other Drake girls, all new to wrestling, performed strongly as well with junior Makenna Garcia taking fifth in 126 lbs. and Evelyn Champagne took eighth at 122 lbs.

Garcia came back from a tough loss that knocked her out of the top four and out of state qualifying contention to beat an opponent she had lost to earlier in the tournament.

"The match got even a bit grim for a bit, as she was trailing for a good portion of the match, but she kept on pushing and hustling for escapes while she was on bottom," said Gerlach. "Sure enough her hustle got her opponent out of position and this is when Makenna struck."

Freshmen Roxanne Mitchell and Kyle Peterson also competed in their first NCS competition. Mitchell even moved up to 154 lbs., despite being in the 146 lbs. weight class, because only one wrestler from a school is allowed in each class. She took one for the team, to give Hamilton the opportunity to qualify for state, said Gerlach.

The boys will hopefully take some inspiration from their female teammates as they head to MCALs this weekend. Kiernan Kelly, Jeremy Thornton, Thomas Gazzoli, Matt Makohin, John Zerbe, and Dylan Sayge will all compete, hoping to qualify for the NCS tournament.

"I had such a blast this season with the Drake girl wrestlers," said Gerlach.