Central Valley’s varsity girls wrestling team tightened its grip on first place in the Central California Conference dual-meet standings this past week.

The reigning CCC champion Hawks improved to 3-0 in league after securing wins against Buhach Colony and El Capitan in a three-day span.

“I’m definitely proud of the girls,” Hawks’ 121-pound grappler “I’m definitely proud of the girls,” Hawks’ 121-pound grappler Aryanna Jimenez said. “I think we can win it (the CCC title for the second year in a row) if we put our minds to it.” said. “I think we can win it (the CCC title for the second year in a row) if we put our minds to it.”

Jimenez, Kim Hernandez, Julia Roton, Samantha Espinoza, Savannah Gomez, Nia Caraway, Mia Mendoza and Aeryus Lundeen helped lead Central Valley to a 48-27 victory against Buhach Colony on Jan. 16 in Atwater.

Hernandez won by first-round pin over Kimbely Zapien at 150 pounds.

Roton won by first-round pin over Tatiana Perry at 170 pounds.

Espinoza won by first-round pin over Lissandra Zarate at 235 pounds.

Jimenez, Gomez (160s), Caraway (143s), Mendoza (126s) and Lundeen (116s) all won by forfeit.

Central Valley edged El Capitan 41-36 on Jan. 14 in Ceres.

The Hawks won a total of seven individual matches, including four by forfeit. 

“We were saved by our forfeits,” Jimenez said. 

Jimenez won by technical fall (16-1) over Vanesa Torres at 121 pounds.

“There’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “I have girls that look up to me and they expect me to win.”

Abigail Garcia won by second-round pin over Idalia Perez at 131 pounds.

Isabella Pelayo won by second-round pin over Niara Jones at 137 pounds.

Espinoza (235s), Roton (170s), Caraway (143s) and Carla Martinez (160s) were awarded forfeit victories.”

“We can’t always rely on forfeits to win,” Jimenez said. “We need to work harder in the room. There’s room for improvement.”