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“Two-time state champ,” 15-year-old Haylee Childs said, trying to hide a hint of pride in her voice.
 Childs
Childs, a Scotts Valley High School sophomore, won her second-consecutive California State High School Girls Wrestling Championship on Feb. 2.
She swept through the 114-pound weight bracket as an unseeded wrestler with five wins, including shutouts in her final two matches.
Childs was the second seed in the 118-pound class, but weighed in at 114 before the tournament.
She beat Kristen Feagley of Castro Valley in the first round by fall. She beat fourth-seeded Dominique Varela, 11-2, in the second round before winning her quarterfinal match 11-4 over Danielle Smith of Los Banos. To make the final round, Childs knocked off top-seeded Alice Hoover of Hogan High School, 5-0.
In the final, she dominated Brazel Marquez of West Covina High School, 9-0, in what her father and assistant coach Joe Childs called “the best match of her career.”
Childs started wrestling boys in middle school and attributes her success against girls to coaching from Greg Stevens, the Scotts Valley head coach, and her work with Dave Peasley and his daughters, Sarah and Jessica.
“I have a great deal of respect for Haylee Childs and her performance on and off the mat,” said Dave Peasley in an e-mail. “Haylee I find very coachable, intelligent and really beginning to master the sport.”
The Peasley sisters, who are former national champions at the high school level, have taught Childs how to wrestle girls, which she had little experience with before.
“It’s not every day that national champions move to your town,” Childs said.
Wrestling with the Peasleys has helped Childs adapt to the differences between male and female wrestling.
“Girls are way more flexible,” Childs said. “Girls, they won’t roll over. They’ll just stick with their arms behind their head.”
Despite the state championship, the season hasn’t been stress-free for Childs.
She wasn’t able to make weight as her teams’ representative in the 114-pound weight class, costing Scotts Valley valuable points toward the league title. The Falcons got by without her points thanks to a strong showing by her teammates.
Child’s season is not over as she will begin her quest for a national title soon.
“I’ve got a lot of competition,” she said. “But I’m going to push on as far as I can go.”
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I've always looked at her wrestling videos and I'm always impressed.
I'm VERY happy for her, being a female wrestler myself; though, I don't have as many wins as her.
Good Job, Haylee!!