Scotts Valley wrestler Shelby Baker has earned a seat at the table in the state finals girls wrestling meet at Lemoore High School.
“It took me a while to realize that I had made state,” Baker said. “It was such an emotional roller coaster, I didn’t even know I had qualified.”
Baker, a sophomore wrestling at 126 pounds for the Falcons, took third place at the Central Coast Section championship meet on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5 and 6, winning four of her last five matches at Oak Grove High School and ending with a 5-5 tie with Sacred Heart Cathedral’s Vienna Larkin.
Baker lost her first match to Kylie Guest of Andrew Hill before pinning Kelly Dwyer of Terra Nova (in 2 minutes, 50 seconds), Alexandra Eccleston of Los Gatos (2:30) and Anna Naylor of Lynnbrook High (1:53). Baker then turned the tables and beat Guest in their second meeting, 4-0, before wrapping up her third-place finish with a tie with Larkin in regulation. Larkin won in double overtime.
“I knew she had the tools to be great,” coach Jared Norman said, “but her intrinsic motivation has allowed (Shelby) to excel beyond any of my expectations.”
Fellow Scotts Valley sophomore Alicia Pitts is still in the hunt for a state berth, too. Pitts reached her five-match limit at the weekend tournament and will wrestle again after press time Wednesday, Feb. 9, for a chance to compete in the 108-pound weight class.
The girls California Interscholastic Federation state meet will be Feb. 25 and 26 at Lemoore High School in the San Joaquin Valley.
