Friday, February 20, 2015 - 9:29am
Esperanza Cadena
Esperanza Cadena

Lemoore’s Esperanza Cadena won the 1128-pound weight class at the girls’ wrestling Central Section Masters held Thursday at Lemoore High School’s Event Center to earn a spot in the CIF State Girls Championships to be held Feb. 27-28 at the Visalia Convention Center.

This is Cadena’s second straight trip to the state wrestling tournament as the Central Section Masters champion.

The Selma Bears managed to win the team championship on Thursday, winning four individual crowns in capturing their second straight Masters title. The Bears outlasted Orange Cove 136-127 to win. Porterville was third with 112 points. Lemoore, on the strength of Cadena’s win, finished eighth overall.

Cadena was 3-0 in the one-day tourney and pinned her three opponents in easy fashion. She beat Highland High School’s Angie Franco with a first period pin. She got to the finals be beating Shafter’s Susana Alfaro and Porterville’s Yaritza Guzman in the quarterfinal and semifinal matches.