SANTA ANA — The high level of skill displayed by the Santa Ana girls wrestling team on the mat is matched by the Saints’ insistence to have fun together off the mat.
Both were obvious at Santa Ana High School on Thursday when the Saints defeated El Toro, 63-18, to win the CIF SS Division 2 Dual Meet championship.
The team championship was the first for the Santa Ana girls wrestling program.
The Santa Ana girls wrestling team have their photo taken with their CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship plaque in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Santa Ana girls wrestling team do a little dancing after winning the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship against El Toro in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’a Angelica Serratos is declared the winner of the 105 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
El Toro’s Isabel Sadawski and Santa Ana’s Anabel Serratos, right, compete in the 125 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Angelica Serratos, top, makes a move to pin El Toro’s Leila Rivera in the 105 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Alicia Serratos is declared the winner of the 110 lb. weight class in the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Santa Ana girls wrestling team celebrate after winning the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship against El Toro in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
El Toro fans cheer their team during the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Santa Ana girls wrestling team celebrate winning the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Anabel Serratos is declared the winner of the 125 lb. weight class at the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Santa Ana girls wrestling team enter the gym for the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship against El Toro in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana girls wrestling team members cheer a teammate in the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Alicia Serratos, right, gains the advantage on El Toro’s Alexa Kopp-Salas in the 110 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Angelica Serratos flips El Toro’s Leila Rivera in the 105 lb weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
An El Toro girls wrestling team member cheers a teammate in the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Alicia Serratos, right, looks for a way to flip El Toro’s Alexa Kopp-Salas in the 110 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Angelica Serratos, left, scores points as she flips El Toro’s Leila Rivera in the 105 lb. weight class of the CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
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The Santa Ana girls wrestling team have their photo taken with their CIF-SS Division 2 Dual Meet girls wrestling championship plaque in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Saints, who are arguably the feel-good story of Orange County wrestling this season, won by pins in 10 of 14 weight classes and lost only one match on the mat, with two of the Chargers victories coming by forfeit.
Izzy Cruz’s second-period pin against Olivia Lavanderos was the lone victory for the Chargers.
Santa Ana is coached by the husband-and-wife team of Monica and Fernando Serratos, who led the Saints to the Southern Section team title in only their second year at the school.
The gymnasium was full for the match which started with both teams coming through an inflatable tunnel, being introduced with loud music blaring.
The Saints danced in pairs and in groups of three and four, traded high fives and were all smiles before and after the match and even a bit during the match.
“We work really hard,” said Fernando Serratos, a 1997 Santa Ana graduate and two-time CIF-SS champion, Masters champion and junior college state champion. “We work 365 days a year. We do a lot of the offseason stuff, but the biggest factor is we keep it cool. We don’t put any pressure on them. As you can see, they came out with guns blazing. This is something that they really wanted to do. They put together their own goals.”
The couple’s three daughters wrestle for Santa Ana. They are ranked in the state — Alicia, a senior, at 110, Anabelle, a sophomore, at 125, and Angelica, a freshman at 105 — and each won their match by pin Thursday night.
Also scoring pins for the Saints were Gabriella Martinez (100), America Franco (115), Tiffany Nguyen (120), Nelly Herandez (130), Yanni Sanchez (140), Alyiah Sandoval (155) and Angelica Salazar (170).
“Oh my gosh, it’s amazing,” Alicia Serratos said. “We’ve never won anything this big yet. We’re going to go to CIF Individuals, Masters, state, and we’re going to win it all. That’s the goal this year.”
Angelica Serratos said balancing the hard work in the wrestling room with having fun as a team away from the mat is important to the team’s success.
“You work hard and when you work hard, you win a lot and winning is obviously fun,” the freshman said. “But I think going through the sacrifices with your team and doing that hard work, doing that extra work with your team, it brings us all together and creates a big family for all of us.”
The Santa Ana boys team took the mat before the girls on Thursday and were also victorious.
The Saints dominated in the lower weight classes in a 44-24 victory over Peninsula to capture the CIF-SS Division 6 team championship.
The Santa Ana boys wrestling team celebrate with the CIF-SS Division 6 Dual Meet boys wrestling championship plaque in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Jayden Palomino, top, gets the advantage on Peninsula’s Jacob Hevener in the CIF-SS Division 6 Dual Meet boys wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The Santa Ana boys wrestling team have their photo taken with the CIF-SS Division 6 Dual Meet boys wrestling championship plaque in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa Ana’s Jayden Palomino tries to turn Peninsula’s Jacob Hevener in the CIF-SS Division 6 Dual Meet boys wrestling championship in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
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The Santa Ana boys wrestling team celebrate with the CIF-SS Division 6 Dual Meet boys wrestling championship plaque in Santa Ana on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
“And this one’s for Santa Ana,” said an emotional coach Pablo Cunningham after the victory. “We love our school. We love our community.”
Jose Molina (117), Erik Lopez (124) and Sebastion Cordina (130) all came away with victories by technical falls and Aiden Aguilar (136) and Jayden Palomino (142) won their respective matches with pins.
“It feels great to know that all the hard work that we’ve been putting in, all the hours of nonstop training finally pays off,” Palomino said. “These guys work super hard day in and day out.”
Cunningham figures to have some wrestlers place in the CIF Southern Section individual tournament and advance to the Masters.
