Down seven points in the third period to one of the city’s elite wrestlers, Giselle Arambula knew she was in a tough spot.
But the Curie junior persevered and earned the biggest win of her career.
Arambula pinned Ag. Science’s Carmen Jackson in 4:56 to win the 110-pound title in the Public League finals on Jan. 25 at Curie.
“My coach always tells us to keep wrestling,” said Arambula, who is 23-1 this season. “And I’m gonna be honest, I was really nervous because my opponent had qualified for state (last year). I’m like, ‘Oh, this and this.’ But at the end of the day I could just give it my all and hope for the outcome to be on top.
“And that’s what happened.”
It flipped the script from last year’s Public League Tournament.
“I never won city before,” Arambula said. “I remember last year I placed sixth and I lost to Carmen in the first round in under, maybe, 30 seconds. And oh wow, it was a nervous, nervous match. I will say that.”
Curie coach Yahya Muhammad was glad to see Arambula’s effort pay off.
“That girl’s awesome,” he said. “She worked hard over the summer doing freestyle and just put on weight. When she first came here, she weighed 87 pounds.”
Arambula’s mental approach carried her through, according to Muhammad.
“The heart is all that matters,” he said. “She believed in herself like, ‘No matter what, I’m gonna go out there and keep going.'”
Arambula was one of two local champions along with Kelly’s Sara Martinez Lopera (22-0), who pinned Chicago Military’s Mia Johnson in 24 seconds in the 170 final.
Kelly finished second to defending champ Phoenix, 215.5-177. The Trojans also had five runners-up: Annie Aguilar-Cruz (14-4) at 105, Yazmina Garcia (19-9) at 115, Leylani Bahena (19-7) at 130, Liana Andrade (8-4) at 155 and N’Dyia Mahon-Godfrey (23-3) at 190.
Curie, which was fifth with 122.5 points, had a pair of runners-up: Evelin Martinez (16-3) at 100 and Zoe Gonzalez (18-4) at 145.
Curie boys take fourth
The Public League started a dual-team tournament this year, held along with the girls finals at Curie. The host Condors finished fourth, falling 46-36 to Ag. Science in the third-place match.
Curie had pins from Ethan Portillo at 138, Yuliel Quinonez in 25 seconds at 150, Mylan Williams at 157, Eduardo Seija in 33 seconds at 190 and Israel Fabila at 285.
The Condors cruised past Roosevelt 70-12 in the quarterfinals and lost 76-6 in the semis to Lane, which went on to win its fourth consecutive Public League title.
“The kids worked hard, man,” Muhammad said. “That’s all I could ask for.”