Riverside Brookfield High School senior girls wrestler Estefany Bejarano once again displayed her singing talents, Saturday, with her rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at the Upstate Eight Conference Meet at West Aurora. Bejarano then delivered quite an encore performance on the wrestling mat.

She won the 170-pound title with pins in all three of her matches, including a 1:02 first-period fall over West Chicago junior Olivia Halminiak in the final.

“That was awesome. I nearly cried after the very last match,” Bejarano said. “I feel like the conference win was one of my best achievements this season.”

Enjoying her best season with a 23-4 record, Bejarano is among the Bulldogs hopeful for a strong postseason beginning with regionals, Feb. 6-7. 

Senior Danely Villagomez (18-5 at 155), who finished second at the UEC Meet, was a 2023 state qualifier at 135 and won conference as a junior.

Last season, Bejarano was third at the UEC Meet at 170 and finished with victories “in the teens.” She’s improved significantly since then.

“I think it’s because I spent this summer I spent three times a week every week in the gym,” Bejarano said. “I got strong and went to summer wrestling. I got to get stronger all summer.”

The title victory also had special meaning considering Bejarano and Halminiak (27-11) had split their previous two meetings.

“It was against (Halminiak) who I’m pretty good friends with and I felt really good about it. That was like our tiebreaker and I won,” Bejarano said. 

Villagomez lost by technical fall 17-1 to undefeated South Elgin sophomore Allison Gabacz (28-0) after a first-period pin in the semifinals. Junior Emily Anaya (16-9 at 145) took third with a first-period pin. Lea Becker (17-12 at 125) was fourth and seniors Heidi Velazquez (11-7 at 110) and Angelica Solis (8-10 at 135) were sixth.

The Bulldogs (90 points) were seventh overall after going 4-2 in UEC East Division duals. 

LTHS girls wrestling

Sophomore Jhania Wickert-Harris continued the Lyons Township girls wrestling tradition of West Suburban Conference champions Saturday at Addison Trail in dramatic fashion. Wickert-Harris took the 105-pound title with a 9-6 sudden-victory decision over Addison Trail sophomore Isabella Datil following a 7-3 semifinal victory. Wickert-Harris, who improved to 16-4, was second last year along with senior Ashley Uhler while senior Sofia Turek won at 135. 

On Saturday, Uhler (7-5 at 115) was second again. Turek (17-5 at 135), junior Zoe Connelly (16-10 at 125) and sophomore Mariah Zalapa (13-6 at 110) were third. 

Uhler was pinned by Willowbrook sophomore Angelina Manlapaz (8-2). For third place, Turek and Connelly won with pins and Zalapa prevailed 13-9.

The Lions (95.5 points) were seventh with entries at just nine of the 14 weight classes. 

LTHS next competes at regionals, Feb. 6-7.