There was some question when Catrina Gillus left the relatively genteel sports of gymnastics in favor of wrestling -- mostly from her mother.

"It was a little scary for my mom at first, but she's gotten over it pretty much. She's starting to get into it," Gillus said. "At first, my mom kept asking 'Are you sure this is what you want to do?' She was scared."

Gillus has not only survived the grind of wrestling, but has become one of the best in the state -- all in just four years.

The second-seeded Gillus went 4-0, including an overtime victory over top-seeded Savanna Nickols of Arcata in the 138-pound class final, to win the Northern California Regional championship on Saturday at Inderkum High in Sacramento. The victory gives the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High junior added confidence as she looks ahead to the rest of the season.

"Definitely, my goal is to win state," Gillus said of the girls championship, scheduled for Jan. 29-30. The tournament is not officially sanctioned by the California Interscholastic Federation, but it remains a showcase for the elite in girls wrestling.

"Placing first at regionals was a huge accomplishment and a great step in her season," St. Pat's coach Andrew Altman said, "it is only a step on the way to her goal of placing at state."

Girls wrestling is still establishing its foothold in California, but it is prospering in Vallejo, an area that has recently produced some of the top grapplers in the state.

"The competition's pretty good around here. Most of the Vallejo teams have quite a few girls," Gillus said. "Girls wrestling is a pretty strong thing in Vallejo.

"I go between the different schools and talk to the other wrestlers. It's like a little community. At regionals, I was cheering for people from different Vallejo schools ... unless my teammate was wrestling them. It's hard, though, because I like both of them. We all definitely cheer for each other.

"Girls wrestling is certainly a lot stronger here than in other areas. Also, the guys from the different teams around here deal with it better."

Gillus didn't start wrestling until she was in the eighth grade, convinced to try the sport by some friends who were wrestling at Springstowne Middle School.

She's worked her way up the ranks since then and has made a positive impression on Altman, a former Bruins standout who came back to St. Pat's to coach this year.

"Catrina is a person you want to be around and associate with," Altman said. "She has the ability to lead and follow depending on the situation and has done both this year. Her personality is fun and quick-witted. She is the type of person you want on the wrestling team."

Gillus took first place at the Briones Invitational earlier this season and was third at a girls tournament in Napa on Jan. 9.

"The third-place finish at Napa was a kick in the butt," Altman said. "She saw what she had to do to be the regional champ."

What Gillus has found is that she has to have to determination to win.

"In the third round, when it's a close match, that's when heart comes in," she said before reflecting on her first trip to the state girls tournament as a freshman.

"It was my first match and I was going into third round down five or seven points, but I thought I could still beat this girl. I came back and I won 12-11. That really helped give me a boost," said Gillus, who placed fifth at the tournament that year.

"As a wrestler, she is always pushing herself to become better. Catrina works hard in practice every day," Altman said. "She has been a great student of wrestling this year, as well as a teacher. She has taken Elaine Ramos-Tandjung under her wing and helped mold her into a wrestler."

"There are a lot of new people coming up in the sport, so it's really encouraging to see that catch on," Gillus said.

Honorable mention:

* Alice Hoover (Bethel girls wrestling) Hoover finished second at the regional tournament at Inderkum. She wrestles at 114 pounds.

* Ashley Moore (Vallejo girls basketball) Moore had 16 points and 15 boards on Thursday as the Apaches downed Bethel 58-32 in the Solano County Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

* Joseph Slocum (Vallejo boys basketball) Slocum scored a game-high 28 points on Thursday as the Apaches blasted Bethel 96-53 in the SCAC opener.

WRESTLING

Salinas

The Salinas girls wrestling team finished ninth among 64 schools at the CIF Northern Regional Wrestling Championships in Sacramento.

JoSara Pipitone was third at 146 pounds while Mir Ongy finished fourth at 114 pounds. Rachelle Proa was seventh at 118 pounds.

The Cowboys boys wrestling team was sixth overall at the Los Gatos Wildcat Invitational. Daniel Proa (142) and Andrie Torres (114) were both individual champions.

Tristan Doughty-Wood (121) and Alex Briano both finished third while Francisco Gutierrez was fourth at 215 pounds.

Jim Root Tournament

Gonzales had two place-winners with 132-pounder Carmen Soriano (3-1 record) taking second and 114-pounder Alfredo Salas (4-1 record) finishing in fourth.

NOVATO, WRESTLING, JUNIOR

- What she did: Madson has been unbeatable all year, and last weekend was no exception. The Hornets' standout wrestler went 4-0 on Friday and Saturday at the NorCal girls wrestling meet in Sacramento, winning her 108-pound division and guaranteeing herself a top-two seed at the state meet in Hanford beginning Jan. 29. Madson, the top seed, was dominant in running her season record to 20-0, pinning her first three opponents and inducing her finals challenger into a technical fall after going ahead 17-0.

- What she said: "There are a couple girls down South that are really good. My main goal is to be national champion, that's what I want to do. I'm confident with my takedowns, but I need to work on them a little more. I need to work a lot on my down wrestling. My dad and I are going to practice a lot more live wrestling and work on my down wrestling."

- What's next: After the state tournament, in which she will likely face a former national champion, Madson has her sights set on both national tournaments. The first is U.S. Nationals in Oklahoma from March 26-27, and the second is the United States Girls' Wrestling Association national tournament in Michigan from April 3-4. Madson placed sixth at 103 pounds in the USGWA event as a sophomore.

- Off the mat: Madson keeps herself busy as the junior class president at Novato. Her responsibilities include attending weekly student council meetings, encouraging school spirit and selling muffins to

For all of the honors and recognition that the Redlands East Valley wrestling program has received over the years, it has never had two CIF champions in the same year.

That could all change this weekend.

Wildcat junior Alexis Rodriguez and freshman Lauren Chavez, currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 at 108 pounds, respectively, will be competing in the two-day Southern California CIF Tournament at Northview High School starting on Friday.

To put the chances of Rodriguez and Chavez making history in perspective, consider this: Chavez is actually going to drop down and wrestle in the 104-pound class, not because she can't handle herself at 108 pounds, but because she doesn't want to have to wrestle Rodriguez in the finals.

"They just go to girl tournaments and basically hammer everyone," said REV wrestling coach Anthony Loera. "And the only people they lose to are each other."

Girls wrestlers are nothing new to the high school scene, but for Loera and REV, having this type of one-two punch is unheard of.

"In my 20 years of coaching, I've always had girls who come out for the team every now and then," Loera said. "And a couple of them wrestled a little varsity. But none of them came even close to having the kind of dedication that these two have. That's what sets them apart."

Showing up at REV without much wrestling experience, Rodriguez and Chavez have each gone about establishing themselves as forces to be reckoned with.

A three-year Wildcat wrestler, Rodriguez regularly wrestles in the varsity matches and has beaten her fair share of male opponents.

Lauded by Loera for her technical skills and knowledge of "every move there is", Rodriguez outthinks and outmanuevers her opponents.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Chavez. The sister of REV junior wrestler Nick Chavez, the freshman phenom is ruthless on the mat.

"Lauren is just so aggressive," Loera said. "The just goes out there and bangs heads until the other girls breaks. I can't tell you how many girls have come off bleeding after wrestling against her."

But being talented has been just part of the CIF equation. While Chavez is new to the scene, Rodriguez had been a Wildcat for the two years prior but had never been to CIF.

"That was a mistake on us as coaches," said Loera about Rodriguez's first two years in the program. "She didn't go to CIF last year and she really didn't wrestle in a lot of girl tournaments. The only time she would wrestle against other girls was when there were girl and boy tournaments being held at the same time and place."

Not realizing what they had at the time, Loera and his coaching staff made a concerted effort at the beginning of this season to plan to take Rodriguez to more girl tournaments, including CIF.

What they hadn't planned on was having another wrestler to bring with her.

"We knew we'd have Lauren, but she had limited experience coming in so we didn't know what to expect," Loera said.

Now Loera finds himself with two potential CIF, and even State, champions.

"It's a little different in girls in that they only have a southern and northern tournament to determine who goes to state," Loera said. "In boys I think there are six different tournament, but for girls, they take the top-five wrestlers from each of the two tournament and those are the ones that go to state."

Loera said that if Rodriguez and Chavez can continue to wrestle the way they have all season, there is no reason to think they won't both advance, a feat that would rank up there with anything else past Wildcats have accomplished.

"I'd say it would be right up there with the boys winning CIF," Loera said. "Some people might look at girls' wrestling as being something less, but these girls are really, really good."

So good in fact that Loera is hoping they can assist in boosting up the program's reputation.

Despite being known as one of the more dominant wrestling programs in the area, Loera said that the emergence of Rodriguez and Chavez adds another layer to REV's success.

"They're bringing attention to our program, which is great," Loera said. "It shows that we can take wrestlers with little experience and help them get to CIF. They're something special."