On March 15th 2024, Junior Charlene Smith rang the bell from the bell tower in the San Dimas High School quad to solidify her win in CIF  for girls wrestling. Charlene has been in wrestling for Varsity for the past three years and has made it into CIF her junior season. 

Smith had just joined wrestling her freshman year, while she had been playing basketball. This short background in wrestling for her whole high school career, proves her efforts for winning Cif were worked for. Smith says that in the beginning of the season, “I expect to make it to Cif because I worked hard to get there but I didn’t think I was going to win”. Smith wrestled for the 235 weight division throughout the season up until Cif. She had won a majority of her matches during her last season, which pushed her to higher match divisions. When reflecting on her performance during this season, she says that one of her toughest matches she had this year was during semifinals, but her hardest match was at state.

Making it into Cif was a long term goal that she had throughout the season, so making it to her goal was an accomplishment in itself. Making it past her season, semifinals, and state was a huge accomplishment to Smith. When talking about what it was like to take on these challenges Smith says that, “My mind is my most important strength. I don’t think too much about my matches, that’s how I win my matches”. 

Having her teammates and coaches there for her throughout the season and leading up to matches like masters and Cif was an undeniable factor towards her achievements. Charlene says that, “My teammates are always supportive of me and they’re always there for me. They taught me so much. I love them so much. They are like family to me.” Other teammates of Charlene express their proudness in regards to Smith’s success, and tell of her determination that Charlene had on and off the mats, whether that being at practice or on a trip to one of their matches.