The CIF State Wrestling Championships have been an annual event for over 50 years. The CIF State Championships are a high school wrestling tournament. This tournament takes place in Bakersfield and invites 10 schools all over California to compete. This year, the CIF Championships took place from February 26th to February 28th. The CIF Wrestling State Championships were established in 1973, with a women’s section being introduced in 2011.
Arcata High School freshman Taylor Bell finished top 12 in the tournament. Taylor traveled to Bakersfield with a friend and said the overall experience was fun.
“We got to ride go-karts [after sections],” she said. Bell said the hardest opponent she faced was a “really strong and good wrestler,” who was a senior.
Bell said her brother Kaidan got her to love wrestling. While watching Kaidan’s tournaments, she knew she wanted to be just like him.
It took Taylor a year or two to start winning matches, and it took her even longer to start winning tournaments. The way Taylor improved her wrestling she’d ask people to wrestle and wrestling as many matches as she could. At tournaments, Taylor would ask every kid her size (boy or girl) to train against her, sometimes three times in a row. Taylor states that in every tournament.
“For us Bells, wrestling is a family business,” she said. Her prior coach’s daughter, Savanna Nickols, was her female wrestler role model. Savanna was one of the first female wrestlers in our area in 2011. Taylor said when she first started wrestling, she could’ve been better.
t, “I at least double, if not triple, the matches in the bracket to get the most out of the day, not just to earn more awards.” Most weekends, Taylor would have to drive 4 to 8 hours one way to compete. If you’re looking to get into wrestling, talk to Taylor Bell about wanting to get into it
Cass Bell, Taylor’s father and one of the Arcata High Wrestling coaches, says when asked if he ever saw his daughter making it to state championships, he responded, “Yes, definitely.” Even before high school, Taylor had already won several state championships through USA Wrestling. She’s actually a two-time Triple Crown winner (meaning winning first place in all three styles in the same year, those three styles being Freestyle, Greco-Roman, and Folkstyle.” Cass is very proud of Taylor, as she finished in the top 12 in the state, including over 1,000 CIF high schools in California. Cass says how their family has been training for big moments like this, and this is just one step closer to a bigger goal that Taylor has, to make the Olympics one day.
“I’m very proud of all the athletes who competed,” Cass stated, “Just making it to that level takes a lot of dedication, discipline, and hard work.” Cass says that one of the best parts of the tournament was “seeing Taylor compete at that level at just 14 years old. She’s able to compete with and beat girls who are several years older than her. Many of the bigger schools also have more funding and resources behind their programs, so for us to be able to compete with those teams
and hang with those wrestlers is something we’re really proud of.” Cass says that next year if Taylor were to qualify to compete again they’ll definitely go back, “competing at that level is an important experience for her growth as an athlete.”
