Norwalk sends three wrestlers to CIF State Championships

Norwalk High School wrestlers Zitlali Sarmiento, left, Sean Otero, center, and Casey Otero competed in the CIF State Wrestling Championships. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

NORWALK - A very successful 2023 season for the Norwalk High School Wrestling program came to a close recently with multiple firsts, ending with appearances at the CIF- State Championships for three wrestlers.

It marks the first time in program history that Norwalk has qualified three wrestlers for the finals.AIt’s also the first time that Norwalk has qualified any girls for state. Both senior four-time league champ, Zitlali (Lali) Sarmiento and junior Casey Otero represented the Lancers in Bakersfield Friday and Saturday, March 10, 11. The third wrestler is Casey’s twin brother, junior Sean Otero.

Sarmiento competed in the 126 lb. weight class, while Sean Otero wrestled at 145 lbs. and his sister was in the 143 lb. class.

“Norwalk boys and girls wrestling teams worked very hard this past year to continue to improve upon last years’ success,” said Girls Wrestling coach Bryan DeVries, of the two programs. “These three state qualifiers have worked hard to create their own path to success and not follow a path.”

Norwalk qualified 10 wrestlers to CIF and six to Masters.

“These are all big numbers for us, especially coming from a young program,” DeVries added. “We’re excited that were able to pave the way for future success.”

Following are some highlights of each wrestler:

Sean Otero (Boys wrestling)

“Last season Sean advanced to Masters but went 2-2 and did not advance to state,” DeVries said. “Over the off-season he worked hard to improve his overall wrestling by attending summer wrestling camps. He continued to log in practice hours with the Norwalk summer team wrestling program, and study video to improve strengths and weaknesses.”

Otero was selected to the Los Angeles Wrestling Association (LAWA) All-Star Freestyle Wrestling team and competed at the USA wrestling association duals in Fresno last summer. The association duals are comprised of All-Star teams from all the counties across the state. “All of his hard work led him to become a team captain,” DeVries added.

Otero had an overall record of 43-10 and was ranked as high as 21st in state.

He was a Suburban Valley League champ, placed 2nd in CIF to advance to the Masters Tournament and took fourth at Masters to advance to state.

Otero drew a tough first-round match against the No. 5 Seed at the State tournament. He lost his first match and his second match on the second day to a wrestler from Independence HS. “He went 0-2 at state but fought hard as a junior and looks to come back even stronger next year,” DeVries said.

Casey Otero (Girls wrestling)

In the 2022 season, Casey was a part of the first group of girls to advance to Masters. She went 0-2 and did not advance to state. “In the off-season she continued to work and improve at wrestling,” DeVries said. “She attended wrestling summer camps, continued to work at Norwalk with the team during their summer practices, and participated in LAWA tournaments. She developed into one of our team captains.”

In the 2022-23 season, her overall record was 44-9. She was a Suburban Valley league champ, placed third at CIF and lost a close match to Milojkovic of Palm Desert (State qualifier in ‘22) to knock Otero into the consolation bracket, but still advancing to masters, then Otero placed fourth at Masters to become one of the two first-ever girls to qualify for state from Norwalk. Masters was a great tournament for Casey individually. She had to battle back to qualify for state, after losing in the second round. She did so by facing two opponents that had beat her earlier in the season, including a Palm Desert girl from CIF. The normally reserved Otero was over-run with emotions with the realization that she had avenged early season losses to tough opponents in order to achieve her goal of qualifying for state,” added DeVries.

Zitlali “Lali” Sarmiento (Girls wrestling)

Last season Lali advanced to Masters but went 2-2 and did not advance to state. “Over the off-season she worked hard to improve her overall wrestling by attending summer wrestling camps, continuing to log in practice hours with the Norwalk summer team wrestling program, and attend various tournaments,” DeVries said. In California, Lali was selected to the LAWA All-Star Freestyle wrestling team and competed at the USA Wrestling Association duals in Fresno last summer. The association duals are comprised of All-Star teams from all the California counties. All her hard work led her to become a team captain.

Her career accomplishments include: Pre-season No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section, team Captain, four-time league champ, Scholar Athlete, two-time CIF placer (5th, 3rd), two-time Masters Qualifier, Masters placer (2nd), State Qualifier and top 12 finish at state.

She had an overall record of 47-5, was a Suburban Valley league champ, placed third at CIF, losing to the eventual state champ of Marina HS, placed second at Masters (again losing only to the eventual state champion from Marina). She became one of the two first-ever girls to qualify for state from Norwalk. Sarmiento was 3-2 at state, losing only to the No. 7 Seed and the No. 4 Seed (both opponents placed at state).

AJ Zepeda provides inspiration

Norwalk qualified six girls and two boys to Masters. Zepeda was asked to help be a practice partner leading up to the Masters tournament.

“One of our male wrestlers, 220 lb. junior, AJ Zepeda (’23 CIF qualifier) gave a very inspirational speech to the masters qualifiers, leading up to the CIF Masters tournament,” Devries said. “I feel it sums up the culture on the wrestling team.”

Zepeda said: “’Being here with this group of people this week and seeing the work you all have put in, makes me want to work harder. Knowing that this group was taking training seriously all year and not messing around during practice, makes me want to be more serious during practice. You have made it this far because you wanted it and worked for it. You are reaching your goals because of the work you put in and, I for one, am proud to be a part of it with you.’”

Bright future for Norwalk Wrestling

“This is our team at its core,” DeVries said. “There will always be negativity surrounding any situation. There will always be disagreements. People will always want to be a part of success or attach themselves to success and if they can’t, they will try to break down success through negative comments or undermining those around the program. Every day has a dawn, but the sun shines bright on the future of Norwalk wrestling.”

What they said:

Brian DeVries, coach: “I think creating a family atmosphere is important here at Norwalk. I believe that we preach family and I care about you and together we could care about what we are building. I think that my wrestlers have responded positively to that and they go out and work hard.

The accomplishments show that we are able to go from ground zero and be able to go to the highest level. It’s a testament to the hours that we put in at practice. I think we are on the cusp of something great.

It was nice to hear from a coach whose team is perennially ranked to tell us that our team was really good and got to that in a really short amount of time. It was good to hear that from a peer that has a team that was very strong.”

Casey Otero, (143 lbs.): “I got third in CIF and fourth in Masters and first in league and made it to state. It feels good to go to state and that was my goal all year. I had to work hard in practice every day.

My toughest match was when I lost to my opponent in CIF and I beat her at Masters to make it to state.

As a twin, we talk about wrestling together and sometimes practice moves together.

My goal next year is to place at state.”

Sean Otero, (145 Lbs.): “It was pretty challenging, and I did better than last year, which was my goal. I’ve been training really hard. My goal next year is to place in state. I had two matches at state and both of them were pretty hard and next year I hope to do better.

I started wrestling in my freshman year, but since it was COVID, we didn’t wrestle that much.”

Lali Sarmiento, (126 lbs.) “It all started with hard work. Without my team, I wouldn’t have been able to get there (state) and accomplish any of the goals I had set for myself, which included a state qualifier. I wanted to be a state placer and set the bar high for all the other girls to eventually look up to me.

At Masters I had many emotions, I was happy, I was excited and I knew just because I qualified (for state), I knew there was more to be done. I was happy to be a state qualifier, but tried harder to run deep in the state tournament. I did my best and I ended up going 3-2.

I wanted a better outcome, but I’m still proud for accomplishing things that I have never been accomplished here at Norwalk high.

I’m looking forward to wrestling in college and looking forward to creating new memories and placing and winning in state.

Coach Bryan DeVries contributed to this story.