OCEAN CITY — Danna Ramirez-Castaneyra, a senior at Ocean City High School, was just named a Student of the Month for February with a special note on her certificate about compassion.
Abbreviate that a bit to just plain passion — passion for going her own way in athletics.
Ramirez-Castaneyra just came off a fifth-place finish at the state wrestling championships in Atlantic City earlier this month after posting a 20-5 season record.
Her best seasons were this year and her sophomore year, when she finished in sixth place at the state championships. She wrestled in the 132-pound class as a sophomore; this year she wrestled at 138 pounds.
Finishing in fifth this year, she said, “was really, really a wowing moment. I couldn’t be more thankful to my coaches and my coaches from the off-season. I feel they put so much into me, investing so much knowledge and time, I had to use that on the mat.”
Ramirez-Castaneyra won the South Region title that propelled her on to the state tournament. There were 18 girls in her weight class at regionals and she was the No. 2 seed.
She won her pre-quarterfinal, quarterfinal and semifinal matches by pin, all in the first period. She made it to the finals, where she faced another senior, No. 1 seed Isabella Prem of Lenape. She didn’t pin Prem, but overwhelmed her 18-2 with a technical fall at the 4:58 mark.
Girls wrestling has been growing in popularity in recent years and she has been wrestling for a half-dozen already, having started when she was in sixth grade.
“I like how competitive it is. You have to work for it yourself. You don’t rely on your teammates. You are going to get as much as you put into it, so it makes you work harder,” Ramirez-Castaneyra said.
Wrestling is her favorite sport.
“One hundred percent,” she said. “It’s the hardest and the most challenging.”
But she doesn’t limit herself to a single sport. She’s also a team player.
This OCHS senior helped inaugurate two new teams at OCHS — the girls volleyball team and the girls flag football team — so she keeps busy in all of the seasons.
Ramirez-Castaneyra does not plan to wrestle in college, but she does plan to continue her education locally, considering a nursing career.
She is a member of the National Honor Society and the Future Health Care Professionals club. She also volunteers as a coach for the Ocean City Junior Raiders wrestling team and is a member and volunteer for St. Joseph’s Parish.
“I want to stay close to my family,” she said.
Her family seems to feel the same way. Her dad, Mario Ramirez, was close by Thursday evening, proudly watching his daughter get her Student of the Month accolades.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff