A 25-year wrestling coach, Todd Stoke was not about to allow his daughter to take up the sport.

"He said that I wouldn't be strong enough," said Pacifica High junior Michi Stoke.

Without telling him, Stoke joined a wrestling club during her freshman year at Rio Mesa. He found out that week, but surrendered to her wish.

"Ever since I've won some matches, he's always been there for me," said Stoke.

So it was fitting that moments after pinning Mayfair's Crystal Espinosa in 2 minutes, 48 seconds in the 165-pound final at the 2008 CIF Girls Southern Regional Wrestling Tournament at Channel Islands High on Saturday, Stoke sprinted across the mat and jumped into the arms of her father, who is a Pacifica assistant.

"He has never been down on me," said Stoke.

Stoke, the No. 2 seed, didn't have much mat time in the two-day tournament. She pinned three opponents in less than a minute.

"My goal was to not get scored upon at this meet. I didn't think it would happen this easy," she said.

Her unblemished record was one of the highlights of the third CIF Southern Regional, which drew 309 wrestlers, making it the second largest girls' wrestling tournament in state history, according to longtime wrestling official Jim Stych. Only the 2005 state championships, for club wrestlers, drew more (320).

Tiffany Leon of Pacifica and Santa Paula's Nicole Harvey were the only other county wrestlers to advance to the championship matches.

Leon was pinned by Great Oak's Mahriah Johnson in 56 seconds in the 136-pound final and Harvey was pinned by Gabie Corona in 2:52 of the 146-pound final.

Harvey beat three seeded opponents, including No. 1 Jazmine Parham of South Hills and No. 4 Diana Casiano of Mayfair, to reach the final.

"This is the best that I've ever done," said Harvey, who was a seventh-place finisher at the 2007 state tournament. "After competing here last year, I wanted to show what I could do. I got to work and it paid off."

Bringing home fourth-place medals were Royal's Amelia Castillo (103 pounds), Fillmore's Rose Smith (154), Pacifica's Raelynn Pinkard (146) and Kiara Hodges (235).

South Hills won the team title. Pacifica was third.

Among the champions was Northview's Tatiana Padilla.

Padilla, a nine-time national champion and a candidate to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic girls' wrestling team, won the 126-pound title with a 21-4 win over Audrey Morehouse of Canyon Springs. Padilla's championship match nearly came to an abrupt end when she slumped to the mat with a shoulder injury just seconds into the first round. She recovered to totally dominate her opponent.

In a match featuring two nationally ranked opponents, Lauren Thompson of Cathedral Catholic pinned Ashley Mathews of Canyn in 49 seconds.

The biggest winner was the sport of girls' wrestling.

The record turnout of individuals and teams is a significant item for CIF event official Shari Ross to take back to the section office.

"This was originally a two-year pilot program," said Ross. "I think I have to commitment from the executive director (Jim Staunton) to make this a permanent event. We are working at it.

"It is great to see the increase of girls' interest in the sport. The entire Channel Islands staff has done a great job at running the event."