Mountain House coach Jose Nunez had never witnessed anything like it.
Hired midway through the 2023-24 season, his first tournament came at the Beyer Invitational on Dec. 9, 2023.
By the final, two of his own wrestlers — Rachel Prasad and Danica Sauseda — stood across from each other, battling for the 135-pound title.
Prasad, then a sophomore, won. But that wasn’t the moment.
Afterward, she moved up a weight class so Sauseda could stay at 135.
Sauseda went on to reach state that year. Prasad had to wait two more years for her turn.
That’s who she is. Selfless. Hard-working. Team-first. Kind.
It’s what separates Prasad — and what made her the first wrestler in Mountain House history to win a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title.
It’s also why she is The Record’s 2025-26 San Joaquin County girls wrestler of the year.
“She’s got that free spirit,” Nunez said. “It’s what makes her such a good teammate and leader. She’s not always serious, but when she steps on the mat, everything changes. That’s what won her this award.”
Prasad added, “It feels like all the work I’ve put in is finally paying off.”
As the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Masters and CIF State Wrestling Championships closed the curtain on the 2025-26 season, The Record turned to San Joaquin County fans to decide the area’s top girls wrestler.
The response came quickly. Mountain House showed out, rallying behind Prasad and lifting her to The Record’s 2025-26 San Joaquin County girls wrestler of the year honor.
Prasad, who is committed to Menlo College, pulled away from the field with 318,326 of 740,649 total votes.
Escalon 145-pound wrestler Sofia Duran took second with 155,944 votes, followed by Bear Creek 115-pound wrestler Kaylee Talisayan with 87,275 and Chavez 145-pound wrestler Natalin Hout with 84,158.
“Rachel was our first,” Nunez said. “She made history for Mountain House — the first Masters champion, the first regional champion, the first to win a state match. She built her name and, in the process, put our program on the map.”
‘She just kept working’
Growth is what made this one different.
Year after year, Rachel Prasad inched closer — missing Masters as a freshman, exiting in the consolation second round as a sophomore and falling one match short of state as a junior in the fifth-place bout.
For some, that would have been enough to walk away. Not Prasad.
She kept improving.
When she became the first wrestler in Mountain House history to win Masters, it became more than just a title — it was proof of what perseverance looks like.
“I feel like I really learned to care more about myself,” Prasad said. “At first, wrestling felt like a job, like I was forcing myself to show up. But as I’ve grown and worked on myself, I’ve started wanting to be there. I want others to feel that same way about the sport.”
Gymnastics. Jiu-jitsu. MMA. Basketball. Swimming. Water polo.
Prasad did it all growing up.
Wins came. Losses came, too. But her freshman and sophomore years were about one thing — figuring it out.
“She took advantage of the situation,” Nunez said. “When I got to Mountain House, there were no offseason practices, so I started limited sessions — up to eight hours a week. She made the most of it. She’s very dedicated, very committed. She also went to camps, including the Menlo camp, which makes this all come full circle.”
Junior year arrived, and it felt like it was Prasad’s time.
Months earlier, she had gone to watch Sauseda at the state tournament, with athletic director Renee Nunn allowing her to tag along.
That trip changed everything.
“She wasn’t able to practice with her, but she was able to be there for three days,” Nunez said. “After that, that’s all she wanted. She wanted to go back to state. She even said, ‘I’m going to state and I’m winning a match.’”
She even started Mountain House’s first wrestling club.
“Since our freshman year, there have only been three girls on the team,” Prasad said. “It made things hard with partners, and we were always training with the boys. We started it because we wanted more girls to join. It’s mentally tough, but it helps you grow. We wanted others to experience that and not be afraid to come out.
“So many girls are scared to wrestle, especially at our school, because practice is with the boys. We just want to show them it’s not scary — and neither are we.”
What she didn’t expect was that same year, the mental side of the sport she was helping others face would turn back on her.
Injuries derailed most of her season, cutting it in half and never allowing her to find a rhythm.
So how did she bounce back and make history?
The answer was simple.
“She had more belief in herself than ever,” Nunez said. “She never made excuses. She never asked, ‘Why me?’ She never blamed the injury. She just kept working.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: Meet the 2025-26 Girls Wrestler of the Year who put Mountain House on the map
Reporting by Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
