It was a hectic week for members of the Escalon High School wrestling program with a league dual and tournament action. And at all levels, the grapplers found success.
Welcoming Hughson in for a Trans-Valley League dual on Wednesday, Jan. 15, head coach Derek Scott said he anticipated a tough match and it definitely started out that way with the JV team.
“We got pinned in our first three matches, very quickly,” Scott noted. “But after that, we did well the rest of the way.”
After falling behind early, the JV boys came back to take a 48-18 victory over the visiting Huskies.
The Escalon varsity girls then earned a forfeit win.
For the varsity boys, it was a decisive victory.
“We went 4-0 in the middle weights, where I thought we might be able to go 2-2,” Scott said of one of the keys to the win.
Escalon outscored Hughson by a 63-15 final.
The varsity and JV boys traveled to Sonora for a tournament on Saturday, Jan. 18.
They came away with five JV medalists and the JV squad took third place out of 23 teams attending.
Medal winners were Valdemar Garcia at 157 pounds, second place; along with four third place finishers, Cole McDowell at 144; Cooper Fugett and Keegan Loe at 157 pounds (different pools), and Izaiah Rodriguez at 190 pounds.
“The varsity had a great day, we took 15 wrestlers and had 13 medalists,” Scott added.
Those earning medals in the top three of their weight class were Conner McDowell, third at 126 pounds and Frank Rodriguez, second at heavyweight. Escalon also came away with four champions from the tourney in Sonora.
All went 4-0 and included Houston Sizuela at 120 pounds, Luca Cerasi at 132; John Konradi at 190; and David Ingles at 215. It was the first tourney championship this season for Sizuela and Ingles; Cerasi and Konradi both have been in the top spot previously as well as getting there this past weekend.
Scott said coaches were especially pleased for the first time champions, noting both have worked hard throughout the season.
“Overall, we took first place as a team in the tournament by 60 points,” Scott said.
Escalon had 206 total points; runner up Oakdale had 146 and Manteca finished in third place.
Also on Saturday, the Escalon girls went to a tournament hosted at San Ramon Valley High School, with 10 wrestlers attending and seven bringing home individual medals.
In seventh place at 125 pounds was Yesenia ‘Yaya’ Marsellis while Sophia Duran took fifth at 130 pounds. Third place finishers for Escalon were Isabella Alcala at 115 pounds and Miroslava Torres at 120 pounds.
Angeline Mills earned a second place medal at 105 pounds and Escalon had two tournament individual champions.
“Looking the best she has this season, going 4-0, was Helena Arroyo at 170 pounds,” Scott said. “Also working hard and going 4-0 was Aislinn Ingles at 190 pounds.”
With seven out of the 10 Lady Cougars placing, the team also scored enough points to capture the team title, finishing in first place out of 26 teams at the tournament. Second place went to Heritage and third to Clayton Valley.
Scott said it was the first time the girls team had won a tournament championship and is a testament to the strength of the team overall.
He added that it was also a great way to cap off the weekend, having both the varsity boys and girls pin down team championship honors at their wrestling tournaments.
This week, the Cougars are scheduled to host Ripon for Senior Night festivities on Wednesday, Jan. 22. JV action starts at 5:30 p.m.; girls at 6 pm. and the varsity boys at 6:30 p.m.
