Members of the youth Escalon Wrestling Club are off to a busy start to the season.

They were at Hilmar High School for a recent tournament, which featured over 400 wrestlers.

“We sent 22 wrestlers to the event, with 15 of the young wrestlers from the five-year-old division to the Middle School division,” said EWC head coach Derek Scott.

Beginner Division

Fourteen wrestlers competed and eight came home with medals.

Medalists were: Third place, Sebastian Martinez (six and under); Reis Pires (10 and under); Logan Gonzalez (12 and under). Second place, Joseph Vasquez (12 and under). Champions were Kennedy Van Dyke (12 and under) and Conner Haverkamp (12 and under).

The team went into the season opening tournament with about a month of practice under their belts.

“They are really looking good,” Scott said. “We were really happy with the two champions.”

Advanced Division

“We had eight wrestlers in this division coming home with seven medals, with it being a points tournament and three zones represented,” Scott noted. “This was a very tough season starting tournament so we were very pleased with the results.”

Top three finishers included, third place, Finnley Merrill, Johnny Van Dyke; second place Jacob Lee; champion Jimmy McDowell.

The team was coached by Ben Lee, Kevin Sanchez, Johnny Van Dyke, Luca Cerasi and Christian Cruz.