Escalon High School wrestlers got their season underway on Saturday, Nov. 25 after two scrimmages.

The girls team coached by Julia Casillas, Erica Lopez and Aiden Freitas first saw competition at Tokay High School. The varsity had four girls compete and they came away with two medals. Junior Isabella Alcala took a hard fought fourth place. Newcomer Sophia Duran took an impressive fifth place finish. At the JV level, they had three girl wrestlers hit the mats, with all three bringing home medals, all in their first high school action. Leila Itanen-Galindo came home with a fourth-place medal while Miroslava Torres and Athena Quiroz both went 3-0 taking first place.

“The varsity girls struggled a little bit in their first action but will be in form quickly,” noted EHS coach Derek Scott. “The JV girls looked great at that level.”

On Dec. 2, the varsity boys, despite missing over half of their lineup due to football still playing at that time, went to their first tournament in Turlock.

At 113 pounds and both looking ready for a varsity role were newcomers Conner McDowell and Houston Sizuela. McDowell went 3-2, taking fourth place and Sizuela went 4-1, taking third place.

“The third-place match had Sizuela narrowly edging out McDowell in triple overtime in a great match,” Scott pointed out.

At 120 pounds, going 6-1 and avenging his only loss in the third-place match winning 13-5 in the rematch was Luca Cerasi.

“Luca is looking good, getting adjusted to his new weight class this season. The medal match was a great match for Luca, defeating a kid who had narrowly beaten him earlier in the day,” Scott said.

Winning his first two matches and getting into the semifinals but then forfeiting out due to an earlier commitment was Christian T. Cruz. Looking really good in his first varsity action was Adam Chaffey, going 4-2 and taking fourth place.

“We brought nine guys with four of them medaling,” Scott added. “Six out of the nine were first time varsity guys.”

The tournament was coached by coach Scott, who was bouncing from Turlock to Atwater to help coach both groups for the day. The team was also coached by Ray Krieger, Austin Martinez and Clinton Sizuela.

The JV Boys and Varsity Girls team went to Atwater on the same day, Dec. 2, to compete at the Bristow Brawl. Out of the nine JV boys competing, three came home with medals.

Looking good and competing hard in their first high school action were Luke Konradi and Leo Carrillo.

“I was pleased to see Luke be aggressive and get his first win. Looking much improved from this summer and getting rewarded for his hard work was Leo Carrillo. I was very happy with Leo’s last match, he lost by a point but fought to the end and gave himself a chance to win over a much more physical opponent,” explained Scott.

Working hard and making the finals in his first EHS action was Cole McDowell.

“Cole has really worked hard and I was very happy to see him make the finals. He is really improving,” Scott said. “The varsity girls also competed this weekend at Atwater. We had seven girls wrestle with five coming away with medals.”

Helena Arroyo was in the consolation semifinals and had to withdraw due to a knee injury. Taking third in the tournament was Dani Roybal. She wrestled really well and just lost to a tough opponent in the semifinals. Taking a hard luck third place for the day was Miroslava Torres.

“She got in a scramble with a girl in her first match that was called a slam and the girl could not continue so she was disqualified. She won her next three matches to take an impressive third place finish,” Scott said.

Escalon came away with two tournament champions.

“First in her best tournament ever taking a hard fought first place finish was Angelene Mills. I was very proud of Angelene. She has really worked hard. Her last two matches were very impressive,” added Scott.

She shut down and just grinded out a 7-0 semifinals win and then in the finals she came back from behind and just outworked and out toughed a naturally more athletic opponent on the way to pinning her in the third round.

Also looking very impressive returning to her state qualifying form of two years ago was Isabella Alcala.

“She flat out beat up and pinned a girl she had lost to last year to take home the gold,” noted the coach. “I’m very happy to see Isabella’s confidence returning to her.”

The tournament was coached by Coach Scott, filling in for a portion of the event for Julia Casillas, with assistance from Kirt Smith, Aiden Frietas and parent helper Adrian Carrillo.