With 24 teams represented and matches on multiple mats set up in both gyms on the Escalon High School campus, the annual Lloyd C. Engel Wrestling Tournament was hosted on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 3 and 4.
By the end of the competition, three Cougars were on the podium in the top spot, earning championship honors.
“We had 16 wrestlers and 11 medalists,” head coach Derek Scott said.
The champions, wrestling in Pool A for Escalon, were Luca Cerasi at 132 pounds, John Konradi at 190 and Frank Rodriguez at heavyweight. Each went 6-0 during the two days of the tournament; Rodriguez was voted as the Most Outstanding Heavyweight.
“Luca was dominating,” Scott said of Cerasi, who was tops in the 132-pound division. “He won by pin or technical fall in every match.”
Konradi, at 190, “looked very good” as he handled all his opponents on the way to the first-place medal, added Scott.
Rodriguez, with a 6-0 effort at the tournament, has now improved to 19-1 in his matches this season, and though he doesn’t score a ton of points, Scott said he does the little things right that help him win the majority of his matches.
Second place honors in Pool A at the tournament went to Houston Sizuela, 113 pounds; and Christian T. Cruz at 144 pounds.
Third place in Pool A at 220 pounds went to Christian Rodriguez and Preston Sizuela finished fourth in the top division at 138 pounds.
In Pool B, freshman Dylan Ball came away with a second-place medal at 165 pounds.
“He had a rough first day but bounced back strong,” Scott said. “Running into some bad luck, taking third, was Ethan Butler at 138 pounds, he wrestled some really great matches.”
Rounding out the Cougar medalists, Landon Underwood was fourth in Pool B at 175 pounds and Colton Fernandez, in his best tournament of the season so far, was fourth at 126 pounds.
Scott said the tournament was overseen by his family and coach Seth Davis, and he offered thanks to all those that assisted, from checking in wrestlers to contributing to the overall success.
“Brianne Cerasi was there all three days,” Scott said of the parent assistant helping out with the Engel Tournament on Friday and Saturday, then a youth wrestling event on Sunday. “We also had a lot of community sponsors and parents that helped out and all the wrestlers were helpful.”
With school not in session, Scott said he was a bit concerned about having enough volunteers to run the clocks and keep score at the various mats, but it worked out well and the tournament ran smoothly.
In earlier action, the varsity team was at Hughson for a round robin tournament on Dec. 20.
“We went 3-1 as a team; we won our pool but then lost to Golden Valley, 37-25,” Scott said.
Top efforts in that competition saw four Cougars go undefeated, Conner McDowell at 126 pounds, Luca Cerasi at 132, David Ingles at 220 and Frank Rodriguez at heavyweight.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, the JV boys were at Pacheco; nine of the 13 wrestlers attending medaled. Jacob Scott, Josiah Becerra, Keegan Loe, Daniel Murrillo and Cooper Fugett all took third place. Cole McDowell and Ethan Telles finished second and champions for the JV boys were Malik Mendoza and Matthew Freitas.
For the varsity girls, 10 wrestlers attended and six were crowned champions; all came home with medals.
Angeline Mills was third at 110 pounds; Yahira Munoz was second at 105 pounds; Sophia Duran was second at 130 and Aislinn Ingles was second at 190 pounds.
Champions were Isabella Alcala, 115 pounds; Miroslava Torres, 125; Yesenia Marsellis, 130; Dani Roybal, 135; Natalie Martinez, 160; and Helena Arroyo, 170 pounds.
