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Wrestlers sweep to TVL win at Hilmar
Tourney 1-15
Escalon head coach Derek Scott, left, poses with a trio of Cougar wrestlers that came home with medals from the Tim Brown Memorial Tournament in Sacramento over the weekend. Wrestlers are, from left, John Konradi, eighth place; Luca Cerasi, sixth place; Frank Rodriguez, sixth place. Photo Contributed

All three Escalon wrestling squads – JV, girls and varsity – came home with solid victories from a Trans-Valley League dual at Hilmar on Wednesday night, Jan. 8.

For the JV team, head coach Derek Scott said there were only three matches wrestled – most wins coming by forfeit – but the Cougars did win all three matches on the mats, ultimately winning by a 60-0 final.

“The girls won 54-18 and I felt the best two matches of the night were Natalie Martinez and Aislinn Ingles,” Scott said.

Both won by fall, Martinez at 157 pounds and Ingles at 192.

The varsity boys took a 72-6 league win from Hilmar, losing just one match on the night.

“Logan Wentzell had a very exciting match, he won by fall at 165 pounds,” Scott said of the standout varsity performances. “Also Leo Carrillo, in his first varsity dual, won by fall at 175 pounds.”

The weekend brought tournament action for the varsity boys, as they traveled to Sacramento to take part in the Tim Brown Memorial Tournament, Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10 and 11.

“There were 85 teams there; we went in not knowing what to expect,” Scott admitted.

Escalon took 13 wrestlers to the tournament, with eight of them making it to the second day. Finishing just one match short of getting in to the medal round was David Ingles at 215 pounds, ending the tournament at 5-2 and placing in the top 12.

“We did have three medalists,” Scott said.

It was the same trio of Cougars that emerged from the Engel Tournament at Escalon with championships earlier this month. This time, there were two sixth place medals and one eighth place medal.

At 190 pounds, John Konradi went 6-3 for the tournament to earn an eighth-place medal.

“It was a good step for him, to place in a big tournament,” noted Scott.

At 132 pounds, Luca Cerasi went 7-3 over the two days and earned a sixth-place medal.

“He went 5-0 against kids from out Section,” Scott said of Cerasi.

Also earning a sixth-place medal was heavyweight Frank Rodriguez, who went 7-3.

“He was looking strong again, won two or three matches we weren’t sure he would,” the coach said.

For the team, it was an 11th place showing overall, out of the 85 teams attending.

“It was a very positive step,” Scott said. “Our guys were competitive.”