Hosting a Trans-Valley League dual with a good crowd in attendance, Escalon wrestlers welcomed Ripon to town. The Jan. 22 event was also observed as Senior Night, included a special Hall of Fame induction program and saw the varsity boys and the varsity girls take wins, while the JV boys fell a few points short to the visitors.
“For the boys, that gave us a strong hold on league, we won 54-18,” head coach Derek Scott said. “They were tough; we gave up only one forfeit and only lost three matches, including two that were real close.”
Key wins for the varsity boys came at 106 pounds with Jacob Morales earning a win by pin in the third round and Luca Cerasi at 132 pounds, taking a win by technical fall.
“Christian T. Cruz came in a little banged up but he did well,” Scott said of the 144-pounder taking the win by technical fall in the second round. “Also Landon Underwood did very well, he got a technical fall at 175 pounds.”
Escalon remained undefeated in league with the win at home; they were to be at Sonora on Jan. 28 and at Orestimba on Jan. 29 to close out league action.
For the girls, it was a satisfying victory as well.
“We had not yet beat Ripon,” Scott said of entering the contest.
But with just five matches wrestled, Escalon scored a decisive 63-6 win. Ripon got one win by forfeit; Escalon won all the contested matches.
“Keys there I felt were Helena Arroyo at 170 pounds, Aislinn Ingles at 190. Both won by pin, Arroyo in the first round, Ingles in the second."
The JV boys fell to Ripon, 37-33.
“We got off to just too bad of a start,” Scott said, with the team starting slowly. They picked up momentum as the match moved along but didn’t have enough time to make up the early deficit.
“That’s something we’ve got to fix with our JV guys,” the coach said.
Top efforts came from Malik Mendoza, getting the first win of the night for the JV boys at 150 pounds, taking the win by fall. Cole McDowell, at 157 pounds, also earned high praise from his coach for his win by technical fall.
Saturday, the squads traveled to the Pitman Tournament and came away with some honors.
“The JV boys took second place as a team and we had two champions,” explained Scott.
Cooper Fugett claimed first place at 157 pounds and Matthew Freitas at 190 pounds.
“That’s the third tournament he has won this year,” Scott said of Freitas. “He finds a way to win.”
The JV boys returned home with nine medalists out of the 12 wrestlers that attended.
“The girls won the tournament,” Scott said, as the Lady Cougars totaled 150 points at the event, far outdistancing second place Pacheco, at 79.
“We had two champions, Isabella Alcala at 110 pounds and Miroslava Torres at 115 pounds,” Scott added.
The girls also had nine medalists out of 12 attending, with strong efforts by second place finishers Sophia Duran at 132 pounds, Aislinn Ingles at 190.
“For the boys, we only brought 13 and we had four placers,” said the coach.
There were also some tough moments, as Preston Sizuela, at 138 pounds, went out for the season with a knee injury and David Ingles also went out for the tournament on an injury default at 215.
Top efforts, said Scott, came from Conner McDowell at 126 pounds, taking seventh, and, in his best tournament of the year, Jacob Moraes finished sixth at 106.
“Luca Cerasi had a good tournament, he was second at 132 pounds going 4-1,” Scott said. “Also the most solid he has looked this season, John Konradi went 4-1 and took second place at 190 pounds.”
Wrestlers are to travel to the Team Duals at Lincoln High School in Stockton on Saturday, Feb. 1 with competition scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
