Escalon JV and varsity wrestlers, in addition to the Lady Cougar grapplers, all had a busy week, seeing some success on the mats. Following is a recap of the action.
Beyer High School – JV tourney
The JV boys bounced back from a tough opening tournament last weekend doing much better this past Saturday, Dec. 13 at Beyer High School, said head coach Derek Scott. Four wrestlers taking third place honors were Brody Holck, Josiah Becerra, Cole McDowell and Matthew Freitas.
“These guys all wrestled well and several of them will be competing for varsity spots this year,” Scott said.
Three of the JV boys earned titles at the Beyer tournament, with Daniel Murillo at 138, Ezekiel Garcia at 190 and Trey Herrera at heavyweight all coming away with championship honors.
“This was each of their first tournament championship for the Cougars,” Scott said. “We need guys to step up and take varsity roles and these three answered the challenge.”
All three are expected to take part in the varsity duals coming up at Hughson.
“The coaches were all very impressed with their effort and improvement this week,” Scott added.
Lady Cougars
“The girls all competed at Varsity this weekend. We went in with eight girls with three missing because of injuries,” Scott explained. “We had eight compete with five coming away with titles and two winning their first titles of the year.”
Taking third in her first tournament of the year, bouncing back from early season injuries, was last year’s Masters placer Aislinn Ingles.
“Aislinn looked good, she’s just flat out tough,” Scott said. “She’s a little bit limited right now with her recovery from being hurt but once she gets in there a while she will be right back where she left off last year.”
Looking great in her third tournament in a row and taking second was Yahaira Munoz, who Scott said “always battles” to give herself a chance in every match despite her limited experience.
“Looking really tough in all three close matches just missing out on a title was YaYa,” added of Yesenia Marsellis. “She is really close and is a super hard worker. She continues to improve each week.”
After back-to-back solid finishes the last couple of weeks, finally getting the title with three pins in three matches was Angeline Mills.
“I told her before we left how good she has been looking in practice and I had a good feeling she’d win this week,” said the coach. “She has really been working hard on improving her weakness and just wrestling hard and it’s paying off for her.”
Also getting back in the top spot as champion was Miroslava Torres.
“She had a really hard second match and got through it and looked great in her last two,” Scott said. “Miro is going to really make her mark by the end of the season after just missing out on state last year and placing at Masters. When we get everyone at full strength, I really think we have seven girls capable of placing at Masters this year.”
Coaching the team at Beyer were Austin Martinez, Ray Scott, Kirt Smith, Helena Arroyo, and Isabella Alcala.
Oakdale High School varsity tournament
The varsity boys went to quite possibly the toughest tournament of the year with 40 teams and some of the top 20 ranked teams in the state and the section’s best at the tournament in nearby Oakdale.
“There weren’t a lot of matches but they were all tough,” Scott said. “We brought nine wrestlers to the tournament with four placing and one making the finals for the first time since we have been going to the tournament.”
Earning a medal by taking eighth at 115 in by far his best tournament of the year was freshman Jimmy McDowell. Also taking eighth place was junior Houston Sizuela.
“Also wrestling hard taking seventh was returning Masters placer Conner McDowell. Conner kind of wrestles up and down and still medaled,” Scott said. “He can do much better; we’ve just got to get him in wrestling shape.”
By far the best at the tournament for the Cougars, the coach pointed out, was senior Luca Cerasi.
“Luca beat the number two ranked wrestler in our Masters and top 15 in the state by four in the semi-finals. I thought this was Lucas’s most complete match to date,” said Scott. “Then in the finals he had the best match of the tournament holding the crowd on the edge of their seat in a back-and-forth wild match, finally falling just short in a great scramble in overtime to another state ranked wrestler from Granada.”
Scott added that Cerasi competed for every point and did a great job against tough competition on Saturday.
“He showed himself and everyone else he can compete with anybody,” Scott noted.
The team has another busy week coming up with a home dual against TVL opponent Orestimba on Dec. 17 and going to the Hughson Duals on Friday, Dec. 19.
Wrestlers at the Oakdale tourney were coached by Derek Scott, Ray Krieger, Clinton Sizuela, with Brianne Cerasi overseeing the food and general organizational duties.
