A total of 14 wrestlers traveled to the Masters Meet in nearby Stockton on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22, with two boys bringing home medals, three girls earning hardware and one Lady Cougar punching her ticket to the State Meet in Bakersfield.
Helena Arroyo will move on, capturing a fifth place medal at 170 pounds at the Masters Meet.
“She had a rough start to her year with an injury,” said head coach Derek Scott, noting that Arroyo wasn’t even sure if she would wrestle for her senior season.
But she made the decision to get back on the mats and now will look to cap it off with a trip to the State Meet.
Arroyo came back from a 5-0 deficit in the fifth-sixth place match to win, earning fifth place honors, with the top five in each weight class qualifying for state.
“This should get her looked at by some colleges,” Scott said of Arroyo moving on to the big stage.
Escalon had nine girls qualify for Masters, with eight wrestling and one alternate attending.
“Everybody got through on the first day, we had a really good day,” Scott said of the eight girls wrestling on Feb. 21. “On the second day, we kind of ran into a wall in our morning matches.”
Three Lady Cougars eventually did place and come home with medals.
Getting perhaps the worst draw of the trio, Miroslava Torres had to battle back at 150 pounds to earn an eighth place medal.
The sophomore had “a great season,” Scott said, and he anticipates she will return next year.
Coming in to this season without too much experience, Aislinn Ingles had an outstanding event, taking a seventh place medal at 190 pounds.
“She’s been very impressive,” Scott said.
Arroyo rounded out the three placers for the girls.
On the boys side, five Cougars qualified for Masters.
Houston Sizuela had a tough event, going 1-2, while Christian T. Cruz and John Konradi both lost in their matches to get to the medal round.
Two Cougars came home with medals from the boys competition.
At 126 pounds, Conner McDowell finished in eighth place and had some great matches, said Scott.
“In the quarterfinals, he was down by 13 and came back to tie it but just couldn’t get the takedown to win it,” said the coach.
At 132 pounds, Luca Cerasi also took an eighth place medal.
“He only lost to the wrestlers who took second and third place,” Scott pointed out of a strong effort from Cerasi during the event.
Coaches were pleased with the five medalists and the overall trip to Stockton.
“We would have liked to have had a few kids finish higher but all in all, we had a really successful season,” Scott said.
The State Meet in Bakersfield where Arroyo will continue her season runs Thursday, Feb. 27 through Saturday, March 1.
