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Costa Leads Wrestlers With Medal Winning Performance
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Though they were a little delayed in getting there - hung up by a snowstorm briefly along the way - Escalon wrestlers performed well at the two-day Sierra Nevada Invitational in Reno on Dec. 29 and 30.

"It was real good, we took 14 guys and of those, we had 10 guys with at least one win," said head coach Derek Scott.

Earning one win in their first major tournament were Jason Robbins at 130 pounds and Brendan Wing at 135 pounds.

Christian Franks got two wins at his weight class before going out with an injury default in his third match. Adrian Cortes won a pair at 145 pounds, as did Andrew Baroni at 152, Colin Keener at 160 pounds and Jason Johnstad at heavyweight.

"We were pleased with the group of guys that got a couple of wins," said Scott. "Christian was one of the kids we felt could medal so it was disappointing that he got hurt but he's okay."

Franks was very competitive in his matches, including the loss but precautionary measures prompted coaches to keep him from taking the mats any more.

"Three of our guys went to the second day, Brandon Williams went 3-2 at 189 pounds and both his losses were to medalists," Scott explained. "Dylan Furtado went 5-2 at 125 pounds and every week he has looked better and better, we are very pleased with his progress and both his losses were competitive, he was a controversial call away from going to the medal round."

Finishing with a 7-2 mark and a seventh place showing at 103 pounds to bring home a medal was Johnathon Costa, who lost his first match and battled back to get into the medal round

Scott said Costa and another standout freshman faced off against each other in the opening round and Costa lost, but that set up his impressive run of victories.

"He won seven of his last eight matches to come home with a medal and he looked better as the tournament went on," Scott said.

Hampered by an injury last season, Costa is nearly back in wrestling shape and should make some noise in the TVL and beyond this season.

This week, the Cougars will host Waterford in a league meet on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

"On paper they look to be our toughest competition," said Scott.

JV action starts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday with the varsity match following at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9 teams will visit Escalon for the annual Mel Focha JV Tournament and on Sunday, the Escalon Wrestling Club will host a tournament, making for a busy week of grappling on the local level.