Cougar wrestlers went in a number of different directions for action this week.
The JV team was at Calaveras on Saturday, the varsity boys and girls went to McNair and, earlier in the week, the team was in action at Oakdale.
On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the JV team went to an exhibition match that featured action against both Central Catholic and Oakdale grapplers in Oakdale.
Mikayla Vega went 2-0 at 106 pounds, said head coach Derek Scott, with Adela Ley-Han going 1-0 at 106.
Also getting in some solid work in the exhibition matches were Alex Jimenez, Hugo Alcala, David Ryan, Stephen Mendez, Justin Branco, and newcomer Johnathan Zambrano.
Traveling to Calaveras for JV action on Saturday, the young Cougars saw a tremendous effort out of Eric Espinoza, who took first place at 220 pounds.
“He really has been standing out in his first few matches,” said Scott.
Second place efforts for the JV squad came from Ethan Krieger at 132 pounds; Isaac Sipma at 152; Julian Gutierrez at 152; and Justin Branco at heavyweight. Third place finisher was Jordan Gwartney at 145 pounds; fourth place showings came from Donnie Smith at 126 pounds; Zach Freeseha, 182; Stephen Mendez, 195.
“The varsity boys and girls went to the McNair Tournament, we brought seven boys and had some good efforts,” Scott said.
Escalon’s three girl wrestlers also had a solid day at the tourney.
Trenton Busch, at 145 pounds, went 3-1 and took sixth place. Marco Mendoza battled back from a first round loss to take fifth place at 170 pounds with a 4-1 record. Daniel Gonzalez was second at heavyweight with a 3-0 effort.
“He has worked really hard,” Scott said of Gonzalez.
For the girls, Adela Ley-Han finished in fourth place with a 2-1 mark at 106; Mikayla Vega was second with a 2-0 record at 106 and Tristin King, in her first-ever matches, went 3-1 to take second place honors at 121 pounds.
“She pinned the number one seed,” Scott said. “We were really happy overall with the weekend.”
This coming Saturday, Dec. 12, the varsity team will go to Elk Grove for tournament action, the girls and the JV team head to Beyer.
