Over the weekend 12 wrestlers from the Escalon Wrestling Club (EWC) participated in the prestigious Flowrestling Reno Worlds Championships along with a record 3,411 athletes, ranging in age from 5- to 18-years-old. The tournament was held on 22 mats at the Rodeo Grounds over three days.

At the youth level the three Gerber brothers, Garrison, Gideon and Griffin all had solid showings with each of them winning at least one match against competition that came from 36 states and over a dozen countries. Two of the wrestlers on the girls’ side wrestled with Mikayla Vega coming very close to placing and Julia Casillas wrestling well.

Seven EWC grapplers also wrestled in the older divisions and all won at least one match apiece. Garrett Nash had the largest bracket at the tournament with over 130 wrestlers and his two losses were to eventual placers. In the same 15 and Under age group, Braiden Vega had a tough loss to get eliminated after a couple of good wins. In the High School age group, Alex Jimenez came within one point of placing while David Ryan, Stephen Mendez and Julian Gutierrez all wrestled competitively and came within one to two points each of winning their final match. Livius Seung also showed grit in his daunting weight class.

“This was a brutal tournament,” said EWC President Derek Scott, who coached the youth wrestlers along with fellow EWC coaches Nate Nash and Eric Rowe while Erika Lopez and her husband, Danny (Julia Casillas’ father) helped with transportation of the kids and assisted with cooking and other support.

“To give you an idea, over half of this year’s NCAA champions have wrestled at this tournament over the years. Most of our kids were wrestling up a weight and competing against wrestlers who were cutting down sometimes 15 or more pounds to make the same weight. It was tough but a great experience,” added Scott.