Escalon’s JV wrestlers had a solid showing at Enochs on Saturday, while the varsity brought home some hardware from Elk Grove, both teams in tournament action.
Of the nine wrestlers taking the mats for the JV Cougars at Enochs, six of them brought home medals.
Adela Ley-Han took first place in the girls division at 106 pounds for Escalon, while Troy Bedell was second at 106 in the boys division. Livius Seung went 3-1 for a third place medal at 126 pounds, while Mark DeHaven took first place honors at 132pounds. David Ryan was third at 160 for the JV team and Justin Branco was fourth in the heavyweight division.
“Troy looked good and we’re excited with how much David and Justin have improved already,” said head coach Derek Scott. “Mark and Livius will likely be varsity wrestlers for us, they are getting good experience now.”
Ray Scott led the coaching team at the JV tourney on Saturday.
For the varsity, Derek Scott and several assistants took the varsity grapplers to Elk Grove, where 10 Cougars did battle.
“There were 16 teams there, 12 of them are top three in their divisions,” Scott explained.
Escalon went in to the day with no wrestlers seeded higher than sixth in the tournament field.
“Five out of the 10 we took placed and wrestled well,” Scott said.
At 106 pounds, Rhys Panero went 2-2 and showed well but did not come away with a medal.
Bringing home hardware were Kyle Jimenez at 120 pounds, taking fourth place, while Cameron DuBois was seventh at 152 pounds.
“He had a really good match against a kid from Gregori, a state-ranked wrestler,” Scott noted.
After only five days of practice following the end of their football season, three more Cougars pinned down medals.
Matt Gallego took third at 182 pounds, winning the third-fourth place battle by one point in his final bout of the day. A.J. Camarena was third at 195 pounds and Daniel Gonzalez took fourth at heavyweight.
“We were hoping to get one or two placers,” Scott said. “So we were really happy to have five, that’s the best we’ve done at this tournament in the last couple of years.”
A previously scheduled home match against Riverbank tonight, Wednesday, Dec. 17 has been cancelled, with the next action for the wrestlers on Friday, Dec. 19 at the Hughson Duals starting at 2 p.m.
The JV will wrestle in Hughson on Saturday, Dec. 20.
