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Solid Efforts Nail Down Wrestling Honors
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Escalons varsity wrestling team took home first place honors with a sweep at the Modesto Duals on Saturday, going 4-0 as a team against their opponents. The JV Cougars were 3-1 for second place.

A busy holiday week of work for Escalon’s wrestlers saw the varsity team take second place at a Modesto invitational and first at the Modesto Duals, while the JV team finished second at the duals.

For the varsity, it was a Tuesday, Dec. 23 invite at Modesto Junior College that got their week started, with 16 Cougar wrestlers medaling. Champions for the Escalon contingent were Rhys Panero at 106 pounds, going 4-0 and A.J. Camarena compiling a 4-0 mark at 195 pounds.

“We were really pleased,” head coach Derek Scott said of having the two undefeated champions.

Also finishing in the top four were Kyle Jimenez, second at 120 pounds; Cameron DuBois, second at 152 and Daniel Gonzalez, second at 220 pounds.

“Finishing third, in the toughest weight at the invite, Matt Gallego was third at 182 pounds,” said Scott.

Hunter Calton was third at 170 pounds, Fabricio Gallo third at 132. Travis Nascimento was fourth at 160 pounds, Mark DeHaven was fourth at 126 pounds. Trenton Busch took fifth at 132 pounds, with Livius Seung (120), Nick DeWeerd (126), finishing sixth, with Christian Manzo (145) and Daniel Wallace (170) finishing seventh. Rounding out the varsity medalists with an eighth place finish was Marco Mendoza at 160 pounds.

On Saturday, Dec. 28, it was a clean sweep for the varsity, defeating Davis 63-10, Kimball 61-6, Modesto 60-9 and Enochs 49-24 at the Modesto Duals.

“We have a lot of depth,” Scott said of the squad.

Panero, Gallo, Calton, Camarena and Gonzalez all went 4-0 at the duals, with 3-1 marks compiled by Jimenez, DeHaven, Busch, DuBois, Nascimento and Gallo.

Members of the JV team also had their turn to shine, as they went 3-1 at the Modesto Duals, good enough for a second place team finish.

“We beat Davis, Enochs and Kimball,” Scott explained. “We lost to Modesto.”

Several of the JV wrestlers went 4-0 on the day including Tyler Swinford, Marco Mendoza, Caleb Aguilar and David Escove, with Jonathan Beaver going 3-1.

Up next, the JV team will host its annual Mel Focha Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 3 with more than two dozen teams expected to attend. Action starts at 9 a.m.