Escalon Wrestling Club continued its busy postseason recently at the SCWAY kindergarten through eighth grade California State Finals at Buchanan High School in Clovis on Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25.

EWC was represented by 20 of their 25 state qualifiers. By the end of the event, Alex Gutierrez had earned his second California state title and several of his teammates came home with medals.

Following are results of the competition. Names are spelled as provided by club officials.

In their First Session – 5-6 year old Division

Wrestling and not medaling was Freddy Velasco, a two-time State qualifier in two years of wrestling. Taking home a 6th place medal was the tough first year wrestler John Kemp. Also taking home 6th place medal, his second State medal in two years of wrestling was Vincent “The Hurricane” Reis.

Session #2 – In the 7-8 year old Division

Taking home medals were, 6th place finisher Roman Hinojosa earning his second State medal. Taking home a 5th place medal in his first season of wrestling was the rugged Dalton Shinn.

Session #3 – In the 10 and Under Division

Wrestling well but not medaling were Preston Berhorst, Mikey Bell and Luca Cerasi. Having what appeared to be the toughest bracket in the Saturday Session. Bringing home a 4th place medal and continuing to show great progress was Ryan Lewis, earning his second State medal.

Escalon’s most decorated youth wrestler ever, Alex Gutierrez won his second State Title in dominating fashion. He had a pin in the first round, gave up one point in his second match, winning 17-1. His lone point given up in the tournament was after taking a knee to the face, he immediately took his opponent down with the referee penalizing him for being too rough. Then in the finals he was ahead 14-0 and pinned his opponent.

“This was Alex’s second State Title in three years. Taking second last year, Alex just flat out outworks, out toughs and never gets rattled, scared or unaggressive,” said EWC officer Derek Scott. “He just keeps coming forward, a perfect example in the semis, he gets a nasty bump on his head, doesn’t take an injury timeout and gets up and takes the guy so hard he gets called for being too rough. He is a joy to watch and coach.”

On Saturday in Session #4 – 11-12 year old Division

Wrestling and not medaling were J.W. Mills, Cruz Snow, Owen Nash, Anthony Jones and the most impressive wrestler, not medaling but having three tough, close matches was Talen Reider.

In the toughest bracket in the tournament, earning his second State medal and taking 8th place was Christian Rowe. Earning his first State medal with a tremendous work ethic and heart, taking 6th place was Luis Garcia. Earning his fifth State medal, taking 3rd place and showing a lot of grit was Sammy Hinojosa.

In the 13-14 year old Division

Wrestling and not medaling were EJ Lewis and Thomas Rowe. Earning 5th place was the greatly improved Sebastian Snow. In his first match Coach Scott described the action as “It was his best match I have ever seen him wrestle.”

The tournament was coached by Head Coach Dylan Furtado and Assistant Coach Johnathon Costa and Jeremy Mills with volunteers Larry Lawrence, Eric Rowe, Nate Nash and Officers Derek Scott and Brianne Cerasi on hand for any assistance needed. The coaches were very pleased with 10 of the 20 wrestlers wrestling taking home medals.

The team will continue to practice through May for anyone interested. Practices are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.

Upcoming EWC events are Reno Worlds on April 6 through 8 and on April 28 the club will host its annual All You Can Eat Rib and Oyster Feed.