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Schurkamp, Travers Advance To State Meet
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Six went, two will go on.

Escalon sent a half dozen wrestlers to Folsom in Sacramento for the Section wrestling meet on Friday and Saturday, the Cougars battling for the right to advance to the State Meet in Bakersfield. Of the six, only Curtis Schurkamp and Mike Travers made the cut and continue to wrestle for another week.

Head coach Derek Scott said they were hoping to send more qualifiers to the state, but competition was stiff and many of the Cougars hadn't seen action that deep into the section before.

Senior Adrian Carrillo ended his career with an 0-2 showing at 125 pounds, losing his first match by pin before battling to a closer finish in the second.

Senior Lance Lippincott was also 0-2 at 152 pounds, closing out his high school career.

"He lost two pretty close matches," said Scott.

Manuel Schwanker took the mats for the Cougars at 215 pounds and went 1-2, his win a satisfying one in that it came against a Ripon wrestler that had beaten him earlier in the season.

Myles Bishop, a sophomore, won his first match at 135 pounds but then had the misfortune to draw top-ranked Ricky Gonzales of Turlock and lost that match, then fell in a close 5-3 decision in his third and final match of the tournament.

"So we have two state qualifiers, Curtis Schurkamp at 112 pounds won his first three matches handily," Scott said.

That included a convincing 11-4 win over an opponent from Hiram Johnson in the semifinal round. The final was the one that was anticipated, Schurkamp going against Cory Borges of Hughson.

"Curtis was ahead 7-1 in the second round but he made some strategic mistakes that caused him to lose," Scott explained. "He lost 14-10, if he's going to place high in state, he has to win those types of matches."

Borges took first in the section, Schurkamp second and the two head to the state meet ranked second and fifth in the state, respectively, at their weight.

"Mike Travers came away with a 3-1 record, he had a 7-1 win in the semis and then lost 11-9 in the finals against Ben Garcia of Manteca," explained Scott. "He got outscored at the end in the finals."

Travers competed in the 140-pound bracket, taking second in the section.

"Those kids of matches, he needs to win," Scott added of the close loss for Travers in the final. "We just need to find a way to win those close matches."

With Schurkamp and Travers each taking second place honors in the section, Scott said they should get good draws for early action at the state meet. They will travel to that competition in Bakersfield on Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6.

By MARG JACKSON