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Second Place Section Finish For Cougar Wrestlers
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After closing out the dual meet Trans-Valley League schedule with a win on Wednesday against Ripon, the Escalon wrestlers took a heartbreaking defeat in the team sections at Lincoln High School in Stockton on Saturday.

The Cougars had a first round bye to start off the day at Lincoln after sewing up dual meet championship honors. They met Bret Harte in the second round and utilized some back up wrestlers in addition to starters, getting a 51-30 win.

In the battle for the Section team crown against Calaveras, a controversial late timeout and a two-point reversal gave the Redskins a 14-13 win in the 106-pound bout, sealing the win.

"We wrestled a really exciting, really competitive dual and took a 34-30 loss," head coach Derek Scott said. "We lost it in a kind of heartbreaking way, at 106 pounds, second to last match, we were ahead the whole match, there were a few close calls we didn't get and then they got a reversal at the end."

Scott said it was tough to lose the Section team title in that way, but he also felt that his team gave up too many pins while not earning enough themselves in the matches they won.

"Wins that kept us in the match were Colton Camara at 126 pounds and Josh Redding got a huge win at 152," Scott said. "Also, A.J. Camarena gave us a chance by winning at 195 pounds."

At the end of the day, Calaveras earned the section title and Escalon had to settle for section runner up status.

"I was a little disappointed because I thought we were the better team, they got some breaks but they also wrestled well," Scott said of Calaveras.

Earlier in the week, the Cougar JV squad finished an undefeated run through the Trans-Valley League with a 54-24 decision over Ripon.

"The best matches were Jonathan Moreno, who got a fall at 145 and Brendon Belman, getting a fall at heavyweight," Scott explained. "At the varsity level we won by a 50-22 decision and I was really happy that we avenged a bad dual meet against them last year, this time we beat them handily."

Best matches of the night for the varsity, added Scott, were Jason Robbins at 145 pounds, Austin Martinez at 160 with a nice win, Johnathon Costa at 170 and Garrett Wade at 182 pounds.

This week, the team will be back in action with a Saturday TVL Tournament in Riverbank, starting at 9 a.m., to determine individuals league title winners.