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Wrestlers Go 1-1 At Dual Meet Team Sections
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Going in as the number two seed in the small school sections, Escalon wrestlers topped Golden Sierra but lost to Calaveras at the Team Sections at Pitman on Saturday.

"Since we were the number two seed, we had a bye in the first round," explained coach Derek Scott. "We also went in without a couple of kids we had been expecting to take, Adrian Carrillo was away on family business and Brian Lynn decided he couldn't make weight anymore and left the team."

Losing the two experienced wrestlers for the event hurt some, said Scott, but the Cougars were able to come away with a 40-13 win over Golden Sierra of the Golden Empire League.

Atom Garcia took a 7-6 loss at 103 pounds, with Curtis Schurkamp winning by pin at 112. Also, Joey Machado, lost by technical fall, 119; Ryan Ashlock, lost by technical fall, 125; Kevin Machado, 7-4 win, 130; Myles Bishop, won by pin, 135.

Mike Travers took a win by pin at 140, as did Ryan Sughrue at 145 pounds. Lance Lippincott was a 6-1 winner at 152, followed by Ryan Lippincott, 5-1 loss, 160; Andrew Pitassi, lost on points, 171; Jeremiah Knapp, 9-0 win, 189; Manuel Schwanker, won by pin, 215 and Anthony Oste, won by pin, heavyweight.

"We gave up one fall (pin) the whole match so that was our best dual meet of the year," said Scott. "Usually when our guys lose, they get pinned so it made a big difference to lose on points. Lance looked good in his match and Kevin Machado is really starting to improve."

In the finals against Calaveras, the Cougars fell in a 40-28 decision, hampered by the losses coming on pins.

Wins in the Calaveras match came from Schurkamp, 7-0; Joey Machado, win by pin; Bishop, 9-1; and Travers, 15-0. Schwanker and Oste won by forfeit.

Losing by pin were Garcia, Sughrue, Lance Lippincott and Knapp. Ashlock, Kevin Machado and Pitassi lost on points, while Ryan Lippincott lost on what was termed 'flagrant misconduct', called for biting an opponent.

"He got cross checked in the mouth," Scott said, noting he believes that's when the other wrestler sustained the teethmarks. "If you know Ryan Lippincott, you know there's no way he would bite someone."

But the ruling stood and that match went down as a loss. Lippincott was also ruled ineligible for the next meet, which will be Saturday's Trans-Valley League Tournament.

"Going in, I thought if we made it to the finals that would be good," Scott said of the Team Sections. "We wrestled pretty well, but Calaveras is a good dual meet team."

The Cougars will now gear up for the league meet, hosted this year at Patterson. Both the JV and varsity teams will go on Saturday, wrestling begins at 9 a.m.

"We've lost a couple of kids so we've made it a lot tougher on ourselves," Scott said.

The Cougars went undefeated in league dual meets this season, however, and will look to solidify their hold on the TVL title with a strong showing on Saturday.

By MARG JACKSON