Practices this past week went better than the tournament for Escalon's varsity wrestlers, with a trip to Elk Grove on Saturday producing just one second, one sixth and two seventh place finishes.
"We looked great in practice," agreed head coach Derek Scott.
Top wrestler for the varsity Cougars at the tournament was Christian Franks, going 3-1 for a second place finish at 103 pounds. David Gonzales went 2-3 for sixth place at 142; Charlie McDonald, 4-1, seventh place, 171 and Brandon Williams, 4-1, seventh place, 189.
"Christian has really worked hard in the off season, really made himself a good wrestler," Scott said. "He struggled a bit to get down to weight."
Gonzales, a freshman, shows great promise and is getting adjusted to the competitive level of varsity, added Scott.
McDonald lost his first match but then settled in and had a solid showing while Williams earned praise for wrestling to his full capability, bouncing back after a first round loss to reel off four straight match wins.
"It's a small but real tough tournament," explained Scott. "A lot of our young kids struggled and we had a poor showing in close matches."
Wrestlers attending but not placing in the tournament were: Keenon Tavares, 114; Martin Castillo, 121; Dylan Furtado, 127; Jason Gutierrez, 132; Joseph Antonacci, 147; Tyler Gonzales, 154; Andrew Baroni, 162; Mike Gutierrez, 217; Josh Messersmith, heavyweight.
Coaches assisting Scott at the Elk Grove tourney were Lim Prim and Nick Hanson.
Seventeen JV wrestlers traveled to the Beyer Tournament and coaches Ray Scott, Ryan Esteves and Pender Dosanjh made that trip.
Seven Cougars came away with first place honors from that event, which featured several different pools.
Champions were Tym Blair and Cody Hodgson at 152 pounds, Victor Carrillo, Colin Keener and Mike Simoes at 160, Shane Silveira, 171; Glenn Wheat, 215.
Second place honors went to Robbie McLaughlin, 103; Brendon Wing, 135; Adrian Cortes, 152.
In third place were Max Yang, 103 and Anthony Munoz, 140.
Wrestling but not placing were Scott Nunes, Joey Camara, Jack Daulton, Kris Bruno and James Ristrim.
Top efforts on the day came from Blair, Simoes, Carrillo and Wheat, said Scott.
This week, the Cougars will host Enochs on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m., with JV and varsity matches slated in the non-league event. The varsity will head to the MJC Western Invitational tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20 and the varsity then travels to Linden for the Linden Duals on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
"We looked great in practice," agreed head coach Derek Scott.
Top wrestler for the varsity Cougars at the tournament was Christian Franks, going 3-1 for a second place finish at 103 pounds. David Gonzales went 2-3 for sixth place at 142; Charlie McDonald, 4-1, seventh place, 171 and Brandon Williams, 4-1, seventh place, 189.
"Christian has really worked hard in the off season, really made himself a good wrestler," Scott said. "He struggled a bit to get down to weight."
Gonzales, a freshman, shows great promise and is getting adjusted to the competitive level of varsity, added Scott.
McDonald lost his first match but then settled in and had a solid showing while Williams earned praise for wrestling to his full capability, bouncing back after a first round loss to reel off four straight match wins.
"It's a small but real tough tournament," explained Scott. "A lot of our young kids struggled and we had a poor showing in close matches."
Wrestlers attending but not placing in the tournament were: Keenon Tavares, 114; Martin Castillo, 121; Dylan Furtado, 127; Jason Gutierrez, 132; Joseph Antonacci, 147; Tyler Gonzales, 154; Andrew Baroni, 162; Mike Gutierrez, 217; Josh Messersmith, heavyweight.
Coaches assisting Scott at the Elk Grove tourney were Lim Prim and Nick Hanson.
Seventeen JV wrestlers traveled to the Beyer Tournament and coaches Ray Scott, Ryan Esteves and Pender Dosanjh made that trip.
Seven Cougars came away with first place honors from that event, which featured several different pools.
Champions were Tym Blair and Cody Hodgson at 152 pounds, Victor Carrillo, Colin Keener and Mike Simoes at 160, Shane Silveira, 171; Glenn Wheat, 215.
Second place honors went to Robbie McLaughlin, 103; Brendon Wing, 135; Adrian Cortes, 152.
In third place were Max Yang, 103 and Anthony Munoz, 140.
Wrestling but not placing were Scott Nunes, Joey Camara, Jack Daulton, Kris Bruno and James Ristrim.
Top efforts on the day came from Blair, Simoes, Carrillo and Wheat, said Scott.
This week, the Cougars will host Enochs on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m., with JV and varsity matches slated in the non-league event. The varsity will head to the MJC Western Invitational tournament on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 19 and 20 and the varsity then travels to Linden for the Linden Duals on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
