Getting past Bret Harte on the mats Saturday, the Cougar wrestlers then ran into a roadblock in the form of Calaveras.
They had to settle for runner-up status at the Dual Meet Team Sections hosted at Folsom High School.
The competition brought together the top teams from a handful of leagues and, as the top seed from the Trans-Valley League, Escalon received a bye in the first round.
"There were a lot of the same teams that we will see in the Small School Sections," noted coach Derek Scott.
After the first round bye, the Cougars went to work against Bret Harte, representing the Mother Lode League.
"That was in the semifinals and we beat them, 41-21," said Scott.
Winners were Brian Toy at 103 pounds, win by pin; Andrew Schuler, 112, win by pin; Blake Mynear, 125, 13-7 decision; Kevin Machado, 130, 18-2 decision; Myles Bishop, 135 pounds, win by pin. Also, Ryan Sughrue took a 10-6 decision at 152 pounds, Brett Mynear was a winner by pin at 160, Ryan Lippincott was a winner by pin at 171 and Anthony Oste won his heavyweight match, also by pin.
"That put us in the finals and Calaveras beat us, 46-25," explained Scott. "We kind of fell apart at the end, we lost the last five matches and I felt a couple of those were winnable."
Scott added that a few other matches were also ones he felt the team had to win to have a chance against the tough Calaveras team.
"They are a very good dual meet team," Scott noted. "This is the sixth time in a row they've won here."
Escalon did get a handful of wins against Calaveras, with Brian Toy getting his second win by pin of the competition at 103 pounds.
"He has been battling some health problems for the last month so it was good to see him get back," Scott said.
Kevin Machado was a 10-9 winner at 130 pounds in another gripping match.
"He was down by three points with 45 seconds left and he just outwrestled the guy, came back and beat him," said Scott.
Also winning, both by pin, were Myles Bishop at 135 pounds and Ryan Sughrue at 152.
"I thought they both looked good," Scott said. "Plus this was a true team event, we had several spots where we had to have kids fill in. I called Tyler Draper at 7:45 p.m. Friday night, he's a kid that normally wrestles JV for us, I called and asked him if he wanted to go and he was ready, I was really impressed that he would come and help the team in any way he could."
The wrestlers now look forward to Saturday, Feb. 12 competition in Ripon, the JV and varsity both participating in the Trans-Valley League Tournament at Ripon High School. Action gets underway at 9 a.m.
By MARG JACKSON
They had to settle for runner-up status at the Dual Meet Team Sections hosted at Folsom High School.
The competition brought together the top teams from a handful of leagues and, as the top seed from the Trans-Valley League, Escalon received a bye in the first round.
"There were a lot of the same teams that we will see in the Small School Sections," noted coach Derek Scott.
After the first round bye, the Cougars went to work against Bret Harte, representing the Mother Lode League.
"That was in the semifinals and we beat them, 41-21," said Scott.
Winners were Brian Toy at 103 pounds, win by pin; Andrew Schuler, 112, win by pin; Blake Mynear, 125, 13-7 decision; Kevin Machado, 130, 18-2 decision; Myles Bishop, 135 pounds, win by pin. Also, Ryan Sughrue took a 10-6 decision at 152 pounds, Brett Mynear was a winner by pin at 160, Ryan Lippincott was a winner by pin at 171 and Anthony Oste won his heavyweight match, also by pin.
"That put us in the finals and Calaveras beat us, 46-25," explained Scott. "We kind of fell apart at the end, we lost the last five matches and I felt a couple of those were winnable."
Scott added that a few other matches were also ones he felt the team had to win to have a chance against the tough Calaveras team.
"They are a very good dual meet team," Scott noted. "This is the sixth time in a row they've won here."
Escalon did get a handful of wins against Calaveras, with Brian Toy getting his second win by pin of the competition at 103 pounds.
"He has been battling some health problems for the last month so it was good to see him get back," Scott said.
Kevin Machado was a 10-9 winner at 130 pounds in another gripping match.
"He was down by three points with 45 seconds left and he just outwrestled the guy, came back and beat him," said Scott.
Also winning, both by pin, were Myles Bishop at 135 pounds and Ryan Sughrue at 152.
"I thought they both looked good," Scott said. "Plus this was a true team event, we had several spots where we had to have kids fill in. I called Tyler Draper at 7:45 p.m. Friday night, he's a kid that normally wrestles JV for us, I called and asked him if he wanted to go and he was ready, I was really impressed that he would come and help the team in any way he could."
The wrestlers now look forward to Saturday, Feb. 12 competition in Ripon, the JV and varsity both participating in the Trans-Valley League Tournament at Ripon High School. Action gets underway at 9 a.m.
By MARG JACKSON
