MMC wrestling title, section berth on the line

The senior-less Gregori High Jaguars can claim an outright Modesto Metro Conference wrestling title with a win tonight at Beyer.

But if Beyer wins, things get complicated.

Only one MMC team will qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section team duals on Saturday at Lincoln of Stockton. Gregori, unbeaten in league duals, has clinched no worse than a tie for the title, but the Patriots can claim a portion of the title by beating the Jaguars. And, by the way, Enochs also has only one loss.

Which means the MMC could finish in a three-way tie. Then what happens?

"I think it will be decided by coin flips," Beyer coach Tim Louis said.

To be continued tonight at Beyer, with action beginning with the junior varsity at 6 o'clock. By all accounts, the showdown dual is too close to call. It's difficult to even predict the matchups, much less the results.

"Looking at it and trying to project the outcome will drive you nuts," Louis said.

Gregori, led by former Grace Davis coach Mike Cantwell, already has made great strides though its oldest athletes are only juniors.

"On paper, I have it at seven (wins) apiece," Cantwell said. "It will come down to the close matches and who gets the wins by pins or decisions."

One of the MMC teams will advance to Lincoln, the meeting place for the section's top dual-meet teams. Turlock (24-1), which claimed its first CCC title in three years and its seventh in the last decade, will be seeded among the top four of Division 1 along with Folsom, Vacaville and Elk Grove.

The Bulldogs, who seized control of the CCC standings with last week's 27-18 win over Golden Valley, have run off 24 straight wins since their opening loss to Madera.

In Division 4, Valley Oak League champion Oakdale and runner-up Weston Ranch will join a six-team bracket alongside Los Banos and Ceres from the Western Athletic Conference. Oakdale, the three-time defending dual-meet champion, has won four of the last five.

Ripon, the Trans Valley league champion, has qualified along with Escalon in Division 5. Bret Harte and Calaveras fill out the bracket from the Mother Lode League. Last year, Escalon earned its first title since 1994.

Waterford, which won Division 6 in 2011, returns with Mariposa from the Southern League. The Wildcats defeated Mariposa in last year's dual-meet final.

• NOTES — The girls convene Friday and Saturday at McNair High for the Sac-Joaquin Section Invitational. The top local contenders include Alexia Moreno of Turlock (122), Jasmine Mendoza of Patterson and Emily Hamel of Merced at 138, Juliana Triplett of Ripon (189) and Sarah Phillips of East Union (103). Moreno, Hamel and Triplett all made history last year by winning their respective weight classes at the inaugural CIF State Championships. The State Meet will return to Lemoore High's Event Center on Feb. 24-25. ...

Local wrestlers ranked in the state top 10, according to The California Wrestler: Ripon junior Trevor Smith (182), second; Central Catholic freshman Angel Velasquez (106), fifth; Modesto sophomore Emilio Saavedra (120), sixth; and Oakdale senior Dustin Harris (170), seventh.

Bee staff writer Ron Agostini can be reached at ragostini@modbee.com or (209) 578-2302.