Notebook: Escalon and Turlock win boys wrestling team titles
Turlock’s boys wrestling team let out a joyful scream when they received their blue banner from CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Assistant Commissioner Will DeBoard on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs had just won the school’s first wrestling team section title.
Turlock, who usually competes in Division I, was put in Division II for Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Team Duals Wrestling Championship at Natomas High School in Sacramento.
“We’ve been in the finals several times, but always ended up being runner up,” said coach Mike Contreras. “When they put us in Division II, I knew it was a great opportunity for us.”
Turlock defeated St. Mary’s in the semifinals and Bella Vista in the Division II Final.
The Bulldogs have competed in Division II before, Contreras estimates about three or four years ago, but lost to Bella Vista in the semifinals.
“I felt like we were the team to beat (our last season in Division II) as well and we didn’t (win),” he said. “We didn’t come out with the title and we lost to Bella Vista in the semis. So, to get another opportunity against Bella Vista is redemption.”
Escalon High’s team had a similar reaction after winning its third Division V team title.
The Cougars have been in and out of COVID protocols this season, most recently the week of the competition. With a shortened roster, they lost to Livingston Tuesday. After providing the necessary negative tests, players returned on Wednesday, and they were able to beat Hilmar to advance to Saturday’s dual.
“After Tuesday night’s loss to Livingston, we were pretty down,” Coach Derrick Scott said after Saturday’s victory. “The teams we were able to go against (today), we handled, so I thought we did a good job. I thought we really bounced back well. I’m really happy with us.”
Like Turlock, Escalon had teams qualify for the Section Team Duals in the past, but came up short. This year’s title was the Cougars’ first since 2016.
“I’m very excited for the kids,” Scott said. “We hadn’t won one in a while. So I’m very excited for the kids. “I thought they did a really nice job.”
Oakdale breezed through the Division I semifinals, defeating Elk Grove 61-0.
This set up what might have been the matchup of the day against Vacaville, two programs considered by most in the wrestling world to be among the best in the state.
After beating the Bulldogs for the 2020 Division I section title, the Mustangs fell short of a repeat, losing 41-19.
“Going in, we knew the matches we needed to win and we knew which ones that could go either way,” Mustang coach Steve Strange said. “We could have wrestled smarter in some matches. We gave we gave them some things that we didn’t need to give them and they capitalized. They’re good team.”
The Mustangs know there is not much time to hang their heads about a second-place finish. All of the area’s wrestling teams will gear up for the individuals portion of the season that will end in the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters scheduled for late February. For Oakdale, individual matchups with Vacaville could be on the horizon.
“We come back to the drawing board and we get back to work,” said Oakdale senior and California’s top wrestler Ceasar Garza. “We’re gonna see these guys again in three weeks. I think we’re gonna be ready to go.
“As a team we kind of step back and ... look at what we did wrong and how we can improve individually. We don’t got time to hold on (to this). We got to push.”
The section did this year’s event different than in years prior. As a result of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, only the league champions advanced to the Team Dual Championship.
A total of five Stanislaus District teams advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Team Duals Wrestling Championship.
In addition to Turlock, Escalon and Oakdale, Davis and Big Valley Christian wrestled.
Davis fell in the Division III semifinals while Big Valley lost in the section title.
Orestimba girls basketball player reaches milestone: Orestimba’s Reagan Marroquin scored her 1,000th career point in a 17-point outing against Gustine on Jan. 21. The four-year varsity player, who has averaged 10 or more points each season for the Warriors, is the team’s second leading scorer at 16.1 points per game.
She scored a career-high 25 points in a 75-32 win over Summerville on Jan. 26.
Marroquin has helped lead the Warriors to an 18-3 overall record and a perfect 5-0 in Southern League play.
Cal-Hi Sports small/medium school honorees: While the football season ended months ago, postseason awards continue to roll out. A number of The Bee’s All-District Offense and Defense recipients also received awards from CalHiSports.com as they announced the season’s All-State Small and Medium School teams. Hilmar’s Derek Taylor and Escalon’s E.J. Lewis made small school first team offense and defense, respectively.
The Cougars’ Ryker Peters was named first team multi-purpose and Andre Alves of Hilmar made second team offense as a place kicker.
Patterson’s Marcus Simien was the only Stanislaus District athlete on the medium schools teams. The lineman earned first team offense honors.
