The gymnasium at Escalon High was nearly filled to capacity with wrestlers, coaches, fans and even discount tacos on Friday and Saturday as local wrestling programs vied for top honors in several brackets across each weight at the annual Lloyd C. Engel Wrestling Tournament.
Riverbank wrestlers managed to stand out in the crowd with three medals in tournament action. Jesus Carillo rebounded from first day losses with consecutive wins on Saturday, winning the 119-pound consolation bracket.
Isaiah Amaya found vengeance from a 15-0 loss to an Escalon wrestler last year by beating the same wrestler twice in 2010 rematches to snare a consolation championship as well at 189 pounds.
"He lost to that kid bad last year, so for him to beat him twice, it was a good gauge of how he is wrestling," Riverbank coach Kevin Hejnal said.
Seth Munoz finished with a fourth place medal as well at 152 pounds.
Riverbank duals Mariposa on the road today and picks up tournament action with a hosted junior varsity tournament on Saturday. Downey, McNair, Weston Ranch and Valley High are all scheduled to attend in a dual meet format guaranteed to provide plenty of matches for the less experienced Bruin grapplers.
"Some guys are doing real well and some guys need some improvement, but overall I think we are doing well and getting some key experience," Hejnal said. "We are definitely doing better than last year."
Riverbank kicks off the league championships on Feb. 13 at Waterford.
Riverbank wrestlers managed to stand out in the crowd with three medals in tournament action. Jesus Carillo rebounded from first day losses with consecutive wins on Saturday, winning the 119-pound consolation bracket.
Isaiah Amaya found vengeance from a 15-0 loss to an Escalon wrestler last year by beating the same wrestler twice in 2010 rematches to snare a consolation championship as well at 189 pounds.
"He lost to that kid bad last year, so for him to beat him twice, it was a good gauge of how he is wrestling," Riverbank coach Kevin Hejnal said.
Seth Munoz finished with a fourth place medal as well at 152 pounds.
Riverbank duals Mariposa on the road today and picks up tournament action with a hosted junior varsity tournament on Saturday. Downey, McNair, Weston Ranch and Valley High are all scheduled to attend in a dual meet format guaranteed to provide plenty of matches for the less experienced Bruin grapplers.
"Some guys are doing real well and some guys need some improvement, but overall I think we are doing well and getting some key experience," Hejnal said. "We are definitely doing better than last year."
Riverbank kicks off the league championships on Feb. 13 at Waterford.
