YUBA CITY – East Union brought just eight wrestlers to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championships at River Valley High School and finished fifth place as a team on Saturday.

“I’m pretty impressed with our finish,” Lancers coach A.J. Reidel said. “We brought eight kids Friday – six came back today and five made it to the semis, but unfortunately only three of them qualified.

“It was a tough tournament. The weight classes we competed at were very deep. We lost some close matches but I am glad to have the three moving on.” 

Jaysen Reindel finished second for East Union.

“I came in here knowing what I had to do,” Jaysen Reindel said. “The first day I felt pretty good and I felt pretty good on the second day, too. In that last match he was just more ready than I was – simple as that, no excuses.”

Tyler Diaz (113) was second for the Lancers and Joe Luna (132) finished fourth. 

“It feels good to be going to Masters,” Luna said. “I went last year.

“I wish I could have done a little bit better in my last match but we will see what happens next week.”

Sierra finished eighth and advances four to Masters: Johnny Hosmer (second, 126); Marcos Sablan (second, 160); Miguel Cervantes (second, 170) and Mario Ragoso (182, third). 

“I wrestled OK,” Hosmer said. “But I could have wrestled better.”

Sablan had two pins in his preliminary matches before being pinned in the first round of the finals by Vista del Lago’s Austin Soeizer.  

“It’s great to be going on,” Sablan said. “Because last year I didn’t get to go and this year I made it to the finals here so it is a dream come true.

“I didn’t expect to lose so quickly in the finals of course but it happens and I just have to get better and brush up on some stuff in practice next week.”

Cervantes had a decision and a pin in his preliminary rounds.

“I just tried my best,” Cervantes said. “I wrestled as hard as I could and tried to listen to the coaches and I really thrilled for Masters to see what there is for me out there.”

Lathrop’s Mario Ragoso lost his second match Friday and stormed through the consolation bracket to finish third. 

In his consolation final match with Rio Linda’s Jack Clark, the two were locked in a scoreless tie going into the third period before Ragosa won 5-2. 

“It feels good,” Ragoso said. “I cut a lot of weight and it really paid off. I bounced back from a rough first day and came back to get some wins.  

“It was good to bring this home for my school. We are really underrated but we have a lot of talent and I wanted to show that to the Manteca community.”

All the wrestlers who finished in the Top 4 will compete at the two-day SJS Masters Tournament beginning Friday at the Stockton Arena.

Division V

Championships

DELHI – Ripon’s Donny Fontillas brought home a gold medal Saturday at 132 pounds in the SJS Division V championships at Delhi High School. 

“We were really pleased with how well we wrestled this weekend,” Indians coach Glen White said. “We only had seven boys that actually wrestled, six made it to the second day, and five qualified for Masters. 

“It was a great weekend for us and we’re hoping to be even better this weekend at Masters and Girls State.”

Andrew Hunyh (106) and Brandon Rosa (182) finished third for Ripon and Justin Swilley and Owen Gonnlinger were fourth. 

The Top 4 wrestlers will compete at the two-day SJS Masters Tournament beginning Friday at the Stockton Arena. 

Girls Masters

STOCKTON – Ripon’s Alayna Swilley was seconds away from a gold medal Saturday when she was pinned in the championship bout at 121 pounds in the Girls Masters Championships at McNair High School.

“She was winning 6-5 when she got pinned,” Indians coach Brandon Figaro said. “She got out of position and tried to leg ride, and that’s something she has been trying out but she is not used to doing.”

Swilley and two other local grapplers who finished in the Top 5 will advance to the two-day CIF State championships beginning Friday at the Visalia Convention Center.

Karina Loya (137) and of Weston Ranch and Sierra’s Alexa Garcia (160) battled through injuries on Saturday before battling for fifth-place finishes and advancing to state.  

Loya lost her first two matches due to an injury to her knee Saturday but was able to make a comeback and take fifth place

“She reached down deep inside and knowing this was her last shot at State and made the most of this opportunity.” Cougars coach Sal Reyes said.

Garcia, the second girl in Sierra history to qualify for State, was forced to forfeit her consolation semifinal match due to injury and came back in her next bout to secure a fifth-place finish with a pin.

“We needed to rest her injury for a match,” Timberwolves coach Alex Nuanez said. “I was confident she would get the win.”