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Ripons Smith earns another Division-V title
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OLIVEHURST –  Ripon High continued to flex it muscle with six top-6 finishers Saturday at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division-V Wrestling Championships at Lindhurst High after more than half of the Indians advanced to the second day.

Both Trevor Smith (195) and Taylor Fugit (152) outlasted the best wrestlers of five leagues to continue their seasons at this Friday’s Masters Tournament in Stockton. Smith captured the title with a one-sided 11-0 win over Luke Brewer of Bret Harte (ranked No. 13 in the State by Californiawrestler.com) for the Division-V No. 1 seed.

“He looked great, he really did look great,” Ripon head coach Glen White said. “He’s dealing with a few injuries but was able to wrestle well and continue on.”

Fugit landed a fourth place overall finish in the tournament, securing another weekend in his season for the Indians. Four other Indians just missed out on continuing their season, finishing 6th with the top-4 wrestlers in each weight class advancing to Masters.

“I was really happy with eight going into the second day,” White said. “Six of us to finish in the top-6 is a good thing. It’s unfortunate that only the two who finished in the top-4 advance.

“We had a couple of our younger wrestlers step up and do something when it wasn’t expected and that was also very pleasing.”

There will be 32 wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes at Masters. The top seven wrestlers in each bracket will advance to the State Championships held at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield March 1 and 2.

The Masters Tournament begins at 9 a.m. Friday at the Stockton Arena.