Eleven Herd, Eight Wildcat Grapplers Qualify For Section Masters

Elk Grove placed second at the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division I-A Wrestling Championships at Franklin High School last weekend.

Herd grapplers scored 176.5 points during the two-day event, well behind team-points champion Folsom which had 238 points.

Franklin placed sixth with 127 points, mainly on the strength of Joey Banks’ first place finish. The Sacramento State football scholarship athlete decisioned Erik Medina of Jesuit, 3-2, to win the 195-pound championship.

The victory places Banks as the top seed in his weight class going into this weekend’s Section Masters Meet at the Stockton Arena. 

Elk Grove wrestler Jacob Seto won the 106-pound champion-
ship of the SJS D-IA Meet last Saturday. Seto is a freshman.

(See the Masters' Brackets for each weight classification)

The top eight grapplers at each weight qualified for the meet in Stockton that begins Friday.

Elk Grove had one first place champion in 106-pounder Jacob Seto, a freshman. Ten other Herd wrestlers will move on to the Masters Meet, as well. They are Roger Monroe (3^rd – 113), Tristan Scott (3^rd – 120), Kelani Tonge (3^rd – 126),  Terrell Turner (6^th – 132), Carson Sperber (5^th – 138), Brandon Viale (6^th – 170),  Ryan Rosales (6^th – 182), Thomas Aquila (5^th – 195), Sai Ta’amu (2^nd – 220) and Tyler Yates (5^th – 287). 

"I'm proud of the fact that they didn't just give matches away," Elk Grove wrestling coach Pat Coffing said. "They continued to close the gap on higher ranked kids."

Eight Franklin wrestlers have advanced to the Masters on the strength of their performances at the Divisional meet. Besides Banks, Adrian Rodriquez (7^th -113), G’Angelo Rodriguez (5^th – 120), Josh Villaflor (2^nd – 126), Antonio Jimenez (4^th – 132), Ali Khan (7^th – 145), Robby Nickerson (3^rd – 182) and Nick Gustin (5^th – 200) will compete in Stockton.

Four Pleasant Grove wrestlers have also qualified for the Masters. They are Deler Ghazi (6^th – 152), Rossin Erbe (6^th – 160), David Viodes (6^th – 170) and Tanner Smith (8^th – 182).

Representing Monterey Trail this weekend will be Israel Washington (3^rd - 106) and EJ Viacrusis (5^th – 160).

Ivan Casteneda, who was eighth at 113 pounds, will be Laguna Creek’s lone entry in the Masters.

There will be 32 wrestlers competing at each weight class this weekend. The top seven will qualify for the State Wrestling Tournament March 7 and 8 at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.