It was a championship weekend for the Oakdale High School wrestling program at the Masters Meet, as the Mustang grapplers earned the California Interscholastic Federation Sac-Joaquin Section Masters team title. Oakdale had a dozen wrestlers come home with medals and eight of them placed in the top five, earning the right to continue their season in Bakersfield at the State Meet.

In Stockton, the Masters Meet competition was hosted Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21.

By the end of the two days, the Mustangs were hoisting the blue Section title banner and had a pair of individuals champions as well. Wes Burford, at 215 pounds, and Matthew Cooley, at 285, battled their way to the first-place honors to stand tall on the podium.

Heading in to the Masters, Burford was ranked number one in the state in the 215-pound bracket, Cooley was ranked fourth at 285.

Earning a second-place medal was Jake Simmons at 126 pounds, with Jesse Meza, at 150 pounds and Cody Soares, at 175, pinning down third place medals.

Also earning a spot on the podium were Zeke Hernandez, 113, fourth; Xander Birakos, 190, fourth; Griffin Gerber, 165 pounds, fifth.

Those eight wrestlers move on to represent Oakdale at the State Meet.

Earning medals at Masters but finishing outside the top five were Michaelangelo Deleon, 132 pounds, sixth; Israel Mercado, 157, sixth; Grant Dixon, 106, seventh; Avery Jones, 138, eighth.

Medals at Masters are presented to the top eight in each weight class.

Oakdale had 14 wrestlers compete at Masters, with 12 of the 14 earning medals.

A “State Sendoff” was being planned for Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 25 with the community urged to gather in front of the Bianchi Community Center to line F Street at 2:10 p.m., with the team slated to roll through around 2:20 p.m. on the way out of town as they head to Bakersfield.