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Mustang Wrestlers Travel To Folsom, Escalon Tournaments
Wrestling
Locked in a fierce battle, Oakdale’s Jessica Jericoff, right, faced off against Julia Casillas of Escalon in this 131-pound bout at the Mel Focha Tournament in Escalon on Saturday, Dec. 15. Jericoff finished second in the division; Casillas took first. Marg Jackson/The Leader

A weekend trip was a successful one for the varsity Mustang wrestlers.

On Saturday, Dec. 15 members of the Oakdale High School wrestling team headed to Folsom for the Folsom duals. The Mustangs, coming off their third place finish at the James Riddle, took first place over the weekend.

Michael Torres (106), Brayden Abell (113), Ricky Torres (145), Gabe Martinez (182) and Cody Golding (195) all went undefeated in the team’s quest for the title. In the first round, Oakdale defeated Reno 66-16, second round 60-15 over Freedom, followed by wins over Monterey Trail 60-15, Vista Del Lago 53-18 and in the finals, it was a 47-33 win for Oakdale over Central of Fresno.

“It was a good team effort, the veterans wrestled to their potential and we had several new faces who stepped up and won matches for us,” said head coach Steve Strange.

Oakdale also sent 18 wrestlers to Escalon on Saturday as well, for the annual Mel Focha Tournament for girls and JV wrestlers. There, 14 Mustangs earned top three honors. Taking first place in the tourney were Alfonso Ramirez, Jordan Garcia, Seth Valencia and Valerie Osborne. Second place showings came from Connor Bok, Dyllon Jones, Jessica Jericoff, Matt Burns, Robert Stranahan and Victor Gurrola. Taking third place were Chris Burns, Emanual Leyva, Jacob Cox, Jager Stevens and Steven Graff.

This Saturday, Dec. 22, Oakdale will send a select few to Reno for the Reno Tournament of Champions and some will stay local and compete at the Bulldog Classic at Turlock High School.