The El Molino wrestling team continued their pre-league progression this week with a flurry of action on both the dual meet and the tournament mat.
The Lions began the stretch with a dual meet at Maria Carrillo, with a roster pared down to just six athletes due to illness. Scoring mat wins were 145-pound Erik Dimond, 152-pound Aidan Herman and 138-pound Zavier Grech. Hannah Ricioli was the lone participant for the El Mo girls, recording a pin over her off-season training partner from Carrillo.
With illness decimating their line-up, the Lions withdrew from participation in Saturday’s varsity dual meet at Healdsburg, but did send three healthy wrestlers to the Healdsburg JV tourney on Friday.
Jonny Wheeler returned from illness to record a 1-2 record on the day, while first-year wrestler Aidan Herman also went 1-2, despite giving up a pin after leading 7-2 in the third round of his final match. Sophomore Zavier Grech proved to be the standout for the Lions, going undefeated to take home a first-place medal.
“It was the first time he ever placed at a tournament and the first medal he has won,” El Mo coach Ron Wright noted. “He is really starting to show improvement and knows what he needs to work on.”
Ladies shine in Rocklin
Meanwhile, the Lady Lions ventured east to the Cliff Keen Women’s West Coast Tournament of Champions in Rocklin on Dec. 14-15. The tournament included some 13 colleges and nearly 70 high schools in attendance, with high school wrestlers from as far away as Hawaii.
Turning in a solid performance was freshman Ardenne Chevrolet, who went 2-2 to place third in her JV bracket.
Seeded second, Ricioli received a first round bye and pinned her first opponent in the first round to close out the day. On Saturday Ricioli recorded a first round pin to advance to the semifinals, where she won a 9-3 decision. The win propelled her into the finals, where she fell to Lillian Freitas from Pittman, who was named Most Valuable Wrestler of the tournament.
“Hannah took the loss in stride and has established herself as a contender on the big stage,” Wright said. “Her dedication and hard work is coming to fruition, and she still shows improvement each week.”
Ricioli has posted an outstanding 15-3 record with 13 pins this season.
