Variety might be the spice of life, but Vacaville High’s Ethan Busby and Vanden’s Micah Lee have no problem with wrestling being bland. They will gladly face the same opponent in a tournament final for the third consecutive week with the advantage of each having won the first two encounters.
Busby and Lee will have to first reach the finals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters tournament before giving any thought to whom they will face. The tournament will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton and the finals are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Lee and Busby won in the Monticello Empire League and section Division III finals by defeating Vacaville’s Landen Borchers and Will C. Wood’s Jacob Lopez, respectively. Lee beat Borchers by technical fall in the MEL finals Feb. 8 and recorded a pin to become the Division III champion.
Four pins in as many matches last Saturday earned the 128-pound title for Lee at the Division III finals. Lee won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinals at the 2024 Masters tournament, but his bid to earn a ticket to the state meet came to an end when he lost his next two matches
Busby pinned Lopez at 115 pounds in the MEL finals and scored a 17-1 technical fall last week to win the Division III title. Busby lost in the 2024 Masters quarterfinals at 106 and then won two consolation matches before losing his last two to finish fifth, earning his ticket to the state meet.
Thirteen Bulldogs qualified for the Masters tournament with Busby being one of four to advance as Division III champions. The others are Elijah Almarinez (122) Aydan Ducharme (159) and Brady Wight (192). Wight spent a total of 5:28 on the mat to win each of his four matches by pin.
Vacaville will also send Eli Mayer (108), Brett Crowley (134), Jack Giangrasso (140), Ryan Espiritu (146), James Corbett (167), Wyatt Thaller (177), Mario Lopez (217) and Ezra Cremo (287) to the Masters meet. Mayer, Espiritu and Cremo joined Borchers as second-place finishers at the Division III meet.
Joining Lee from Vanden will be Johan Lee (108), Caden Burritt (177) and Noah Hargrave (217). Lopez is one of five Wildcats going to Stockton after finishing second in Division III. The other four are Tim Ahn (108), Andres Maldonado (140), Elias DelosReyes (152) and Adam Arivzu (159).
Ahn scored a 21-6 technical fall against Manteca’s Madden Rattanasack before falling 14-1 in the quarterfinals against Yuba City’s Israel Trujillo, who went on to defeat Mayer 7-2 in the finals.
Five Wood girls will also compete at the Masters meet – Sophia Villoria (100), Madison Devalle (120), Casey Fuller (130), Faith Raja (135) and Abigail English-Reed (145). Vacaville will send Kaelena Ahrens (120) and Jenna Patzer (170). Elena Mendoza (135) is the only Vanden qualifier.
The top five finishers in each of the 14 boys and girls weight classes at the Masters meet will advance to the state championships Feb. 28-March 1 at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.
