Bulldogs cap season with jr. high state title

The Burton Middle School wrestling team just completed a dream season.

The Bulldogs notched a clean sweep, winning each postseason tournament they entered.

After taking home the league championship, the Bulldogs won the Division, Valley, Tournament of Champions, and State titles.

In last weekend’s Junior High State Championships that featured more than 40 teams and 230 wrestlers, Burton scored 175.5 points (22 points ahead of second-place Central Catholic) and had 10 wrestlers place.

The wrestler with possibly the brightest future is 89-pound Mason Pengilley, a seventh-grader. Pengilley won his finals match 3-0 to claim his third straight junior high state championship (he also won as a fifth-grader).

Heavyweight Sean Medley also notched a repeat state championship and 187-pound sixth-grader Adam Huyck emerged victorious in his bracket. 84-pounder Isaiah Hokit and 108-pounder Greg Pagela placed second while Matt Gamble (72 pounds), Justin Stuart (138) and Anthony Thompson (170) finished fourth.

Seth Hood (84), Zack Martinez (118) finished fifth to round out the Bulldogs’ All-State honorees.

“This is pretty spectacular,” Burton coach George Reneau said. “We try to fashion it like a high school program. We practice five days a week. It’s just phenomenal the time they’ve put in and what they’ve done.”

At the NorCal Tournament of Champions in Sacramento, March 14, Burton also took first with 211 points which bested Central Catholic by 21. Over 500 wrestlers and 110 teams from everywhere north of the Grapevine competed at the TOC. 

Pengilley and Medley placed first with 102-pound Vincent Gomez finishing in second. Gamble took third and Javier Jiminez finished fourth. 

Pioneer Middle School also had two grapplers place, as Martin Sandoval (102) finished in sixth and Danny Jacuinde (185) took seventh.