Feb. 25, 2025

Hughson’s Landon Mason wrestled six times over two days last weekend and won half those matches to earn an eighth-place medal at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters meet at the Stockton Arena.

The Masters meet brings together the top 32 wrestlers – regardless of school size – in each weight class. The top five move on to the State meet this week in Bakersfield.

Mason, a junior competing at 138 pounds, had the highest finish of the four Hughson wrestlers who competed in Stockton. He won his first two matches on Friday, pinning Tyler Bogle of East Union and then edging Michael Coelho of Los Banos 3-2. That moved him into the quarterfinals against Sean Griffin of Central Catholic, who surprised Mason with a pin late in the third period.

“It was a back-and-forth match,” said Hughson coach Joey La Rosa. “Landon just got in some crazy scrambles and didn’t come out of one of them.”

The loss dropped Mason into the consolation bracket on Saturday. He started strong by winning a tough match 10-9 against Chrispin Smith of Rodriguez, but missed out on a trip to the State meet when he was pinned by Kaleb Rodgers of Whitney and then lost 17-2 to Gavin Coit of El Dorado.

Mason finished the year with a 29-8 record that included 19 pins.

“He had a great season,” La Rosa said. “He accomplished two of his goals by winning the TVL and Division 5 championships. … He works really hard and he’s very competitive. He’s got a full year to get better.”

The other Hughson wrestlers who competed in Stockton were freshman Caden Bowerman at 126 pounds, senior Xavier Hernandez at 165 and senior Daniel Zapien at 175.

Bowerman lost both his matches Friday to finish his first year with a 26-13 record.

“This was a good chance to get experience,” La Rosa said. “The kid he beat from Escalon the week before at the Sub-Section meet finished eighth (in Stockton), so we know we have it in us. Everything is new as a freshman. Coming back as a sophomore, he’ll have more experience and know what to expect. … The big thing is to get in the weight room, get stronger and faster, and work on technique.”

Hernandez defeated Lazaro Paniagua of Whitney 13-4 in his first match, then was on the wrong end of two pins. Still, he wound up 25-12 in just his second season of wrestling.

“He had a great year,” La Rosa said. “I’m glad he wandered into the wrestling room two years ago. He spent a lot of time there and worked really hard to achieve his goal, which was to make it to Masters. He’s a great kid. I’m very proud of him.”

Zapien was the first alternate at 175 pounds and wasn’t guaranteed a spot, but got in Friday when another wrestler didn’t make weight. He ended up getting pinned twice but still finished 22-13 in his very first season on the mat.

“I’d say that’s pretty good for a guy who had never wrestled before,” La Rosa praised.

With the season over, the Huskies will take a month off before coming back together with La Rosa and his staff to develop a workout and training schedule for the spring, summer and fall.

“As the year comes to an end and we reflect on it as a whole, it was a great year for a team that returns a lot of guys next year,” La Rosa said. “I’m proud of all the boys and how they grew on the mat as wrestlers and off the mat as men as the year progressed. We will get back to work this offseason and raise the bar again next year!”