Although the Turlock High wrestling program came up just short of a team title at their Bulldog Classic wrestling tournament on Saturday — 9.5 points behind champion Downey — two of their wrestlers began their seasons with bangs, winning individual titles.

The two champions were 151-pounder Jack Locke and 121-pounder Cole Cronan.

Locke, a junior, scored 29.5 of his team’s 158 total points. After receiving a first-round bye, he began his tournament with a 17-2, technical fall over Modesto’s Phoenix Salas in the very first period. He continued dominating with a second period fall over Livingston's Jose Gutierrez in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, he recorded another pin against Jeremiah Sanchez of Grace Davis in the third period. He officially claimed the bracket’s crown with a 5-3 decision over Escalon’s Christian Cruz.

Cronan, a sophomore, also had the opening round off before pinning Kimball’s Kyson Reese just 30 seconds into his first match. He followed up with another quick pin, this one 19 seconds into the action, against Big Valley Christian’s Kason French. He then won by technical fall 18-1 just before the end of the first period against Downey’s Abram Angeles. He achieved another technical fall, 18-0, midway through the second period against Escalon’s Houston Sizuela. His win earned the Bulldogs a total of 31 points.

Also appearing in the finals was junior Levi Cook over in the 216-pound bracket. After his first-round bye, he pinned Modesto’s Dinero Medina roughly one minute into the action. He then defeated Denair’s Even Coronel, who finished in sixth place and was the Coyotes’ lone placer, by technical fall 19-3 just before the end of regulation. He then won by second-period fall over Downey’s Richard Schmid Jr. before being pinned by Central Valley’s Angel Melgoza at the 50-second mark of the title match.

Cook’s technical was one of just two losses suffered by Coronel. He was also a bye recipient at 216 pounds, and began his run with a first-period fall over Kimball’s Adrian Navarro. After the loss, he recorded a third-period pin over Escalon’s Christian Rodriguez in the consolation bracket. He punched a ticket to the fifth-place match with a pin of Central Valley’s Julian Gonzalez in the second period of the consolatory semifinals, where he was pinned by Hughson’s Carlos Zapien just before the second period buzzer.

Zapien was the highest placeholder of three Huskies who competed at Bulldog Arena on Saturday. After a bye, he pinned Downey’s Jairo Torres midway through the second period. He then lost to Livingston’s Ramon Quintero by fall in the second frame of quarterfinals. He got back on track with pins of Patterson’s Tripp Skoien and Beyer’s Colton Schuckman before his final match against Coronel. Zapien’s teammate, 139-pound Caden Bowerman, placed sixth.

Also placing for the Bulldogs on Saturday were Jayden Perez (3, 127), Elias Martinez (4, 127), Louis Morrison (4, 145), Gage Barletta (6, 133), Freddy Luna (6, 285), John Barindelli (8, 145), Levi Lewis (8, 114) and Hunter Smith (8, 107).