BENICIA SENIOR Joseph Hurst (left) is all smiles after winning his first individual Sac-Joaquin Section wrestling championship.

Benicia High’s wrestling team had quite a weekend while hosting the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championships.

The Panthers had 10 wrestlers finish fourth or better in their respective weight classes on Saturday to qualify for this coming weekend’s Section Masters Tournament at the Stockton Arena. Five Panthers won individual championships, and Benicia as a team narrowly beat Section rival Ponderosa, 257-251, for the overall team title.

Senior Christian Ramos earned Benicia’s first Section individual title of the day when he won the 106-pound championship. Ramos, who went 3-0 over the two-day tournament, won a 9-1 major decision over Oakmont’s Josh Vega in the championship match. It was the fourth straight Section championship for Ramos, who reached the State meet in 2013 and 2014.

Lysander Mahilum made Benicia 2-for-2 when he wrapped up the 113-pound championship with a pin of Ponderosa’s Austin Ward. Mahilum also went 3-0 and qualified for Masters for the first time.

Sophomore Fernando Lanza captured his second straight Section title when he won a 4-0 decision over Ponderosa’s Chad Reese in the 132-pound championship match. Junior Mason Boutain won the 138-pound title with a 19-2 tech fall over Ponderosa’s Colin Hustrulid. It was the second straight Division II championship for Boutain.

“I came out really strong and battled,” said Boutain, who made it to the State meet last year and has qualified for Masters three years in a row. “I just wanted to go out there and score points for our team.”

“He’s 150 percent more confident in his abilities,” Benicia wrestling coach Japheth Aquino said of Boutain. “He knows he can handle the best kids in the state.”

Senior Joseph Hurst picked up Benicia’s last individual championship when he pinned Ponderosa’s Elan Tubbs early in the final round. Hurst trailed early but put Tubbs on his back to secure his first Section championship.

“He chose bottom and I don’t know why,” Hurst said of Tubbs. “I got on top and that’s where I love to be. That’s where I score lots of points. It felt amazing to win the championship. I was just trying not to stress and do stupid stuff.”

“He finds his way to win,” Aquino said. “He’ll roll around for a while, but he eventually gets an advantage in position and he gets done what he needs to get done.”

The win by Hurst put Benicia in the driver’s seat for the overall team title, but Ponderosa was still in position to win the championship when Joshua Ferry took on Florin’s Isaiah Weathers for the 182-pound title. When Weathers finally pinned Ferry midway through the final period, Benicia’s wrestlers – and the partisan Benicia crowd – erupted in celebration.

Benicia beat Ponderosa, 34-31, in the Division II Team Dual Tournament earlier this month, coming back from a 22-point deficit to win the title. Saturday’s victory only solidified Benicia’s claim as the best Section team in Division II.

“It was great to beat them again,” Aquino said. “Now we’ll move on to Masters and see what we can do there. We have two guys who are ranked in the Top 5 in the Section (Ramos and Boutain), and seven are in the Top 8. That puts us in a great position and now we just have to go out there and have an excellent tournament.”

Five other Panthers advanced to Masters after finishing fourth or better in their respective weight class. Senior Brandon Ajari took second at 170 pounds to reach Masters for a third straight year. Sophomore Alejandro Lanza also took second at 120 pounds and made it to Masters for a second straight year.

Senior Steven Rohrer took third at 195 pounds for his third straight Masters appearance. Tyler Kay was third at 152 pounds and made Masters for a second straight year. Imad Adel finished fourth at 220 pounds and qualified for Masters for a second straight year.

Riley Boutain (126) and Joseph Salt (182) each finished fifth. Steven Butts (145) took sixth place and Jack Manoukian (285) went 0-2 and didn’t place.

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