Submitted photo – The CR wrestlers and coaches celebrate their big showing at the weekend NorCal regional tournament in Modesto.

It hasn’t taken long for the Corsairs to make a name for themselves on the wrestling mats.

In their first year back competing after a four-decade hiatus, the College of the Redwoods men have already established themselves as one of the top programs in NorCal.

On Saturday, the Corsairs placed fourth at the NorCal regional tournament in Modesto out of 12 teams, with seven wrestlers qualifying for this weekend’s state championships.

The Corsairs scored 111.5 points and were in contention for a top-three finish and a trophy until late in the day, before being edged out by Modesto.

“We were pretty much in the team race for the top three,” said head coach Brandon Benvenuti, who has quickly put his stamp on the program. “The guys wrestled really well. They all went there and battled and had a really good showing.”

In addition to the seven state qualifiers, the Corsairs also have three alternates for the state tournament.

“Obviously we wanted that team trophy, but to have seven state qualifiers and three alternates, that’s a pretty incredible season,” Benvenuti said.

Dakota Sanders led the way for the team at 126 pounds and placed second in his weight division, while teammate Kymani Capri placed third at 141 pounds.

Jeffery Skyrud (174), Juan Magallon (184) and Gerard Marshall (heavyweight) all placed fourth in their weight divisions.

Magallon, who had won just two matches all season coming into the weekend, won three at the regional tournament and the unseeded CR wrestler exceeded expectations with his top-four finish.

CR’s Anthony Smith was also unseeded but finished the day with a seventh-place finish at 165, while William Smith rounded out the CR state qualifiers after placing eighth at 133.

Isaac Weaver (125), Omar Green (133) and Benny Rider (197) all placed ninth in their weight classes and are alternates for the big state tournament.

“Seeing these young guys step up and seeing our better wrestlers go out there and do their job, it was pretty cool to see the fight and effort as a collective group,” the head coach added.

The state championships will be held at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo and will take place on Friday and Saturday.

There will be 16 different wrestlers in each weight class.

“We’re just kind of treating it like any other tournament and I hope the guys go out and compete like they have done all season long,” the head coach said. “I just want to see a good performance from them, and if they place, great.”

Fresno City College won the NorCal regional team competition with 226 points, followed by Sacramento City (224.5) and Modesto (128).