By staff reports
FORT BRAGG — Lake County wrestlers brought home eight first-place medals out of a possible 14 during the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships in Fort Bragg, where Willits High School came away with the team title.
The top three wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes automatically advance to the North Coast Section Championships beginning Friday and ending Saturday at Newark Memorial High School in Newark, and 22 Lake County athletes have earned the right to move on.
Middletown, second in team scoring to Willits, brought home firsts at 145 pounds, where No. 1 seed Taylor Hoefer beat No. 3 seed Dylan McGinty of Willits in the finals, and at 160 pounds, where No. 1 seed Matt Dakin beat No. 2 seed Donnie Applegate of Fort Bragg in the finals.
The Mustangs also picked up a second at 112 pounds, where No. 1 seed William Phelps lost to No. 3 seed Gustavo Rodriguez of St. Helena in the finals, and thirds at 119 pounds (Ryan Fontenot), 125 pounds (Steve Calogiones), 152 pounds (John Dedmon), 171 pounds (Jason Hill) and 215 pounds (Jimmy Mitchell).
Hill at 171 pounds was unseeded in the field but still came away with a medal.
“I”m very happy with the team”s performance when it came to crunch time,” Middletown coach Troy Brierly said. “We have been very sick and beat up injury-wise for three weeks or so and they stepped up big time.”
Among the Middletown highlights, according to Brierly, were Hoefer”s pin of McGinty in the 145-pound finals, Dakin”s 20-5 victory by technical fall in the 160 finals, and Dedmon”s 8-7 win in the 152-pound third-place match.
Clear Lake, third in the team standings, had four weight division winners, all No. 1 seeds. Tyler Hayes won at 103 pounds and was named the tournament”s outstanding lightweight. Erik Jameson won at 130 pounds, Chaz Ballew topped the field at 171 pounds, and Derek Milhaupt won at 285 pounds.
Clear Lake added second-place medals at 119 pounds, where No. 2 seed Justin Mills lost to No. 1 seed Christian Benitez of St. Helena in the finals, and at 189 pounds, where No. 2 seed Daniel Gildea lost to No. 1 seed Justin Ruzicka of Willits, voted the tournament”s outstanding heavyweight.
Upper Lake, fifth in the team standings, brought home a first-place medal, two seconds and a third. No. 1 seed Robbie Avery won the 135-pound division, No. 2 seed James Lolonis lost to Clear Lake”s Hayes in the 103 finals, No. 2 seed Randy Dickinson fell to No. 1 seed Ballew at 171 pounds, and Ben Britton, a No. 4 seed, finished third at 160 pounds.
Lower Lake, seventh in the team standings, picked up a first-place medal at 140 pounds, where No. 2 seed Tyler Johnson upset No. 1 seed Brian Stout of Willits in the finals. The Trojans added a second-place medal at 215 pounds (Justin Harrison) and a third at 145 pounds (J”Michael Stevens).
Eighth-place Kelseyville came away with just one medal, a third earned by Andrew Pruett at 189 pounds.
St. Helena, fourth in the team standings, had the tournament”s outstanding middleweight, 152-pound champion and No. 1 seed Gian Traverso.
In order to advance to advance to the CIF State Championships, wrestlers at this weekend”s sectional competition in Newark must finish fourth or higher. The top eight in each weight class receive medals.
