NEWARK — It”ll be a short stay for some and a longer one for a handful of the 22 Lake County wrestlers participating in today”s opening rounds of the North Coast Section Championships at Newark Memorial High School in Newark.
The two-day competition runs through Saturday and the top four finishers in each of the 14 weight divisions advance to the CIF State Championships on Feb. 29-March 1 at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
The only two seeded wrestlers from Lake County are Clear Lake senior Erik Jameson, who is ranked No. 3 at 130 pounds with a 27-4 record, and Clear Lake senior Tyler Hayes, who is No. 6 at 103 pounds with a 34-2 record.
Unseeded at 135 pounds is Upper Lake”s Robbie Avery, whose 44-2 record is the best mark of any county wrestler competing in Newark.
Of the nearly two dozen county wrestlers entered in the sectionals, eight are from Middletown, six from Clear Lake, four from Upper Lake, three from Lower Lake and one from Kelseyville.
The sectional competition uses a double-elimination format.
Drawing the toughest first-round matches (see graphic at right) are Lower Lake”s J”Michael Stevens at 145 pounds and Middletown”s Jason Hill at 171 pounds. Stevens faces No. 1 seed Tyler Sheridan of De La Salle (Concord) while Hill takes on No. 1 seed Tito Pica, also of De La Salle.
Andrew Pruett, the lone Kelseyville wrestler in the field, also has a tough first-round assignment as he takes on No. 2 Fred Duerr of Montgomery (Santa Rosa) at 189 pounds, and Middletown”s Jim Mitchell faces No. 3 Casey Tompkins of Justin-Siena (Napa) at 215 pounds.
Medals are awarded down to eight places in each weight class. Hayes and Jameson brought home seventh-place medals last year.
Other medal winners last season, all of whom have since graduated, were Clear Lake”s Justin Mills, who placed second at 145 pounds and advanced to state; Clear Lake 160-pounder Michael Kroppmann, an unseeded wrestler who went on to finish fourth and secure a state berth; and Middletown 285-pounder Trevor Franklin, who came in sixth.
