NEWARK — Seven Lake County wresters are still alive but only one is undefeated through the first day of the North Coast Section Wrestling Championships at Newark Memorial High School in Newark.
The two-day event wraps up today and the top four finishers in each division move to the CIF State Finals on Feb. 29-March 1 in Bakersfield.
Clear Lake”s Tyler Hayes, the No. 6 seed at 103 pounds, won each of his three matches in convincing fashion on Friday to advance to today”s semifinal round against No. 2 seed Lawrence Blanco of James Logan High School (Union City). The winner not only moves into the 103-pound championship match but it guaranteed a berth in next weekend”s state finals. The loser can still finish as high as third.
Also still alive after Friday”s preliminary rounds, all with 2-1 records, are Clear Lake”s Erik Jameson, the No. 3 seed at 130 pounds; unseeded Robbie Avery of Upper Lake at 135 pounds; unseeded Tyler Johnson of Lower Lake at 140 pounds; unseeded Matt Dakin of Middletown at 160 pounds; unseeded Justin Harrison of Lower Lake at 215 pounds; and unseeded Derek Milhaupt of Clear Lake at 285 pounds.
Jameson and Dakin were the only two wrestlers besides Hayes to win their first two matches.
Hayes dominated his competition. He beat Ben Altman of College Park (Pleasant Hill) by a 20-4 technical fall in the opening round, then pinned Jordan Lacy of Del Norte (Crescent City) and Theo Phan of San Marin (Novato) in his next two matches.
Clear Lake”s Jameson, the highest seed among the Lake County contingent, pinned Nate Omen of Northgate (Walnut Creek) and beat Ross Perry of Montgomery (Santa Rosa) by a 14-2 major decision in his first two matches. He then lost to Joseph Ramos of Windsor by 6-4 decision.
At 160 pounds, Dakin of Middletown pinned Steve Laxen of Tennyson (Hayward) and beat Kenneth Dimu of Castro Valley by 6-3 decision before losing to Jordan Porter of John Swett (Crockett) by injury default.
Hayes and Jameson each won seventh-place medals at last year”s sectional tournament. Medals are awarded down to eight places in each weight class.
