NEWARK — As the sixth seed in the 103-pound division going into the North Coast Section Wrestling Championships on Friday, Clear Lake High School senior Tyler Hayes wasn”t supposed to be where he now finds himself after Saturday”s final rounds at Newark Memorial High School in Newark.
And that would be a participant in the CIF State Championships this weekend at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Hayes is headed to Bakersfield after doing considerably better than the NCS seeding committee thought he would do. One year after placing seventh at the sectionals and earning a medal, Hayes brought home a medal more to his liking, a third-place one that punches his ticket to the state tournament. Only the top four finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advance to Bakersfield and Hayes is the only Lake County wrestler headed south.
Two other county wrestlers did bring home medals from the sectionals. Clear Lake senior Erik Jameson, the No. 3 seed at 130 pounds, ended up placing fifth, and unseeded 135-pounder Robbie Avery of Upper Lake, a junior, won four straight consolation-bracket matches and ended up sixth.
While seven Lake County wrestlers made it to the second and final day of the NCS tournament on Saturday, only Hayes was still in the winner”s bracket when the day began. A 7-6 loss to Lawrence Blanco of James Logan High School (Union City) in the 103-pound semifinals dropped him into the consolation bracket, where he won his final two matches to clinch third.
Hayes bounced back with a 7-5 decision of Vince Molita of De La Salle (Concord) in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match, Hayes pinned Theo Phan of San Marin (Novato) in the first round, his second win against Phan in two days. In a quarterfinal-round match on Friday, Hayes pinned Phan in the second round.
In his first state match this Friday, Hayes will draw either Madison Gambrell of Clovis (Central Section) or Bryan Grubbs of La Costa Canyon (San Diego Section).
“If he wrestles smart I think he has a pretty good chance,” Upper Lake coach Tom Cox said of Hayes” prospects of making some noise in the 103-pound bracket. “The nice thing about him is he”s strong and can pin kids.”
Jameson won his first two matches in the consolation bracket Saturday, pinning Aaron Sudario of Heritage High School (Brentwood) and taking a 7-6 decision from Aaron Sandoval of Ukiah. Needing another victory to reach the third-place match and a guaranteed berth in the state finals, Jameson dropped an 8-0 major decision to Taylor Raphael of Albany.
Jameson came back to beat Long Tran of Newark 5-1 in the fifth-place match.
Avery went 3-2 on Saturday after going 2-1 on Friday. On Saturday, he beat Mansoor Ezat of American High School (Fremont) by a 16-2 major decision, Khai Tran of James Logan by an 11-0 major decision, and Kyle Santos of Heritage High School by 8-4 decision.
One win away from earning a spot in the third-place match and a state berth, Avery ran into the same wrestler who knocked him into the consolation bracket on Friday, Stephan De La Cruz of Livermore. De La Cruz beat Avery on a 7-0 decision, almost the exact same score in Friday”s meeting (6-0).
In the fifth-place match that followed a short time later, Jose Ruvalcaba of Mission San Jose High School (Fremont) beat Avery 4-2 in overtime.
“He was in the toughest weight class,” Cox said of the 135-pound division. “And for an unseeded wrestler to go that far and through that many matches in one day, it”s pretty remarkable.”
Fatigue definitely was a factor late Saturday, according to Cox, who said Avery was “just a little bit tired” by the time he faced Ruvalcaba for fifth place.
“He”s quite a kid to come as far as he has in such a short time,” Cox said.
Avery didn”t wrestle his first match until the ninth grade and he almost quit late in his freshman season, according to Cox.
“But he stuck with it and he”s now one of the best wrestlers around,” Cox said. “I think he”ll be the first or second seed in the section next year.”
Cox said Avery”s goal is to not only reach the state tournament next year, but to finish in the top eight and bring home a medal.
“He”s probably going to go down with Hayes this weekend to see what it (the state tournament) is like,” Cox said.
Avery is the first Upper Lake wrestler to bring home a medal from the sectional competition in 23 years.
“We”re really proud of what Robbie has accomplished,” Cox said of Avery”s 49-5 season record.
