FREMONT — Upper Lake High School”s Robbie Avery lost in triple-overtime in the semifinals before easily winning his third-place match in the 140-pound division on Saturday as the Mission Tournament closed out its two-day run in Fremont.
“I”m real disappointed in the officiating in the semifinal match,” Upper Lake coach Tom Cox said of Avery”s 1-0 loss to Ryan Smith of Liberty High School of Brentwood.
“There were three calls that were very controversial and all of them went against Robbie,” Cox said. “If he gets any one of them he wins.”
Smith, one of the top wrestlers in the North Coast Section, has already accepted a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, according to Cox. After beating Avery, he went on to win the championship match with an early first-round pin.
“They could meet again at sections,” Cox said. “But he (Smith) might drop down to 137s.”
While only the top six wrestlers in each weight division officially place at the Mission Tournament, two other Cougars — 103-pounder James Lolonis and 215-pounder Brian Hatfield — pulled down top-eight finishes.
“They both wrestled real well,” Cox said.
Upper Lake travels to Willits on Wednesday for a Coastal Mountain Conference tri-meet that could go a long way in determining this year”s conference champion. The Cougars are undefeated (6-0) going into the match. Regular-season results and results of the CMC Championship on Feb. 21 in Kelseyville determine the overall winner.
Upper Lake is trying to become the first varsity boys” team at the school to win a championship in any sport since the mid-1990s, according to Cox.
The Cougars take part in the NCS Team Duals on Saturday.
