MCKINLEYVILLE — Led by 140-pound winner Ward Beecher, the Upper Lake High School wrestling team finished second out of 17 teams on Saturday in the McKinleyville Tournament.
Only Oregon powerhouse Brookings Harbor beat out the Cougars in the 17-team standings. Foothill High School of Sacramento came in third.
“This year is probably the toughest field we”ve seen up there,” Upper Lake coach Tom Cox said.
Nine Cougars brought home medals, awarded to the top four finishers in each weight class. The only two non-medalists, Tim Diggs at 119 pounds and Tim Duvall at 152 pounds, won two matches apiece to help Upper Lake accumulate points toward its second-place team finish.
“All of our varsity kids won at least two matches and we were pretty happy about that,” Cox said.
Beecher captured the 140-point division with a 4-0 record, including a 3-2 overtime victory over a two-time state qualifier from Castlemont High School in Oakland in the championship match. Beecher also won in overtime in the semifinals, this time by a 6-4 final, against a Brookings Harbor opponent. His other two wins were by technical fall.
Upper Lake also picked up a second-place medal at 103 pounds where freshman Tony Lopez went 2-1, his only loss in the finals to a senior from Foothill.
“He wrestled very well,” Cox said of Lopez.
Third-place medals went to Nick Mai at 125 pounds, Charlie Coburn at 171 pounds, Andrew Frazier at 183 pounds, Joe Valdez at 215 pounds and Jerry Musick at 285 pounds.
“Mai wrestled the best he”s ever wrestled,” Cox said. “He was our beast of the week, which is an award we give every week.”
Mai”s only loss in five matches came to a state-ranked opponent from McKinleyville.
Valdez, a sophomore wrestling for the first time, posted a 4-1 record at 215 pounds, including three pins against senior opponents in his first varsity tournament.
Upper Lake added fourth-place medals at 135 pounds (Robert Simondi) and 145 pounds (Nick Davison).
Upper Lake returns to action Saturday at the Holiday Inn Classic in Fort Bragg.
