FORT BRAGG — Coming off a tough loss in his first match against a St. Helena wrestler, Kelseyville 147-pounder Aaron Copsey rebounded nicely with a third-round pin against his Fort Bragg opponent, sealing the Knights” 42-33 victory over the host Timberwolves on Wednesday evening in the Coastal Mountain Conference opener for all three teams.
Kelseyville also beat St. Helena 66-15 to cap a perfect conference debut.
“It was really good,” Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said of his team”s performance. “Tournament wrestling and dual wrestling require totally difference strategies. Tournament wrestling is about the individual. When we”re wrestling duals, it”s wrestling for the team and sometimes you take one for the team.”
Wrestlers who would normally compete in a particular weight division in a tournament are often bumped up or down a weight class in conference action to produce better head-to-head match-ups. Sometimes that strategy works and sometimes it doesn”t.
In the case of the heavyweight match between Kelseyville and Fort Bragg on Wednesday, that strategy backfired against the host Timberwolves, who bumped up their 217-pounder into the heavyweight class, figuring he wouldn”t have much problem beating Kelseyville”s Nate Fine, according to Brown.
Fine spoiled things by pinning his Fort Bragg opponent in 35 seconds.
Another key match for the Knights was Adryan Segura”s first-round pin at 137 pounds.
“Segura was flawless,” Brown said. “He had the guy on his back from the start and had a 14-0 lead before he pinned him. It was a beautiful match and I was happy to see it from Adryan, who has been struggling.”
In other contested matches between Kelseyville and Fort Bragg, the Knights were winners at 105 pounds (Jacob Martinek by pin), 112 pounds (Jeffry Ponce by pin in 30 seconds), and 154 pounds (Enrique Gonzalez by pin).
Wences Rojas dropped a hard-fought 7-6 decision at 121 pounds, Alphonso Reyes lost by pin at 132 pounds and Cameron Serrano lost by pin at 142 pounds.
In a 66-15 victory over St. Helena, the one-time CMC powerhouse, Kelseyville winners were Martinek by pin at 105 pounds, Ponce by pin at 114 pounds, Rojas by pin at 121 pounds, Reyes by pin at 132 pounds, Andrew Copsey by pin at 173 pounds and Jordan Brown by pin at 217 pounds.
Aaron Copsey lost a 23-22 decision at 154 pounds and Reed Rasmussen was pinned at 142 pounds.
Kelseyville hosts Middletown and Willits next Wednesday.
