WINDSOR — The aggressive edge that has been missing from Brandon Painchaud”s wrestling in the early portion of the 2011-12 season reappeared with a vengeance on Saturday as the Lower Lake High School 138-pounder placed second in the 42-team King of the Mat tournament at Windsor High School.
Painchaud, the No. 6 seed in his weight class, routed the No. 3 seed 18-3 in the quarterfinals and the No. 2 seed 14-4 in the semifinals to gain the finals against the No. 1 seed from Spanish Springs of Nevada.
“He”s definitely back,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said of Painchaud, who went 3-1 with a pin in his four matches.
In a 3-2 loss in the finals, the difference was an escape point, Fuchs said.
“Neither guy could do much, it was a pretty good battle,” Fuchs said.
Prior to reaching the finals, Fuchs said Painchaud”s opponents came out aggressive, much as Upper Lake”s Ward Beecher had done a week earlier in a 14-4 win over Painchaud in the championship match at the Dennis Jensen Invitational in Middletown.
“He was absolutely ready for it,” Fuchs said. “This time he conducted the takedown clinic.”
Medals were awarded down to 12 places in the weight division brackets.
Thaddeus Wetmore placed seventh at 182 pounds with a 2-2 record that included two pins and a 13-9 loss to Jacob Richards of Fort Bragg. Wetmore took a 9-7 lead into the third round.
“He had a pretty good tournament,” Fuchs said.
Another seventh-place medal went to freshman heavyweight William Isaacs, who went 2-2 with one pin.
“He”s an athlete,” Fuchs said.
Placing ninth at 145 pounds was Dominick Dingess, a 132-pounder wrestling up two weight divisions. Losing by pin in his first match proved to be a motivating force for Dingess, according to Fuchs.
“Dominick doesn”t get pinned and he was upset,” Fuchs said.
Dingess responded with three straight wins, including two pins and an 8-5 decision in his final match.
“I was very impressed with how well he did going up two weight divisions,” Fuchs said.
Just missing out on a medal was Thomas Cross, who was 2-2 with two pins at 170 pounds. His two losses came to the eventual third- and sixth-place finishers.
If there was a disappointment for Fuchs during the day, it was trying to avoid hearing details of the 49ers-New Orleans Saints divisional playoff game taking place during the tournament.
“I was recording it at home and didn”t want to know who was winning,” Fuchs said.
However, scoring updates were reported to the crowd and the eventual winner ? the 49ers ? was announced as soon as the game ended.
