LOWER LAKE — Kelseyville High School”s wrestling team nailed down second place in the Coastal Mountain Conference regular-season dual standings with two hard-fought victories on Wednesday night in Lower Lake.
Kelseyville beat Clear Lake 37-33 in its first match, which paired teams with 5-1 dual records entering the night”s action, and went on to defeat Lower Lake 45-36 in its final match. Clear Lake and Lower Lake wrestled first and it was the Cardinals eking out a 39-38 win.
Only the Upper Lake Cougars (8-0), three-time defending CMC champions, posted a better regular-season dual mark than Kelseyville (7-1). Clear Lake finishes at 6-2 while Lower Lake ends up at 3-5.
While Kelseyville beat Clear Lake three years ago in a close match, the Knights had to give the win back because of an ineligible wrestler.
“First time we”ve beaten Clear Lake in at least 10 years,” Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said. “I was just so happy, it was like winning the league championship.”
The Knights will have their shot at doing exactly that when the CMC Championships are held Feb. 18 in Fort Bragg. They would need to finish at least one place above Upper Lake to secure some share of the conference title.
Although Kelseyville and Clear Lake are rivals in every sport, there was no lack of sportsmanship before, during and following Wednesday”s action, according to Brown.
“I told my kids that if we won, we weren”t going to shake hands, we were going to hug their guys,” Brown said.
And they did, all in the spirit of friendly competition, according to Brown.
Kelseyville vs. Clear Lake
The key match in the Clear Lake-Kelseyville dual, according to Brown, was James Umbrello”s win at 162 pounds.
“We figured if he won by decision we would win by one (team) point,” Brown said.
Umbrello ended up winning by second-round pin.
“We had to win this to win the match,” Brown said of the 162-pound division. “Those were the crucial points for us.”
Other key matches for Kelseyville were Wences Rojas” 8-7 decision over Ryan Blyleven at 134 pounds, Aaron Copsey”s 7-3 win over Matt Engle at 154 pounds, and Eugene Mitchell”s 14-10 loss to Clear Lake”s Julian Lewis at 222 pounds.
“I told Eugene not to get pinned because we needed the points,” Brown said. “So we gave up three points there instead of six, and that”s big.”
In other contested weight divisions, Julio Gonzales of Clear Lake pinned Gabe Rodriguez in the second round of the heavyweight division, Kelseyville”s Jeffrey Ponce pinned Clear Lake”s Bryan Holt in 38 seconds at 108 pounds, Clear Lake”s Omar Romero pinned Luis Garcia at 114 pounds, Kelseyville”s Cristian Ponce escaped with a 5-4 decision over Rick Pierson at 122 pounds, Kelseyville”s Cristian Gomora won by 11-2 decision at 128 pounds, Adryan Segura pinned Nathan Powers in the first round at 140 pounds, Clear Lake”s Raul Rendon won by first-round pin at 172 pounds, and Clear Lake”s Mike Reynolds won by first-round pin at 182 pounds.
Lower Lake vs. Clear Lake
Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs, who set a goal of finishing third in the CMC standings this season, just missed.
“We lost to the team that did finish third (Clear Lake) by one point,” Fuchs said. “I”m a little disappointed, but not (really). I absolutely love the challenge and I think we did pretty good considering.”
Fuchs said he mistakenly thought the Trojans had beaten the Cardinals 40-39 when Thomas Cross pinned Clear Lake”s Raul Rendon in the final match between the two teams.
“I had carried over two points (from earlier matches) that we didn”t have,” Fuchs said.
One of the key matches of the night, according to Fuchs, was Powers” 8-4 decision over Erick Moreno at 147 pounds.
“That was one we knew we had to kind of win to win the dual,” Fuchs said.
There were some surprises, too.
Lower Lake”s Thad-deus Wetmore beat Reynolds by 17-4 decision at 182 pounds, and Dominick Dingess defeated Clear Lake”s Blyleven by 18-5 decision at 134 pounds.
And at 108 pounds, where Lower Lake”s Jamal Parker and Clear Lake”s Holt squared off for the third time this season, it was Parker winning his second straight, this time by pin.
Lower Lake vs. Kelseyville
In the match of the night in the Lower Lake-Kelseyville dual, it was Kelseyville”s Segura beating Brandon Painchaud 5-1 at 140 pounds. The same two wrestlers squared off in the CMC Championship finals at 135 pounds last year and Painchaud won by pin.
“Battle of the night,” Fuchs said. “I”m pleasantly happy for Segura.”
“It was a big win for us,” Brown said. “That was critical for us.”
In other contested weight classes, Mike Warren pinned Kelseyville”s Rodriguez at 222 pounds, Kelseyville”s Jeffrey Ponce pinned Parker in the first round at 108 pounds, Lower Lake”s Dingess pinned Rojas in the first round at 134 pounds, Lower Lake”s Moreno pinned Alfonso Reyes in the first round at 147 points, Kelseyville”s Copsey pinned Gomez in the first round at 162 pounds, Lower Lake”s Cross won by first-round pin at 172 pounds, and Lower Lake”s Wetmore won by first-round pin at 182 pounds.
“I want to congratulate Rob Brown,” Fuchs said.
Added Brown, “Our guys definitely brought their A game tonight. When I took over down here four years ago we were eighth out of nine teams (in the CMC). Since then we”ve gone from fourth to third to second.”
While Brown credits the hard work of his wrestlers for the vast improvement in the team”s fortunes the last three years, he said the addition of assistant coach Elvis Cook has been a real blessing.
“Since he”s come onboard for us he”s made all the difference in the world,” Brown said.
