FORT BRAGG — Upper Lake High School put nine wrestlers into the finals Saturday while running away from the field at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships at Fort Bragg High School.
The Cougars also won their fourth straight CMC title, putting the finishing touches on a season that also featured an 8-0 dual record.
So is head coach Tom Cox a happy man?
Yes, but with a qualifier.
“I”m happy, but I feel unsatisfied because our work is still ahead of us,” Cox said.
And by that, Cox means the North Coast Section Championships, which open Friday and conclude Saturday at Newark Memorial High School. The top four wrestlers in each of 14 weight divisions in Newark advance to the CIF State Championships the following weekend in Bakersfield
If the Cougars can get even one wrestler at far as the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield, now that would make Cox a happy man with no qualifier necessary.
“I have five to seven wrestlers who have a chance (to reach state),” Cox said. “I want at least one to go through to state and I want at least three to four kids on the podium (meaning a top-12 finish) at sections.”
Cox also has a team goal of placing at least ninth in the standings at Newark, which would match the best finish ever by a CMC team in sectional competition.
In the world of CMC wrestling, where the Cougars have now won four straight conference titles and are working on a 36-team dual winning streak to boot, Upper Lake dominated the proceedings Saturday on the Mendocino Coast, where wrestlers needed to finish in the top three to punch their ticket for the NCS Championships.
Winning their weight classes were Tony Lopez at 108 pounds, Travis Coleman at 140 pounds, Bruce Tucker at 154 pounds, Bradley Brackett at 162 pounds, and Joey Valdez at 222 pounds.
Valdez earned the MVP award as the tournament”s top heavyweight while Willits” Joe Sasso, the 147-pound champion, took the MVP award for lightweights.
“Joey just outclassed the field and so did Bruce Tucker,” Cox said. “They were the two most dominating wrestlers of the tournament.”
Brackett, who won his first CMC championship, wasn”t far behind, according to Cox.
“He”s a senior who has been in the finals before, but he finally got over that hump and got that first title,” Cox said.
Gaining the finals but settling for second place were Zeke Mendoza at 112 pounds, Ward Beecher at 134 pounds, Robert Simondi (who lost to Sasso) at 147 pounds, and Jon Karlsson, who lost to Quinttin Bowlds of Willits, the No. 1 seed in this weekend”s sectional tournament, in the heavyweight division.
Upper Lake also added a third-place medal that was of some significance and a notable footnote to the day”s team championship. That”s because Bill Robinson, a junior, upset Clear Lake”s Mike Reynolds, a former CMC champion, in the consolation semifinals before going on to pin a Willits opponent, one he had lost to earlier in the day, in the third-place match.
The Robinson-Reynolds match was a marathon, with Robinson winning in criteria overtime after the two wrestlers had been on the mat for 8 1/2 minutes.
“By far the biggest upset of the day,” Cox said. “Bill was probably our longest shot of all (to win a medal). I”m really happy for him.”
Upper Lake”s Marina Beckwith came in fourth at 122 pounds.
Clear Lake
While the Cougars were laying claim to another team title, the Clear Lake Cardinals, who were third in the team dual standings during the regular season, finished a strong second at the tournament to clinch second place overall in the final CMC standings.
Clear Lake, just one week removed from losing coach Ronnie Campos for the season (administrative leave), had only two firsts — Ryan Blyleven at 122 pounds and Shawn Larsen at 195 pounds — and one second — Gabe Wolfin at 128 pounds — but racked up a truckload of points in the consolation bracket while claiming four third-place medals and three fourths.
“I”m very proud of the Clear Lake kids,” Cox said. “They really came together and wrestled great. They were like an army marching through the consolation bracket to win second (in the team standings) going away.”
Thirds went to Cardinals Rick Pierson at 134 pounds, Matt Engle at 154 pounds, Raul Rendon at 172 pounds, and Julio Gonzales at 222 pounds. Fourths went to Reynolds, Omar Romero at 112 pounds, and Nathan Powers at 147 pounds.
Lower Lake
The Lower Lake Trojans finished fifth in the team standings behind Upper Lake, Clear Lake, Fort Bragg and Willits. Kelseyville was sixth.
Lower Lake”s big winner on the day was senior Brandon Painchaud, who scored a third-period reversal to beat Upper Lake”s Beecher 2-0.
“Definitely a rematch Brandon wanted to win,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said of the second meeting this season between the two rivals.
“Beecher beat him pretty soundly at the Middletown tournament (early January), so Brandon really wanted this one,” Fuchs said.
Painchaud went 3-0 on the day with a pin and is Lake County”s highest-seeded wrestler (No. 4) at next weekend”s NCS Championships. Beecher is the No. 6 seed.
“They could meet again next Saturday, either in the semifinals or in the consolation bracket,” Fuchs said.
The Trojans put three other wrestlers into the final although all of them were soundly beaten. Thomas Cross lost to Thomas Bender of Willits by tech fall in the 172-pound finals, Thaddeus Wetmore dropped a 15-2 decision to Fort Bragg”s Jacob Richards in the 184-pound finals, and Mike Warren was pinned in the first round by Upper Lake”s Valdez in the 222-pound championship match.
“All three are juniors,” Fuchs said of Cross, Wetmore and Warren. “This will give them experience and hopefully the next time they”re in the finals they”ll remember their junior year.”
Lower Lake added thirds at 140 pounds, where Dominick Dingess went 2-1 with two pins, and in the heavyweight division, were freshman William Isaacs went 2-1 with two pins.
Two other Trojans came in fifth. They were Jamal Parker at 108 pounds and Erick Moreno at 147 pounds.
“Overall I was real happy for the kids,” Fuchs said.
Kelseyville
A strong dual season for Kelseyville (7-1) didn”t translate into success at the CMC Championships, where the Knights could do no better than sixth in the team standings.
“It”s a whole different ballgame between dual team and tournament team,” Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said. “You can”t strategize as much … they (wrestlers) have to go out there and compete at the weights they”re going to sections at.”
While a strong team showing wasn”t there, a handful of Knights did well, led by the team”s lone weight division winner, Wences Rojas at 128 pounds.
“He was 3-0 and very dominant,” Brown said.
Reaching the finals and settling for second place were Jeffrey Ponce at 108 pounds, Cristian Ponce at 122 pounds, Adryan Segura at 140 pounds, and Aaron Copsey at 154 pounds.
Segura had a 4-1 lead at the end of the first round in his championship battle with Upper Lake”s Coleman.
“He was dominant early on,” Brown said of Segura. “But he made a mistake and Coleman took advantage. Coleman is not forgiving when you make a mistake.”
Kelseyville picked up another medal at 112 pounds where Jacob Martinez came in third.
The Knights had two fifth-place finishers as well — Cameron Serrano at 162 pounds and Gabe Rodriguez at 222 pounds.
Looking ahead to the NCS Championships, Brown said Rojas and Segura both have a chance to pull off some upsets and open a few eyes.
“If Adrian wrestles like he did this past week, he could upset some people,” Brown said. “And the same with Rojas. The 128-pound weight class is primed for him to do well at sections. He could upset a few seeded guys.”
Middletown
While the Mustangs didn”t have a wrestler reach the finals, they did come away with two thirds and three fourths.
Third-place medals went to Anthony Castaldo at 162 pounds and Levy Singleton at 195 pounds. Fourths went to Marlon Solonga at 108 pounds, Landon Bracisco at 154 pounds and Joseph Foster at 172 pounds.
Foster received an at-large berth into the NCS Championships this weekend and will compete along with teammates Castaldo and Singleton.
Seeded Lake County wrestlers in the sectional tournament are Painchaud, Beecher, Tucker (No. 7) and alternate No. 9 seeds Coleman and Lopez.
Upper Lake, Clear Lake and Fort Bragg all received team trophies for finishing first through third at the CMC Championships.
