EUREKA >> No. 1 seed Zachary Sneathen of Upper Lake High School dominated the field at 132 pounds on Saturday while winning his weight class at the North Coast Classic in Eureka.
Sneathen, who went 4-0 with four pins, was one of three Upper Lake medalists. The others were Alex Sanchez, who dropped a 15-6 decision in the 113-pound finals to Kelseyville”s Luis Garcia, and Nick Kranich, who finished third in the heavyweight division.
Medals were awarded to the top five in each weight class.
Sneathen won his first three matches with third-round pins before pinning Del Norte”s Justin Schrader in the second round of their championship match.
“He was taken down only once (in the tournament) and he got a reversal on the guy right away,” said Upper Lake coach Brandon Sneathen, Zachary”s older brother. “He really tore up the field. He dominated.”
Sneathen, a competitor at 126 pounds most of the season, had no trouble moving up a weight class for the tournament.
Other top finishes for the Cougars, who placed fifth in the 24-team field to earn their third team trophy of the season, were Abel Serrano, who was sixth at 220 pounds, and Dante Bassignani, who was seventh at 138 pounds.
Standouts among the Upper Lake girls were Christina Valdez and Angel Stith, according to Sneathen, who said Valdez beat three junior varsity boys and one girl in her weight class.
Upper Lake wrestles Clear Lake and Lower Lake in Coastal Mountain Conference dual action tonight in Lakeport at 5 p.m. The Cougars opened their CMC schedule with losses to Fort Bragg and Willits last week in Upper Lake.
“We were missing wrestlers in five weight classes,” Sneathen said. “That”s 30 points we were giving up.”
The Cougars are not entered in a tournament this coming weekend.
