LOWER LAKE >> After a slow start doomed the Lower Lake Trojans to a 42-25 loss to Fort Bragg a week ago in Lower Lake, head coach Ed Fuchs was more than just a little bit interested to see how his team would respond on Wednesday night against another Coastal Mountain Conference contender in the Willits Wolverines.
“I was pleased with the results,” Fuchs said of the Trojans’ dominating 57-23 victory at Lower Lake High School.
In the final CMC dual of the regular season, Lower Lake beat Willits, Point Arena 18-17 and Technology by forfeit to finish 8-1 in the conference standings. Only Fort Bragg (9-0) did better. Lower Lake still has a shot at winning some share of the CMC title on Feb. 21 at the CMC Championships in Upper Lake, but to do so the Trojans will have to finish one place higher than Fort Bragg in the tournament standings.
“If we don’t match up well with them in certain weight classes, hopefully other teams will,” Fuchs said of the tournament scoring used at the CMC Championships instead of the head-to-head scoring used in duals.
By placing second in the CMC regular-season standings, the Trojans might qualify for the North Coast Section Duals on Saturday at San Rafael High School. They are applying for an at-large berth and should learn today if they’ve made it. If they do, it will be the first time a Lower Lake team has qualified.
“That was one of our goals before the season started,” Fuchs said.
The Trojans didn’t mess around against the Wolverines (7-2), winning nine of the first 10 matches, including eight by pin and the other my major decision. Notching pins were Mikey Naber at 140 pounds, Gabe Freeman at 154 pounds, Brandon Maninger at 162 pounds, Dominic Cole at 172 pounds, Peerliss Brooke at 197 pounds, Weeden Wetmore at 222 pounds, William Isaacs at 285 pounds, and Dakota Apodaca at 108 pounds. Jordan Harris prevailed by 11-3 decision at 184 pounds.
“We finally came with some fire,” Fuchs said of the Trojans. “We talked about it before the match. I told them, ‘Let’s not make this a Fort Bragg and come out slow.’ They really stepped up their game.”
Lower Lake’s final win of the night was Daniel Meyer’s 15-0 technical fall at 134 pounds.
Lower Lake’s win over Point Arena would have been a lopsided affair had the Trojans counted up the forfeit points they received in eight of the 13 weight classes, but that’s not Fuchs’ style. There were five contested weight classes and the Pirates won three — at 108, 162 pounds and 184 pounds.
Lower Lake’s wins came at 140 pounds where Edgar Cuevas won by first-round pin and at 154 pounds where Maninger won by first-round pin. Trailing 17-12 after those five matches, the Trojans accepted a forfeit win at 222 pounds to complete the scoring.
In other wrestling action Wednesday:
Fort Bragg 69, M’town 9
M’town 25, Clear Lake 24
At Fort Bragg, the Middletown Mustangs beat Clear Lake and lost to undefeated Fort Bragg in CMC dual action on the Mendocino County coast.
Against Clear Lake, Middletown won two of the three contested weight classes. Scott Kelly prevailed 8-5 at 152 pounds while Peter Sullivan notched a 10-1 major decision at 160 pounds.
Clear Lake’s Julian Lewis won by second-round pin at 220 pounds.
In Middletown’s loss to Fort Bragg, the Mustangs’ only points came on a forfeit at 145 pounds and Sullivan’s 10-8 decision against William Pokorny at 152 pounds.
“It was a great match, it went right down to the wire,” Middletown coach Brian Hunt said.
Sullivan scored a two-point takedown with only seconds remaining to snap an 8-all tie.
Middletown also came close at 120 pounds where Quentin Crayne lost a close decision to Chase Waddington.
K’ille 32, St. Helena 18
Upper Lake 57, K’ville 24
At St. Helena, while Kelseyville’s Marina Beckwith, a transfer from Willits High School, may not be able to compete in the sectional tournament Saturday in Ukiah because of the section’s transfer eligibility rules, she did go out a winner in the Knights’ final dual of the regular season.
Facing Upper Lake’s Chelsea Valdez in an exhibition match, Beckwith scored a first-round pin.
“It was an important match for her and for us,” said Kelseyville coach Rob Brown, who worked tirelessly to get Beckwith admitted into the sectional tournament only to be denied by the section.
Facing St. Helena and Upper Lake in their final CMC match, the Knights beat St. Helena 32-18 but lost to Upper Lake 57-24.
Only two weight classes were contested in Kelseyville’s dual with St. Helena and the Knights won both. Luis Garcia won by third-round pin at 120 pounds while Elias Alvarez scored an 18-2 technical fall at 145 pounds.
The Kelseyville-Upper Lake dual produced an upset in one of the three contested weight classes as the Cougars’ Alex Sanchez beat Garcia in a wild 13-11 decision at 120 pounds.
Upper Lake also won at 106 pounds where Angel Stith pinned Korbin Marlin in the first round. Kelseyville picked up a victory at 138 pounds as Patrick Mick pinned Ricardo Sanchez in the third round.
Results of the Upper Lake-St. Helena dual weren’t reported.
