WINDSOR >> On the pecking order of high school wrestling tournaments held around the North Coast Section, Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said the annual King of the Mat competition held Saturday at Windsor High School is near the top.
“It’s a ball buster,” Brown said.
That didn’t stop eight Lake County wrestlers from medaling in their respective weight divisions, which requires a top-eight finish. Three of them — all freshmen and one of them unseeded — placed either second or third.
A handful of others won medals in the gold and silver brackets, which requires reaching the finals of those brackets. Wrestlers who lose in the first round at King of the Mat drop into a silver bracket while wrestlers who win in the the first round but lose in the second go to the gold bracket. If you win your first two matches to reach the quarterfinals, you’re guaranteed no worse than an eighth-place medal, which is easier said than done give the level of competition.
Lake County’s budding freshman triumvirate of Lower Lake 106-pounder Blake Fredrickson, Upper Lake 120-pounder Junior Fernandez and Kelseyville 126-pounder Alex Garcia certainly came through in a big way.
Fredrickson, the No. 2 seed, received a first-round bye before winning by first-round pin. He pinned No. 7 seed Owen Jones of Spanish Springs, Nev. in the quarterfinals, pinned No. 6 seed Reide Staples of Folsom in the semifinals, and lost by 8-0 decision to No. 1 seed Trevor Bagan of Analy High School of Sebastopol in the championship match.
“That kid (Bagan) was taller than Blake and controlled him the whole time,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said. “That’s a kid we have to beat if we want to go to state. He can only get better from it.”
Fernandez, also a No. 2 seed, received a first-round bye before pinning his second-round opponent in only 48 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Fernandez scored a late second-round pin over Ticen Davis of Spanish Springs to move into the semifinals where he lost 10-4 to Tino Curiel, a senior from Liberty High School in Brentwood and the second-ranked 120-pounder in the section. Fernandez, ranked third in the section, bounced back to pin Jack Reynolds in the third round of their third-place match.
Garcia, unseeded in the field, beat the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals, lost to the No. 1 seed in the semifinals, and rallied with a win over Reece Masset of Spanish Springs in the third-place match.
“Nothing happens by accident with that kid,” Brown said of Garcia. “He wasn’t seeded because he’s still earning his stripes at the high school level. He’s a talented wrestler who is going to make a name for himself the next few years.”
Fuchs concurs.
“I’m looking at these freshmen and I think in the next three years we’re going to have a section champion from Lake County,” said Fuchs, who coached the last one — Justin Harrison at 217 pounds in 2010.
“Before these three guys are done, it’s going to be something,” Fuchs said.
Joining the freshman trio as medal winners in Windsor were Upper Lake’s Alex Sanchez, sixth at 126 pounds; and eighth-place medalists Zachary Sneathen of Upper Lake, Patrick Mick of Kelseyville, and Lower Lake’s Corey Parker and Peerless Brooke.
In the gold bracket, Lower Lake’s Ryan Jones (170 pounds) and Michael Jamison (heavyweights) both came in first as did Kelseyville’s Adryan Thomas (195 pounds).
Upper Lake’s Dante Bassignani (152 pounds) came in first in the silver bracket.
Kelseyville hosts a Coastal Mountain Conference tri-meet on Wednesday against Lower Lake and Fort Bragg. Upper Lake is home for another tri-meet against Middletown and Point Arena. Action begins at 5:30 p.m.
