KELSEYVILLE >> Lower Lake High School wrestling coach Ed Fuchs said he knew his team’s matches with Fort Bragg and Kelseyville on Wednesday night would likely come down to a couple of key weight division battles, but he had no idea that the same wrestler would come up big … very big … for the Trojans in a 42-34 victory over Fort Bragg and a 48-33 win over Kelseyville.
Hugo Salazar at 122 pounds turned out to be the hero of the night for the Trojans (4-0), who are gunning for a second straight Coastal Mountain Conference championship after tying Fort Bragg for the title a year ago.
Even a veteran coach like Fuchs was trying to wrap his head around what the Trojans have accomplished so far this season with a squad dominated by freshmen and sophomores.
“It’s unbelievable,” Fuchs said. “Coming into the season we were expecting to have some kids back who aren’t here now. We wanted to go back-to-back and I asked them (his wrestlers) if we needed to change our goal because we are so young. They all said, ‘No, coach, let’s do it again.’”
Beating Fort Bragg and Kelseyville in head-to-head matches on the same night means the Trojans have two fewer hurdles to clear during their dual meet portion of the regular season. Two big obstacles remain in solid Middletown and Willits teams.
“If we stay healthy, getting by those two is achievable,” Fuchs said.
Defeating Kelseyville also carried an extra perk this year as the Trojans walked off with The Shield award that will go to the winner of this match in future years as well.
“The good news is we didn’t have to carry that heavy shield around,” Kelseyville coach Rob Brown said tongue in cheek.
Kelseyville … and Brown will be the first one to tell you … didn’t have the night they expected, one that started poorly with a 55-20 loss to Fort Bragg. Beginning at 128 pounds, the Knights lost four of the first six weight divisions, matches they didn’t necessarily expect to lose.
“It was one upset right after the other,” Brown said.
Lower Lake had the opposite experience, winning a handful of matches that were clearly up for grabs both against Fort Bragg and Kelseyville.
Lower Lake
“Hugo was HugeO for us,” Fuchs said of Salazar’s second-round pin in the Fort Bragg match, a victory that gave Lower Lake a 39-35 lead on the scoreboard with just one weight division remaining.
The importance of the match can’t be overemphasized, according to Fuchs, because Salazar was trailing 10-0 when his Fort Bragg opponent made a mistake.
“He was a little bit high and trying for a cradle when Hugo turned him and pinned him,” Fuchs said.
Curtis Grissom then secured the victory with an 11-5 decision over Dilyn Perry at 128 pounds.
Why Salazar’s victory was key in the comeback from an early 29-12 deficit on the scoreboard, Peerless Brooke’s 5-3 overtime victory over Mike Cavender at 197 pounds also helped swing momentum in Lower Lake’s favor. Another critical win came at 154 pounds where Jordan Lott scored a first-round pin, his first high school win.
Other Lower Lake winners in contested matches were Corey Parker by pin at 147 pounds, Wyatt Hitchcock by pin at 220 pounds, and Michael Jamison by pin in the heavyweight division.
Just as Salazar rallied from a 10-0 deficit to win his match, the Trojans lost in similar fashion at 115 pounds where Brandon Law had a 13-3 lead before he was pinned in the final seconds of the third round. That gave Fort Bragg a 35-33 lead going into the Salazar match.
Fort Bragg was penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct, making the final score 42-34.
Kelseyville
In the battle for The Shield between Kelseyville and Lower Lake, Kelseyville won each of the first three weight divisions to open up a 15-0 lead. Lott began the comeback with a first-round pin of his Knights opponent at 154 pounds.
“We needed a spark and he gave it to us,” Fuchs said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Of the next five contested weight divisions, Lower Lake’s Ryan Jones, Brooke, Hitchcock, Jamison and Blake Fredrickson all won by pin to give the Trojans a 36-21 lead. The Knights got as close as 36-27 on Austin Navarro’s pin at 115 pounds, but then Salazar struck again, pinning Bri Thomas in the second round to lock up the team victory, and The Shield, for Lower Lake.
The final two weight class matches were won by pin – Kelseyville’s Alex Garcia at 128 pounds and Lower Lake’s Isaiah Klein at 134 pounds.
“I’m really happy for Ed,” Brown said. “They have totally turned the entire culture around down there.”
As for The Shield award, Brown said, “It’s not something I usually go in for but I’m glad they did it. The crowd liked it and the wrestlers loved it.”
Fort Bragg
In Kelseyville’s dual with Fort Bragg, points were few and far between for the Knights, who won only three contested matches — Elias Alvarez by technical fall at 147 pounds, Adryan Thomas by technical fall at 195 pounds, and Jovany Carrillo by pin in the heavyweight division.
Fort Bragg is 3-1 in dual competition this season.
