BRENTWOOD >> Upper Lake High School sophomore Junior Fernandez is going to need a separate trophy case just to house his Lou Bronzan Invitational championship belts.
Fernandez, who a year ago became the first Upper Lake wrestler to win his weight division at the prestigious tournament at Liberty High School in Brentwood, is now 2-for-2. On Thursday and Friday, he won all five of his matches in the 126-pound division culminating with a hard-fought 8-6 victory over No. 2 seed Teague Dilbeck of Granite Bay High School in the finals. Fernandez never trailed during the match, which was tied 6-6 going into the third round. A two-point reversal proved to be the margin of difference.
“It was intense,” Upper Lake coach Jose Fernandez said of the final two minutes of his son’s victory.
Fernandez also beat Dilbeck last year while winning the 120-pound weight class as a freshman.
The top seed at 126 pounds this year, Fernandez hardly worked up a sweat reaching the championship match, pinning four opponents along the way, two of them in the first round, another in the second and finally Donovan Fontillas of Ripon High School in the third round of the 126-pound semifinals, a match Fernandez was leading 8-1.
Fernandez is now 8-0 on the season with five pins, one technical fall and two decisions.
With two more Lou Bronzan invites left in his high school career, Junior’s goal is to add two more belts before he’s done, according to Jose Fernandez.
“He was very proud of himself and hopes to be a four-time champion like one of his personal trainers, David Klingsheim, who was in his corner coaching his final match against Dilbeck.”
Fernandez wasn’t the only Upper Lake wrestler in the running for a championship belt on Friday. Two Upper Lake girls – Christina Wilson at 131 pounds and Adriana Lopez at 116 pounds – also reached the finals in their respective weight classes during the Brittany David Invitational, which takes place in the same gym and at the same time as the Lou Bronzan.
Wilson, the fourth seed at 131 pounds, and the unseeded Lopez at 116 pounds settled for second-place medals.
In the 131-pound finals, Candice Corralejo of Del Oro High School (Loomis) pinned Wilson, who went 3-1 overall. In the 116-pound championship match, Marie Seely of Eureka pinned Lopez, who finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.
On the season, Lopez is 11-2 with nine pins while Wilson is 11-3 with seven pins.
