SACRAMENTO >> Junior Fernandez of the Upper Lake High School wrestling team placed fourth in the 126-pound bracket on Saturday at the Tim Brown Memorial Invitational in Sacramento.
Fernandez, the seventh seed, received a first-round bye and then won his next two matches by lopsided 15-2 and 13-1 decisions to put him through to Saturday’s rounds.
Fernandez won 8-4 in his first match on day two but then lost to Teague Dilbeck of Granite Bay 12-5 in the semifinals. Fernandez had beaten Dilbeck in their only two previous meetings, both times at the Lou Bronzan Tournament in Brentwood, including in the finals last month at Liberty High School.
Once in the consolation bracket, Fernandez received a bye before beating Saul Gonzalez of Palmas in the semifinals. In the third-place match that followed, Fernandez ran into Ricky Landeros of Orland, ranked eighth in the state right now. Landeros pinned Fernandez with one second left in the first round.
“Junior still placed better than his seed and much better than last year’s 2-2 (record),” Upper Lake coach Jose Fernandez said.
Also for Upper Lake, Dante Bassignani went 3-2 on day one of the tournament to advance to Saturday’s final rounds, but he lost his first match and was eliminated. Alex Sanchez wrestled in the 132-pound division and won his first two matches before losing his next two.
While Upper Lake’s boys were competing in Sacramento, the powerful Upper Lake girls squad came away with two weight division championships on Saturday at Albany High School. Adriana Lopez (111 pounds) and Christina Wilson (126 pounds) both went 4-0 while Daniella Estrada finished 2-2 and Isis Martinez 1-2.
Lopez and Wilson were back in action Monday during the Amazon Tournament in Pittsburg. Lopez went 3-1 and finished third at 121 pounds while Wilson finished 2-2 and took third in a round-robin bracket at 126 pounds.
On the season, Fernandez is now 16-2, Lopez 18-3 and Wilson 17-5.
Upper Lake hosts Lower Lake and Point Arena in a Coastal Mountain Conference tri-meet on Wednesday. The girls have next weekend off while the boys travel to King of the Mat in Windsor.
