LOWER LAKE >> After losing to powerhouse Windsor in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division II Team Duals on Saturday at Lower Lake High School, the host Lower Lake Trojans came roaring back to place fourth in the nine-team competition.
While the Trojans were gunning for a top-three finish and a team pennant, they did secure medals for coming in fourth.
“We just did some amazing things there,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said.
Lower Lake was the only small-school team in the field and the Trojans, after losing 55-22 to Windsor, put themselves into pennant contention by beating, in order, Drake 54-22, Sonoma 36-30, and No. 4 seed Redwood 42-39 after falling behind 33-18. Looking for a fourth straight dual victory against another large school power in Eureka, the Trojans battled hard but eventually fell short 51-27.
“They were tough, pretty senior heavy and we didn’t have a single senior on the mats,” Fuchs said of the Eureka dual. “They have 80 wrestlers in their program and are three times our size. I thought we battled well.”
So well, in fact, that Fuchs is excited about Lower Lake’s upcoming trip to the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships this coming Saturday at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport. The Trojans, who went 7-1 during the dual meet season to Willits’ 8-0, need to finish ahead of Willits in the team standings to earn a co-championship. If they pull that off, it will mark the third straight year Lower Lake has secured some share of the CMC title.
“We feel good about it,” Fuchs said of his team’s quest for three consecutive conference championships. “We can’t wait to wrestle.”
Lower Lake’s strong finish at the NCS Team Duals was no less amazing because the Trojans weren’t even guaranteed a spot in the tournament. They had to apply for an at-large berth, which they received.
“When you can win three straight duals against these large teams, that’s pretty incredible,” Fuchs said of the wins over Drake, Sonoma and Redwood. “We were fired up and wrestling well.”
Against Windsor, Lower Lake stayed close early on in team scoring before the Jaguars pulled away with a string of victories. Winners for the Trojans were Brandon Law by 8-0 decision at 128 pounds and Michael Jamison by second-round pin in the heavyweight division. They also picked up a pair of forfeit victories.
In the win over Sonoma, Lower Lake spotted the Dragons an early lead but roared back to win on the strength of back-to-back pins by Blake Fredrickson (115 pounds) and Hugo Salazar (122 pounds) in the final two matches.
Other Lower Lake winners in contested matches were Adam De Leon on a third-round pin at 140 pounds as he rallied from a 9-8 deficit entering the final period; Jordan Lott by 16-13 decision; and Carlos Avelar by 7-2 decision.
“That (dual) put 20 more gray hairs on my head,” Fuchs said.
Against Redwood, the Trojans won their final four matches by pin to erase a 15-point deficit. Peerless Brooke started the comeback with a 13-second pin at 197 pounds, Jamison followed that up with another first-round pin in the heavyweight division, Fredrickson came through with a first-round pin at 108 pounds, and Tristan Day, tied 6-6 with his opponent in the third round, scored the final pin to give Lower Lake a 42-33 lead with only one match remaining.
In their final dual against Eureka, Lower Lake won four contested matches. Winners were Avelar by 8-5 decision at 154 pounds, Brooke by first-round pin at 197 pounds, Jamison by first-round pin in the heavyweight division, and Day by first-round pin at 115 pounds.
