VISALIA >> Upper Lake High School wrestlers Christina Wilson and Adriana Lopez are still alive at the CIF State Girls Wrestling Championships in Visalia after splitting their first two matches on Friday. The tournament wraps up today at the Visalia Convention Center.
Wilson, Lopez, Middletown’s Alixe Olson and Kelseyville’s Jasmin Clarke were Lake County’s four representatives at the state meet, a number that was reduced to three early Friday morning when Clarke didn’t make weight at 189 pounds. Olson lost her first two matches at 150 pounds and was eliminated.
Wilson, the North Coast Section champion at 126 pounds, got off to a good start with a 2-0 victory over Lesle Chicas of Montclair High School, a match Upper Lake assistant coach Jeff Clevenger called a “defensive battle.”
That put Wilson, who received a first-round bye, into the quarterfinals against Haley Valdez of San Dimas High School and Valdez rallied with a late reversal to win a hard-fought 3-2 decision. Wilson will now have to fight her way out of the consolation bracket but can still finish as high as third place. The top six receive medals.
Wilson, who is making her third straight trip to the state tournament, opens today with a bye in the consolation bracket.
Lopez, the NCS third-place medalist at 116 pounds, drew No. 2 seed Rory Coscia of Enoch High School in the first round and Coscia won a 7-3 decision. Lopez bounced back later in the day with a 10-3 win over Yaquilen Ramirez of Arvin High School in the consolation bracket.
Lopez opens today with a match against Jeselle Corpus of Walnut High School.
Middletown’s Olson was pinned in the second round by Alexis Young of River Valley High School in an opening-round match. She then lost by pin to Kaitlain Gilmour of Enoch High School in the consolation bracket. Olson was the third-place medalist two weeks ago at the NCS Championships in Albany.
Clarke’s unexpected exit at 189 pounds occurred hours before wrestling began. By rule, wrestlers must weigh in at or below their class weight, but not an ounce more. Like Lopez and Olson, she earned a trip to state after finishing third at the NCS Championships.
