UPPER LAKE >> It’s either bad luck or a great opportunity for Upper Lake High School wrestler Junior Fernandez as he prepares to compete in the CIF State Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Fernandez, unseeded in the 40-man bracket at 126 pounds, is a first-round win away from a likely meeting with three-time state champion Justin Mejia of Clovis High School, the No. 1-ranked 126-pounder in the state. Mejia is trying to win his fourth weight class in four years after championships at 106 pounds in 2014, 113 pounds in 2015 and 120 pounds in 2016.
Mejia won the Central Coast Section championship last weekend while Fernandez was the runner-up at the North Coast Section Championships in Union City.
Mejia, a battle-tested wrestler from a battle-tested Clovis wrestling program, draws junior Anthony Loera in a first-round match. Loera placed ninth in the Southern Section Championships last weekend. Fernandez, only a sophomore, will take on the winner of a match between Mikey Mello of Oak Ridge and Johnny Vargas of Monclair.
“He has never wrestled either of them, but he knows Mikey Mello from USA Wrestling,” Fernandez said. “Junior is friends with just about everyone.”
If Mejia and Fernandez both win their openers, they’ll meet in the second round on Friday.
“He is excited,” Upper Lake head coach Jose Fernandez said of his son’s reaction to a possible meeting with the state’s top seed. “It is an honor to wrestle a kid the caliber of Mejia.”
Mejia and Fernandez have never met before in any type of competition.
“He (Junior) was hoping to wrestle Mejia at Mission, but he lost in the quarterfinals to Aaron Perez from James Logan (High School),” Fernandez said of the Mission San Jose Invitational on Feb. 3-4 in Fremont.
Mejia is one of 12 seeded wrestlers at 126 pounds. The other seeds are No. 2 Isaiah Perez of Dinuba High School, No. 3 Robert Garcia of Selma High School, No. 4 Jaden Abas of Rancho Bernardo High School, No. 5 Chase Zollman of Poway High School, No. 6 Adam Velasquez of Pitman High School, No. 7 Kyle Parco of San Ramon High School, No. 8 Isaiah Palomino of Bellarmine High School, No. 9 Tyler Deen of Buchanan High School, No. 10, Lokahi Tonge of Elk Grove High School, No. 11 Elijah Palacio of Calvary Chapel High School, and No. 12 Enrique Landeros of Orland High School.
Parco, the No. 7 seed, beat Fernandez 12-5 in the 126-pound championship match at last weekend’s NCS Championships in Union City. The only way they could meet in the championship bracket at Bakersfield is if both reach the finals, but they could very well find each other in the consolation bracket at some point during the two-day tournament.
Fernandez departs for Bakersfield on Thursday along with his coach and dad, mom Jamie, teammates Dante Bassignani, Christina Wilson and Adriana Lopez, and assistant coach Eddie Peregrina.
