LAKE COUNTY >> Lake County’s varsity boys wrestlers got their first taste of action in the 2017-18 season on Saturday at tournaments spread throughout Northern California. At the top of that list, Upper Lake High School junior Junior Fernandez, a state qualifier a year ago, made some early noise as did the Kelseyville High team at the Green & Gold Tournament in Novato.
Lower Lake sent its wrestlers to the Bay Area 54 tournament in Castro Valley while Middletown’s varsity boys were at American Canyon.
Green & Gold
Fernandez was one of five Upper Lake boys competing at the Green & Gold Tournament, which takes place at San Marin High School in Novato. Kelseyville also was well-represented, finishing ninth out of the 30 teams entered.
Fernandez, the No. 1 seed at 132 pounds, went 3-0 with two pins. He scored a 16-1 technical fall in the finals and was voted the tournament’s outstanding lightweight for the second year in a row. He was the only Cougar to bring home a medal.
For Kelseyville, Alex Garcia dominated the competition at 160 pounds while earning a first-place medal. Garcia went 4-0. Bryan Carrillo added a third-place medal at 180 pounds with a 4-1 record and Javante Gregoire finished third at 220 pounds with a 3-1 record. Carrillo’s only loss was a 1-0 decision.
Jacob Jensen (132), Jayton Bonson (145) and Michael Beverlin (126) all went 1-2.
“I was pleased to see our top wrestlers as medalists with the other team members contributing to our team score,” Kelseyville coach Adam Garcia said. “We have some new faces in our lineup that added some points but battled close in all of their matches and lost from some mistakes. This group is eager to learn from their mistakes and work on improving going forward.”
Bay Area 54
Lower Lake heavyweight Michael Jamison came within a 6-5 loss in the finals of winning his weight class at the Bay Area 54 tournament. Jamison trailed 5-1 entering the third period against the North Coast Section’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight, but he rallied to make it close.
Jamison, the No. 2 tournament seed, finished 2-1 with two pins.
“There was no standing around in that match,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said. “It was go, go, go from the beginning.”
Mario Cuellar, seeded sixth, picked up another second-place medal at 106 pounds where he was 3-1 with no pins. Carlos Avelar, unseeded at 160 pounds, ended up beating the Nos. 4, 6 and 7 seeds while finishing fourth with a 3-2 record. One of his losses was to the No. 2 seed.
Tristan Day (120 pounds) and Kyle Lynn (160) both were seeded eighth and placed eighth to bring home medals. Day advanced to the seventh-place match by beating the No. 4 seed. Lynn reached the medal round after rallying from a 9-0 deficit against the No. 5 seed. He scored a reverse and near pin before pinning his opponent with 20 seconds left in the match.
American Canyon
Middletown’s Blake Schuster won the 132-pound class at the American Canyon Tournament, posting a 2-0 record. Also winning medals for the Mustangs were Quentin Crayne, who was third at 145 pounds, and Jake Kelly, who was fourth at 145 pounds. Evan Dodd came in sixth at 152 pounds.
JV boys wrestling
Pedro Garrido and Willie Mason of Lower Lake brought home medals from the Clayton Valley Shootout in Concord. Mason won the heavyweight division by pinning all three of his opponents. Garrido came in third with a 3-1 record at 120 pounds.
For Middletown, Josiah Pyzer came in third at 120 pounds at the Elsie Allen Tournament in Santa Rosa.
