MIDDLETOWN >> The favorites in the upcoming Coastal Mountain Conference wrestling race flexed their considerable muscles Friday and Saturday at the annual Dennis Jensen Invitational in Middletown.
In the end, the Willits Wolverines beat out Lower Lake 214-179 for the team title just as they edged out the Trojans for last year’s conference title, denying Lower Lake a CMC threepeat in the process. Arcata ended up in third place while host Middletown was fourth.
Finishing second to Willits might be the best thing for his Trojans, according to Lower Lake head coach Ed Fuchs. “It will keep us a little hungry for our dual match with them (Feb. 7),” Fuchs said. “We had two guys out, so I like our chances against them when we meet again.”
While not all of the teams expected to compete Saturday ended up showing up, Middletown High School coach and tournament director Brian Hunt said the caliber of the wrestling in most of the weight divisions was top notch.
“We were a little light on the number of teams, but lots of the finals matches came down to points, they were very close,” Hunt said. “There were a lot of good matches.”
Medals were awarded to the top six in the boys bracket and to the top three in the girls bracket. Team trophies went to the top three boys teams. Tournament officials also presented MVP awards to three boys wrestlers and one girl.
Lower Lake
Lower Lake freshman wrestler Mario Cuellar is making quite an impact at 106 pounds. He not only won all seven of his matches, six of them by pin, to improve to 15-1 on the season, but he earned a MVP award.
“He’s looking good,” Fuchs said. “He’s an awesome sight to see.”
Cuellar was among four boys weight division winners for the Trojans. Tristan Day (120), Carlos Avelar (160) and Michael Jamison (heavyweight) also dominated their weight classes. Day went 8-0 with five pins, Avelar was 7-0 with seven pins, and Jamison went 7-0 with four pins.
Day was one of three Lower Lake wrestlers to medal at 120 pounds, joining teammates David Burke (4-4, four pins), who was third, and Julius Brown (4-5, three pins) who was fourth.
Avelar also was in line for a MVP award, according to Fuchs, after allowing only seven points – all of them escape points – during the tournament.
“He kind of just dominated the field,” Fuchs said. “I thought he had a great weekend.”
Also reaching the finals in their weight classes were Hugo Salazar at 126 pounds, Adam DeLeon at 138 pounds, and Jordan Lott at 152 pounds.
Salazar went 6-1 with three pins, Deleon went 6-1 with five pins, and Lott went 6-2 with four pins. Deleon and Lott each lost dramatic one-point decisions in their respective championship matches.
“We had seven No. 1 seeds and seven kids in the finals,” Fuchs said. “Four out of the seven won and two almost did, so I was pretty pleased with that.”
Other medal winners for Lower Lake, were Kyle Lynn, fourth at 145 pounds, Dahsaan Booker, fifth at 152 pounds where he went 5-4 with four pins, and Mateo McKay, fifth at 132 pounds where he went 6-3 with five pins.
On the girls side of the bracket, Lower Lake’s lone medal winner was 131-pound champion Lily Wetmore, who pinned all five of her opponents and claimed the tournament’s MVP award.
“We won over 80 matches and wrestled over 140 matches,” Fuchs said. “I love going to Middletown because you get so many matches and it helps point out your strengths and weaknesses.”
Middletown
The host Mustangs had two weight division champions on the boys side of the bracket as both 145-pounder Quentin Crayne and 220-pounder Cameron Ketchum won their weight classes. Crayne, the No. 3 seed, beat the No. 2 seed in the semifinals and the No. 1 seed in the finals. The top-seeded Ketchum went 9-0 during the two-day tournament, including eight pins.
Middletown also had two runner-up finishes courtesy of Jared Pyzer at 170 pounds and Blake Schuster at 132 pounds. Schuster’s finish was a bit of a surprise given that he was the No. 5 seed. He upset the No. 1 seed in the semifinals but had to injury default in the finals.
Jake Kelly added a third-place medal at 138 pounds while Filemon Sanchez (113) and Evan Dodd (160) added fifth-place medals. The Mustangs picked up another fifth-place medal at 106 pounds where Angela Egger competed against all boys.
“She wrestled really well,” Hunt said.
On the girls side of the bracket, Middletown’s Leslie Chairez secured a second-place medal.
