UPPER LAKE >> If you blinked you might have missed the Coastal Mountain Conference wrestling tri-meet between the Lower Lake Trojans, Point Arena Pirates and Upper Lake Cougars on Wednesday night at Upper Lake.
Point Arena, a team with only two wrestlers, didn’t show up, leaving Lower Lake and Upper Lake to go at it alone.
“Both of their wrestlers were sick,” Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs said of the Pirates. “That (Point Arena’s forfeits to Lower Lake and Upper Lake) saved us 90 minutes (there are 45-minute rest intervals between each team dual).”
There were only seven contested matches in the Upper Lake-Lower Lake dual, which went to the visiting Trojans by a 29-11 final score. Lower Lake won five of them.
Upper Lake’s two victories were at 134 pounds where Adriana Lopez pinned Lily Wetmore in the first round, and at 140 pounds where Junior Fernandez scored a 20-4 technical fall over Adam Deleon.
For Lower Lake, match winners were Kenya Atrisco by first-round pin at 108 pounds; Pedro Garrido by first-roundpin at 128 pounds; Jordan Lott by first-round pin at 154 pounds; Carlos Avelar by second-round pin at 152 pounds; and Peerlisse Brooke by 15-0 technical fall at 222 pounds.
While there wasn’t much in the way of compelling wrestling going on in the Upper Lake gym, Fuchs said the Trojans’ Avelar became the second Lower Lake wrestler this season to qualify for the school’s 10-20-30 club, which recognizes wrestlers who record 10 or more pins, 20 or more wins and 30 or more takedowns in a single season. Avelar joins 108-pounder Mario Cuellar, who became a 10-20-30 member last weekend during the North Coast Classic tournament in Eureka.
Lower Lake, now 4-0 in the CMC standings, hosts Middletown and Kelseyville in a conference tri-meet next Wednesday. The Lower Lake-Kelseyville winner receives The Shield, a perpetual trophy that the Trojans have won two years running. The Trojans also will send six of their top wrestlers to the Mid Cals on Saturday in Gilroy.
“It’s the toughest tournament we go to all year,” Fuchs said. “It’s tougher than our sections.”
