SANTA ROSA >> The Puma Invitational and Upper Lake High School wrestler Junior Fernandez go together like bread and butter. The junior standout won his third weight division title in as many years at the tournament on Saturday, this time capturing the 126-pound division at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa.
Fernandez was among seven Lake County wrestlers to medal at the tournament, joining Kelseyville’s Alex Garcia, Bryan Carrillo and Javante Gregoire, and Middletown’s Cameron Ketchum, Quentin Crayne and Jared Pyzer.
Lake County wrestlers also made their presence known at the MidCals in Gilroy where three of six Trojans reached the second day of the competition. One of them, 222-pounder Peerliss Brooke, emerged with a seventh-place medal.
In girls wrestling action, Upper Lake’s Christina Wilson and Adriana Lopez continued their season-long run of successes by securing first-place medals at the Elk Grove Invitational. Kelseyville also sent wrestlers to Elk Grove and the Knights finished third as a team while winning six medals, including a first for Bailey Huggins.
A handful of Middletown and Lower Lake wrestlers also participated in the Willits JV Tournament.
Puma Invitational
Upper Lake’s Fernandez was the No. 1 seed at the Puma and he ended up beating No. 2 seed Antonio Margiotta of Los Lomas 4-2 in the finals. Fernandez and Margiotta are also ranked fifth and sixth in the state, respectively, at 126 pounds.
After a scoreless first period Fernandez scored a takedown and led 2-1 going to the third period. He scored a reversal to go up 4-1 and was able to hold off Margiotta the rest of the way.
Fernandez will have the opportunity next season to become only the second wrestler in the tournament’s history to win his weight class all four years. He can achieve a similar feat at the Lou Bronzan Invitational next December in Brentwood.
Kelseyville’s Garcia went 3-1 at 152 pounds while improving his season record to 24-6. His only loss came in the finals by decision to Tyee Ducharme of Vacaville, the No. 9-ranked wrestler in the state.
Carrillo finished third with a 4-1 record at 182 pounds. The No. 5 tournament seed, Carrillo upset the No. 4 seed, Andrew Kohl of Castro Valley, in the quarterfinals with a third-round pin. His only loss, a 7-5 overtime decision, came to No. 1 seed Garrison Roach of St. Bernard in the semifinals. Carrillo wrestled out of the consolation bracket to win his third-place medal, again beating Kohl, this time by 8-5 decision, in the third-place match.
Gregoire went 3-2 while taking fourth at 222 pounds. His final loss was 1-0 decision to Middletown’s Cameron Ketchum for third place. Gregoire’s only other loss was to No. 1 Nathan Gomez of Vacaville by 3-0 decision.
Kelseyville placed 11th as a team.
Middletown’s Ketchum finished 4-1 for the tournament, his only loss coming to the fifth-ranked wrestler in the North Coast Section.
Crayne finished sixth at 138 pounds while Pyzer, the No. 8 seed, was sixth at 170 pounds.
MidCals
Brooke and Lower Lake teammates Jordan Lott and Michael Jamison made it to the second day of the two-day tournament, each wrestler needing two straight wins on Saturday to reach the medal round. Lott lost his first match at 154 pounds and was eliminated while heavyweight Jamison won his first match by pin but was pinned in his next match to fall out of the competition. Both wrestlers ended up 3-2.
Brooke fought his way through to the medal round with a 6-1 decision and a second-round pin in his first two matches. After a 3-1 loss to the No. 3 seed in the consolation quarterfinals, which dropped him into the seventh-place match, Brooke won a 5-0 decision.
It’s the first time a Lower Lake wrestler has brought home a medal from the tournament, according to Lower Lake coach Ed Fuchs.
“That’s a little bit of history for Peerliss Brooke,” Fuchs said. “That’s huge for Lower Lake. It’s pretty awesome and I’m excited about it.”
Brooke posted a 5-2 record during the tournament and was taken down only twice.
“Peerliss is very hungry,” Fuchs said.
Elk Grove
Upper Lake’s Wilson went 4-0 at 131 pounds while teammate Lopez went 4-0 at 121 pounds at the Elk Grove Invitational.
Among Kelseyville wrestlers in the field, Huggins won all five of her matches at 116 pounds while pushing her season record to 21-4. She has won her last three tournaments, including the Michael Kroppmann in Lakeport and the North Coast Classic in Eureka.
Jasmin Clarke went 3-1 while finishing second at 189 pounds, her only loss coming in the finals to Alexis Young of River Valley High School, last year’s state champion at 160 pounds. Clarke is now 13-2 on the season.
Brianna Thomas finished fourth at 126 pounds, going 3-2. She is 19-10 on the season.
Other Kelseyville medalists were Vanessa Gonzalez, fifth at 143 pounds where she went 3-2; Kyle Marlin-Ambriz, who was sixth at 101 pounds with a 2-3 record; and Korbyn Marlin-Ambriz, who was sixth at 106 pounds, also with a 2-3 record.
Willits JV
Middletown’s Angela Egger mixed it up with the boys and won the 106-pound bracket at the Willits Tournament. Other Middletown medal winners were James Hernandez, second at 195; A.J. Leggitt, third at 220; Hagan Cadwallader, third at 138; Isaac Rascon, third at 106; Filemon Sanchez, third at 113; and Arianna Forest, third in the girls 131-pound division.
For Lower Lake, Willie Mason went 3-0 to win the heavyweight division while Jacob Billings at 170 pounds and Jesse Castellanos at 140 pounds both went 2-1 to finish second. Pedro Garrido added a third-place medal at 120 pounds with a 2-2 record.
