BAKERSFIELD >> Upper Lake’s Junior Fernandez and Kelseyville’s Alex Garcia both experienced some early success before dropping into the consolation bracket of their respective weight classes on Friday as the CIF State Wrestling Championships opened at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
While Fernandez is still alive as the tournament enters its second and final day Saturday, Garcia is done for the season.
Junior Fernandez
After winning his first two matches Friday, Fernandez, the No. 9 seed at 126 pounds, dropped an 8-6 decision to No. 8 seed Lokhai Tonge of Elk Grove High School in the round of 16. Fernandez bounced back with an impressive 17-7 win over Isaiah Ramirez of Barstow in the consolation bracket to survive the first day’s cut.
Fernandez can still finish as high as third place if he wins all of his remaining matches. He needs to win his first two matches Saturday to guarantee himself a top-eight finish, which will earn him the first state medal won by a Lake County boy since 2006 when Middletown’s Steve Franklin placed fourth at 215 pounds. The best finish by a county athlete belongs to Lower Lake 215-pounder Zeb Beatty, who reached the championship round in 1999 and ended up second.
“I’m extremely proud of my son’s performance today,” Upper Lake coach Jose Fernandez said of Junior’s 3-1 record on Friday. “That’s nothing to hang your head about. His lone loss was to Tonge from Elk Grove and that was tough to watch. Junior was the better wrestler but he wasn’t finishing his shots.
“Now we prepare mentally and physically for tomorrow,” Fernandez added. “126 pounds is stacked with outstanding wrestlers and we have to be prepared for a lot of tough matches.”
Fernandez, a junior, was the North Coast Section runner-up this season, an accomplishment that earned him a second straight trip to the state tournament. His day began with a 12-5 win over Raul Valdovinos of Clovis West in an outbracket match, then he rallied from a 4-0 deficit to pin Rocky Raby of West Valley High School in the round of 32.
He is 43-7 on the season.
A year ago at the state tournament Fernandez went 1-2 in his first three matches and was eliminated.
Alex Garcia
Garcia, a junior 152-pounder, beat Esteban Molina of Firebaugh High School 5-0 in the round of 32 before losing by first-round pin to No. 1 seed Domonic Mata of powerhouse Poway High School in the round of 16. Needing a victory against Louis Rojas of St. John Bosco to avoid elimination, Garcia lost 7-2, ending his season.
Garcia placed third in the North Coast Section Championships last weekend to earn his first trip to the state tournament. He finishes the season with a 32-9 record.
