EUREKA — The Kelseyville Knights didn’t expect to earn a spot in the North Coast Section Division III Team Dual Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Eureka and head coach Adam Garcia said he didn’t know what to expect on his trip up north.
“I didn’t expect to make the top six,” Garcia said of the six-team field that ended up including three Coastal Mountain Conference teams in No 1. seed Willits, No. 3 Middletown and his own Knights, who drew the No. 5 seed.
“To tell you the truth I wasn’t looking forward to going, but now I’m really happy we went,” Garcia said after watching the Knights nail down a top-four finish following a down-to-the-wire 42-39 loss to Middletown in the third-place match.
The top three teams at the Team Dual Championships win medals while the top four receive medals.
“The kids really pulled together,” Garcia said. “It was pretty exciting and the kids were pretty excited to come away with medals.”
Kelseyville, fielding a squad of nine wrestlers, came out swinging and upset No. 4 seed Justin-Siena of Napa 43-36 in a first-round match.
“I wanted to see what we were going to do because we had so many holes in the lineup,” Garcia said. “Our wrestlers outwrestled them completely. All the points we gave up to them were forfeits. We won every (contested) match,” Garcia said.
While dominated by Willits 60-20 in the semifinals, much as they were during their CMC dual against the Wolverines in early January, Kelseyville came roaring back with a 48-30 victory over Berean Christian of Walnut Creek in the consolation bracket. Sparking the victory, all with pins, were Jasmine Clark, Kris Perkin, Jacob Jensen and Tanner Morris.
That win put the Knights into the third-place match against Middletown, a dual that wasn’t decided until the second-to-last match.
Willits beat Healdsburg 51-27 in the championship match.
Kelseyville hosts the CMC Championship tournament on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Willits, undefeated in dual action during the regular season at 7-0, can secure the CMC title by winning the tournament. Lower Lake (6-1) needs a tournament win to grab at least a piece of the conference crown. The top three finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advances to the North Coast Section Championships on Feb. 15-16 at James Logan High School in Union City. The NCS Championships are the qualifier for the CIF State Championships on Feb. 21-23 at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
Looking ahead to the CMC Championships, Garcia said he likes the Knights’ chances of placing no worse than third in team scoring. Garcia said four Knights – Gabriel Ambriz at 108 pounds, Alex Garcia at 160 pounds, Bryan Carrillo at 197 pounds and Javante Gregoire at 220 pounds – are frontrunners to win their weight divisions on Saturday. Tanner Morris at 140 pounds, Jensen at 147 pounds and heavyweight Tyler Stottsberry are also in the running for sectional berths.
