UPPER LAKE — How do you celebrate winning a state championship?
Well, if you’re Adriana Lopez, you return to the mat. That’s what Upper Lake High School’s wrestling standout will do this weekend while competing in the California USA Folkstyle Cadet/Junior Boys and Girls Championships at the Selland Arena in Fresno.
The three-day tournament opens Friday and runs through Sunday. Upper Lake High’s super siblings of Lopez and Junior Fernandez are both taking part after their historic runs last weekend during the CIF State Championships in Bakersfield. Lopez became the first Upper Lake, Lake County and Coastal Mountain Conference wrestler to win a state title while Fernandez became the first Upper Lake boy to win a state medal, joining a select few of county boys to accomplish that feat. Lopez won the 121-pound girls weight division, collecting her third straight state medal in the process, while Fernandez placed fifth in the 132-pound boys division.
Lake County also picked up a third state medal last weekend when Kelseyville’s Jasmin Clarke placed second in the girls 189-pound division. Lopez, Clarke and Lower Lake’s Zeb Beatty (second in 1999) are the only three county wrestlers ever to reach the state finals.
Lopez will also attend the Oklahoma Nationals on March 21-24 in Oklahoma City where California’s state champion will get a chance to go up against the top wrestlers in other states.
