FORT BRAGG — One of only five teams in the field, the bursting-at-the-seams Clear Lake High School wrestling squad brought home eight first-place medals along with the championship trophy on Saturday from the Holiday Bash Invitational at Fort Bragg High School.
Eighteen of the 22 Clear Lake wrestlers (17 boys, five girls) participating in the annual tournament left the mat with a medal of some sort – first, second or third. In the team standings, the Cardinals finished first ahead of Middletown, Las Plumas, Fort Bragg and Cloverdale.
“The last tournament victory by the Cardinals was my freshman year in 2011, so it’s nice to have our first win together,” Clear Lake head coach Nathan Powers said. “I see many more in this team’s future as we continue to raise our competitive standard.”
Because of a shipping problem, Fort Bragg officials weren’t able to award individual medals and team trophies at the tournament. They will be presented to the Cardinals at a later date.
Bringing home first-place medals among the boys were: Asher Reese at 113 pounds. He went 3-0 with two pins; Ayden Williams at 124 pounds. He went 3-0 with three pins; Hayden Fowler at 138 pounds and Axel Alvarez at 182 pounds, both 2-0 with one pin; and Anthony Gersalia at 170 pounds and Raymond Gonzales-Shoaf at 245 pounds, both 2-0 with two pins.
First-place medals also went to Keara Alonso-Lopez at 101 pounds and Mavis Pyorre at 118 pounds, both 2-0 with two pins.
Clear Lake’s second-place medalists were Elijah Alvarez at 140 pounds and Dominic Legendre at 285 pounds, and Ashley Pyorre at 106 pounds (competing in the boys bracket). Pyorre went 2-1, both of her wins by pin.
Taking home third-place medals were Hernan Romero at 122 pounds, Drake Chesebro at 245 pounds, Mujtaba Akbari at 120 pounds, Mohammad Akbar at 126 pounds, and Nicholas Williamson at 132 pounds for the boys, and Tara Wong at 101 pounds and Ximena Soto at 118 pounds for the girls.
“We are excited to take some time to celebrate the holiday season with our families as we gear up for our next tournament in the New Year,” Powers said. “2019 has been great for us and 2020 will be even better with all the hard work these young men and women have committed to.”
