BRENTWOOD — Bradley Sneathen of Upper Lake High School completed a 5-0 run through the heavyweight division of the Lou Bronzan Invitational on Tuesday in Brentwood with a 5-3 win in the championship match.
“The score makes it seem like it was close, but it really wasn’t,” Upper Lake head coach Brandon Sneathen said.
Facing an opponent from Vista del Lago High School in Folsom, Bradley Sneathen picked up an escape point early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. He then scored a two-point takedown for a 5-2 lead.
“Bradley had the match at that point and pretty much just rode out his opponent the rest of the way,” Sneathen said.
Sneathen, the No. 2 seed in the heavyweight division, pinned his only two opponents Monday to reach the quarterfinals. He pinned both his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents Tuesday to advance t the finals, but not against the tournament’s No. 1 seed, who was upset by the Vista del Lago opponent Sneathen went on to face in the championship match.
“That dude was a giant,” Sneathen said.
However, Bradley’s best win may have been in the semifinals, according to his coach.
“The way he wrestled, his intelligence and wrestling IQ really showed,” Sneathen said.
Summing up his heavyweight’s two-day run at Lou Bronzan, Sneathen said, “He won his bracket with ease and all of the wrestlers he beat were state ranked. It’s a really tough tournament, especially day two.”
Sneathen wasn’t the only Upper Lake wrestler to shine under the big spotlight. Bella Fernandez, one of four Upper Lake girls competing in the Brittany David Invitational, which was taking place at the same time and location as the Lou Bronzan, secured a third-place medal while Paige Smith came in seventh at 235 pounds. Maddy Young just missed a medal at 126 pounds.
Girls
Fernandez won her first two matches to reach the 121-pound semifinals before being pinned. She bounced back to dominate her James Logan High School opponent in the third-place match, winning by major decision.
Young won her first match at 126 pounds and was on her way to beating her next opponent when she committed a costly mistake, according to Sneathen.
“She was leading by like nine points and ended up getting pinned,” Sneathen said.
Young won her final three matches to capture the consolation A championship.
“No medal, but she wrestled well,” Sneathen said.
Team
Upper Lake sent nine boys to the tournament and four reached the second day before being eliminated. The Cougars finished 21st as a team out of 71 schools. Upper Lake’s girls were 25th out of 57 teams.
Schedule
Upper Lake’s boys and girls return to action during the weekend of Jan. 7-8. The boys compete in the annual Dennis Jensen Invitational at Middletown High School while the girls travel to the Napa Valley Classic.
