UKIAH — It was a big week on the mats for the Clear Lake High School wrestling team, winners of five of six Coastal Mountain Conference dual matches, which puts the Cardinals second in the conference standings behind only undefeated Willits going into Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Kelseyville.
On Saturday, Clear Lake’s wrestlers earned a handful of medals at the Redwood Empire Classic in Ukiah. In the girls division, Addyson Munoz went 2-1 at 137 pounds to finish second, including upset wins over No. 1 seed Hannah Gotz of Middletown and the No. 4 seed to reach the finals where she lost to the No. 2 seed.
Sophia Percaccio finished fourth at 121 pounds, including a win over Pailey Shook of Middletown in the semifinals. She went 2-1 overall.
In the varsity boys division, Hayden Fowler went 4-1 at 145 pounds in a stacked 23-man bracket, the second-largest in the tournament, one that featured several North Coast Section-ranked wrestlers.
The No. 8 seed, Fowler followed up on a first-round bye with a 9-1 win over Joey Smith of Willits before losing in the quarterfinals to No. 1 seed Asa McKenzie of Fortuna, the third-ranked wrestler in the section.
In the consolation round, Fowler defeated Blake Miller of Red Bluff, Colton Schaad of Crescent City and Owen Keslinger of Sutter to nail down the fifth-place medal.
“This is the best I’ve seen this kid wrestle this season,” Clear Lake head coach Tyler Hayes said of Fowler. “He wrestled some tough competition and pulled out some really closely contested matches. This was one of the hardest tournaments we attended this season that drew twice as many wrestlers as normal, and Hayden showed up ready to test himself.”
In the JV boys division, Carson Wilkstrom went 2-2 at 172 pounds and Silas Reese 2-2 at 108 pounds to come in fourth.
“Carson put a up a fight for third in a 5-5 match up until he got pinned with seconds left on the clock,” assistant coach Gerard Fowler said. “ This kid has been putting in hard work as a freshman and continues to improve.”
Friday
The Cardinals participated in the conference’s dual match makeup day Friday in Willits where they wrestled against Lower Lake, Upper Lake, Cloverdale at Willits Their only loss came against Willits, 39-37.
Clear Lake and Willits split the 10 contested matches, but ultimately it was the Cardinals’ forfeit at 285 pounds that gave the Wolverines the victory.
“This was a gritty matchup which came down to Clear Lake losing a 37-33 lead when we had to forfeit the final match at 285 pounds,” Fowler said. “Both teams entered the final dual of the day with a 5-0 (conference) record.”
Clear Lake also lost its 106-pounder to injury earlier in the day, according to Fowler.
“There were several scenarios where the outcome could have been different,” he said.
Another pivotal match was at 145 pounds where Clear Lake’s Hayden Fowler scored a major decision, 14-0, which was worth four team points. Had he pinned his Willits opponent the Cardinals would have picked up six team points.
“He won his match in dominant fashion but couldn’t quite finish the pin in the final seconds of the match, which would have resulted in a tie (in team scoring),” Hayes said. “We had several wrestlers wrestling with injuries and also sustained injuries this weekend. We look forward to meeting Willits in the league championships (Feb. 12 at Middletown) with a healthy roster,” Fowler said.
If the Cardinals beat the Wolverines in team scoring at the CMC championships, they will do no worse than a tie for the conference title.
The Willits dual wasn’t the only one that went down to the final weight class. Clear Lake’s 41-30 win over Upper Lake had the Cardinals leading 35-30 before securing the victory with a pin in the day’s final match.
Clear Lake won five of the eight contested weight classes with the Cougars. The Cardinals also had three forfeit victories to Upper Lake’s two, and there was a double forfeit at 195.
The best match of the dual was at 113 pounds where Clear Lake’s Gary White beat Upper Lake’s Damian Wurm in overtime. Wurm scored a late escape point in regulation to send the match into overtime where White won it with a takedown.
“This was an exhilarating match to watch, what a battle by both athletes,” Fowler said.
In a 50-24 win over Lower Lake, Clear Lake won five of the seven contested matches and also took advantage of Trojans forfeits in four weight classes compared to just two by the Cardinals. There was a double forfeit at 195 pounds
Muhammed Akbari of Clear Lake pinned Zakai Vilmenay in the third round at 126 pounds in one of the better matches.
“Akbari continues to work hard and improve his skills,” Hayes said of the 12th-ranked NCS wrestler at 132 pounds.
At 138 pounds, Clear Lake’s Ayden Williamson secured a 16-7 major decision over Dominick Perez, the 11th-ranked NCS wrestler at 145 pounds.
“Ayden is a big, strong 138-pounder,” Fowler said. “If he imposes his will he will be a problem for anyone in the conference and beyond.”
Clear Lake also beat Cloverdale 48-24 in another dual, winning four of the six contested matches.
Wednesday
Clear Lake opened its CMC dual schedule Wednesday by beating St. Helena 64-6 and Fort Bragg 54-24 at Lakeport.
Schedule
Clear Lake will participate in the North Coast Section Team Dual Championships Saturday at Redwood High School in Larkspur. The CMC Championships are Feb. 12 in Middletown followed by the boys North Coast Section Championships Feb. 18-19 at James Logan High School in Union City. Any wrestler placing third or higher at the NCS Championships advances to the CIF State Championships Feb. 24-26 at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.
For the girls, the NCS Championships are Feb. 18-19 at Albany High School followed by the CIF State Championships Feb. 24-26 in Bakersfield.
