BAKERSFIELD ¯ After battling Ishaia Morales through a scoreless first period, Upper Lake heavyweight Bradley Sneathen was reversed and pinned early in the second period Thursday during an opening-round match at the CIF State Boys Wrestling Championships in Bakersfield.
The three-day tournament runs through Saturday with consolation-round matches dominating Friday’s schedule in both the boys and girls state tournaments, which are taking place at the same time on 10 different mats at Mechanics Bank Arena.
Sneathen, the Coastal Mountain Conference champion and third-place North Coast Section finisher in the 285-pound division, draws Christian Venegas of Montgomery High School of Huntington Beach in an elimination match Friday morning. Venegas, also a senior, lost to No. 7 seed Andrew Prado of Mayfair High School in Lakewood during a first-round match. Venegas finished second in the San Diego Section championships last weekend.
Sneathen is the only Lake County boy and one of three Upper Lake athletes competing in this year’s state finals, joining teammates Bella Fernandez, a sophomore 116-pounder, and Tatum Salas, a junior 121-pounder. Fernandez and Salas also lost in the first round Thursday and are back in action Friday along with Middletown freshman 160-pounder Krystal Ocken, who went 1-1 on Thursday.
All four county wrestlers can still place as high as third if they win all of their consolation matches Friday and Saturday. Medals are awarded down to eight places in each weight class of the boys and girls tournaments.
Three years ago Upper Lake’s Adriana Lopez became the first Lake County wrestler and athlete in any sport to win a state title. That same year Upper Lake’s Junior Fernandez placed fifth in the boys tournament to earn a medal. Both were seniors.
