ST. HELENA — Lake County wrestlers combined to win nine of 14 weight divisions Friday afternoon although the Willits Wolverines dominated the spotlight during the Coastal Mountain Conference Boys Championships at St. Helena High School.
Willits, the undefeated regular-season dual meet champion at 8-0, easily topped the field in team scoring with 168 points to clinch the overall CMC title. In a tournament where the top three finishers in each weight class automatically advance to the North Coast Section Championships Feb. 17-18 at James Logan High School in Union City, Willits wrestlers won four weight divisions, finished second in two others, and had four third-place finishers. Fort Bragg had the next-most top-three finishers with eight followed by Middletown with six, Clear Lake with five and Upper Lake with four.
After Willits’ 168 points, Fort Bragg (128), Middletown (102.5), Clear Lake (101) and Kelseyville (73.5) rounded out the top five. Combined with its 7-1 dual-meet record during the regular season, Middletown’s third-place tournament finish earned the Mustangs second place in the final CMC standings behind Willits.
“Considering all the injuries we’ve had, I can’t complain about that,” Middletown head coach Brian Hunt said.
Middletown
The Mustangs’ day included firsts by David Sypnicki at 147 pounds and Steven Peterson at 197 pounds. Sypnicki, the No. 1 seed, pinned Clear Lake’s Asher Reese in the championship match.
“He was very aggressive,” Hunt said of Sypnicki. “Asher Reese is a good wrestler, but David was the No. 1 seed for a reason.”
Peterson started the season as a heavyweight wrestler but has dropped weight in order to be eligible for the 197-pound division where he was a force on Friday.
“He dominated his opponent (Ely Bowles of Willits) in the finals,” Hunt said. “He was the No. 2 seed coming into the tournament but there was never a doubt in my mind that he was going to win that tournament.”
Peterson pin Bowles with two seconds left in the first round of the 197-pound finals.
Also reaching the finals was Middletown’s Dom Clark at 115 pounds. He lost to a familiar foe, Kelseyville’s Travis Boyles, who prevailed by 14-3 major decision. Early last month at the annual Dennis Jensen Invitational in Middletown, Clark beat Boyles in a close decision in the championship match.
“Travis got the better of him today,” Hunt said. “Clark should still be a top-eight seed for sectionals and so should Travis. I expect them both to be in the five, six, seven range.”
Middletown’s three third-place medalists were Richard Ramos at 128 pounds, Eli Moreno at 172 pounds and JJ Gerst at 287 pounds.
Ramos wrestled up a weight class, according to Hunt, who said it was necessary if Ramos wanted to compete in the tournament.
“He earned himself one more week of wrestling and I’m glad to see it,” Hunt said.
Gerst also wrestled up a weight class because it was his “best chance” of advancing to the sectionals, according to Hunt.
“JJ’s not really a heavyweight but he wrestled well,” Hunt said.
Another Middletown wrestler, Kayden Menzio, finished fourth at 122 pounds and will be an alternate for next week’s sectional competition.
Clear Lake
Clear Lake’s five sectional qualifiers include weight class champions Ayden Williamson at 140 pounds where he needed only 42 seconds to pin Roy Ross of Fort Bragg in the finals, and 184-pounder Tony Gersalia, who pinned Fort Bragg’s Alex Medina in the first round.
The Cardinals also had three second-place medalists. Silas Reese dropped a 6-0 decision to Lower Lake’s Arturo Gudino in the 108-pound finals, Asher Reese was pinned by Middletown’s Sypnicki at 147 pounds, and Liam Davis dropped a hard-fought 6-0 decision to Fort Bragg’s Zac Morgan at 162-pound finals.
Upper Lake
Dylan Slater’s 7-4 decision over Joseph Smith of Willits at 154 pounds gave Upper Lake its lone weight division win. Joey Franklin reached the 222 pounds but lost by 15-0 technical fall to Kelseyville’s Triton Marlowe.
Cougars earning third-place medals were Rene Lopez at 108 pounds and Jacob Colcleaser at 140 pounds.
Kelseyville
Boyles (115) and Marlowe (222) dominated the field in their weight classes and the Knights added another medal thanks to Samuel Blue’s 15-4 major decision over Middletown’s Menzio in the 122-pound third-place match.
Lower Lake
Gudino’s win at 108 pounds and Quentin Vilmenay’s first-place finish at 134 pounds were the major highlights for the Trojans. Three Lower Lake wrestlers lost their third-place matches — Blake Hill at 140 pounds, Michael Williams at 154 pounds and Vincent Wilson at 197 pounds.
Other winners
Willits’ four first-place finishes were the most by any team. The Wolverines prevailed at 122 pounds where Jacob Livingston beat Cloverdale’s Caden McCutchan by 10-3 decision; at 128 pounds where Deon Smith pinned Fort Bragg’s Walker Swithenbank in the first round; at 172 pounds where Elijah Smith pinned Fort Bragg’s Carlos Chan in the first round; and at 287 pounds where Tyler Dalton pinned Fort Bragg’s Pedro Alvarado with 15 seconds left in the third round.
Morgan, the 162-pound champion for Fort Bragg, was one of six Timberwolves to reach the finals but the only winner.
Seedings
The North Coast Section seedings in all weight divisions will be announced Sunday. Hunt said several Lake County athletes should pull a top-eight seed.
State qualifiers
The top eight wrestlers in each weight class at Union City next weekend receive medals, but only the top two advance to the CIF State Championships Feb. 23-25 in Bakersfield, a change from previous years when the top three moved on. Under the new format this year, weight class winners and true-second finishers move on to Bakersfield. If a weight class runner-up at Union City hasn’t yet faced the consolation bracket champion, the two will meet to determine true-second place and the final state qualifying berth.
