23 Redwood Empire wrestlers still in contention at NCS tournament

Twenty-three wrestlers from the Redwood Empire remain in championship contention at the North Coast Section tournament, advancing to the quarterfinal round of their weight divisions in Friday’s busy opening day of competition at James Logan High School in Union City.

The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be competed this morning with the championship matches set to start at 6:30 p.m. The top three finishers in each weight class qualify for the CIF state championship tournament next weekend at Bakersfield.

Both of the Empire’s No. 1-seeded wrestlers - Analy 119-pounder Trevor Bagan and Windsor 152-pounder Perez Perez - won twice on Friday, as did the area’s three No. 2-seeded wrestlers - Upper Lake sophomore Jose Fernandez at 126 pounds, Healdsburg senior Anthony Merlo at 170 pounds and Ukiah senior Dylan Miles at 220 pounds.

Windsor will go into today’s matches with five wrestlers still in contention for section championships, the most of any Redwood Empire team. Besides Perez, the Jaguars have senior Luke Au-Yeung (145 pounds), senior Steven Allee (160), senior Aiden Henry (195) and senior Kevin Correa (220).

Ukiah has three wrestlers still in contention - senior Will Meyer (170), senior Manny Martinez (182) and Miles at 220 pounds - as does Cardinal Newman with senior Jake Cutler (132), junior Casey Frazier (145) and senior Gunnar Hayman (285).

North Central League teams fared well on the tournament’s first day with six wrestlers advancing to the quarterfinals, led by Lower Lake junior 285-pounder Michael Jamison and his 106-pound sophomore teammate Blake Fredrickson.

The NCL will also be represented today by Willits senior Tyler Vesey (132), Kelseyville sophomore Alex Garcia (138) and Fort Bragg senior Mike Cavender (182), in addition to Upper Lake’s Fernandez.

Ukiah was tied with Granada for sixth place in first-day team scores, while Windsor was ninth and Cardinal Newman 10th among the 90-plus schools competing. Maria Carrillo, Willits, Petaluma and Healdsburg were in the top 25.