Windsor's annual 'King of the Mat' wrestling tournament is this weekend

The tournament will host 35 schools, including two from Nevada, and approximately 350 wrestlers across 14 weight divisions.|

For high school wrestling fans, Windsor High is the place to be on Saturday as the Jaguars host the 19th annual King of the Mat wrestling tournament.

The tournament will host 35 schools, including two from Nevada, and approximately 350 wrestlers across 14 weight divisions. Wrestlers will compete on seven mats in three different gyms on campus with the opening matches at 9 a.m. and the finals scheduled between 3-5 p.m.

Windsor coach and tournament organizer Rich Carnation said for an unknown reason, the number of schools participating is down slightly this year from the usual 40 to 42 teams after a contingent of Oregon schools decided not to attend. Even so, Carnation said this year’s tournament is chock-full of talent.

“There will be a bunch of competitive weight classes this year. The top teams at the tournament have kids that are all top-notch,” Carnation said. “The finals are going to be super high-quality, extremely competitive matches.”

Individual wrestlers will have to win five consecutive matches to win their weight class (there is a maximum of 32 wrestlers per weight class).

The top eight finishers in each class receive medals. At the conclusion of the event, an outstanding wrestler will be named in the lightweight, middleweight and upper-weight class divisions.

Spanish Springs (Sparks, Nevada) won the team title last year and is the heavy favorite again this year after winning the prestigious Tim Brown Memorial Tournament in Sacramento last week. Other team favorites include Benicia, Folsom, Liberty (Brentwood), Granada (Livermore), Windsor and Casa Grande.

In addition to the Jaguars and Gauchos, 11 other Redwood Empire schools will take part in the tournament: Clear Lake, El Molino, Elsie Allen, Healdsburg, Middletown, Montgomery, Petaluma, Rancho Cotate, Santa Rosa, Sonoma and Upper Lake.

“Local teams come because they get good competition for their kids without having to travel very far,” Carnation said. “A lot of local teams have good-quality wrestlers.”

One of the more intriguing weight classes is 154 pounds, which features Perez Perez of Windsor, who is ranked 13th in the state by the California Wrestler website. Perez will vie for the title against 10th-ranked Jeremy Ridge of Acalanes (Lafayette)and Conrad Trevino of Del Campo (Fair Oaks), ranked 19th.

Carnation said other standout wrestlers who’ll be competing include Ryley Boutain (Benicia, 140 pounds, ranked ninth); Angelo Martinoni (Folsom, 134, seventh); Blake Frederickson (Windsor, 108); Tyler Winslow (Sonoma, 197); Kyle Richards (Folsom, 197, eighth); Trevor Bagan (Analy, 122); Justin Campbell (Windsor, 122); Trent Silva (Windsor, 147); Jose Fernandez III (Upper Lake, 134, ranked sixth at 128 pounds); Colby Preston (Spanish Springs, 222) and Jacob Ruiz (Spanish Springs, 128, No. 1 in Nevada in 2017).

“This is a good tournament that a lot of teams come to for seeding. It is a good format for kids still learning and good competition for kids at the top,” said Carnation, who expects between 500 and 1,000 fans to attend. “It is a nice facility and we run a very efficient tournament. There are good-quality matches no matter what your skill level.”

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