Plenty of Empire wrestlers still alive for NCS title

The Redwood Empire will be well represented heading into Saturday's North Coast Section wrestling championship rounds, with Ukiah and Windsor leading the way with the most athletes in the hunt for gold.

Windsor and Ukiah will each send five wrestlers to Day 2 at James Logan High School in Union City. Ukiah is currently ranked fourth in the tournament and Windsor 10th.

The 195-pound division will be the highlight of Day 2 for Redwood Empire, with five of the final eight wrestlers coming from schools in the region and four of them facing off in the quarterfinals.

Middletown's Jared Pyzer will face Maria Carrillo's Bryan Torres and Casa Grande's Justin Naugle goes up against Bryan Carrillo of Kelseyville. Alex Cruz of Windsor is also contending in the division.

In two other Redwood Empire showdowns, Ukiah's Casey Aikman, a freshman, will compete against Windsor's Blake Fredrickson, who is currently the No. 8 wrestler in the state at 113 pounds.

At 152 pounds, Ukiah's Adrian Alvarez will take on Sonoma Valley's Lawson Lee, who scored perhaps the biggest upset of Friday.

Lee beat No. 4-seeded Casey Cox of San Ramon in a 14-5 decision. Gonzalez was a state quarterfinalist last season, and Sonoma Valley coach Nico Saldana said Lee was down 13-4 when he recorded the pin.

“Lawson just wrestles. He wrestles for six minutes. He keeps a great pace,” Saldana said.

Perhaps the most noteworthy wrestler advancing to the quarterfinals is the Dragons' light heavyweight Tyler Winslow, the top seed at 220 pounds who won both of his Friday matches in quick pins.

Winslow established his dominance on Day 1.

“He's doing what he's supposed to do as the No. 1 seed,” Saldana said. “He's proven he's one of the best in the state.”

Petaluma has the following athletes advancing to Saturday's championship rounds: Nick Trave at 106, Connor Pedersen at 152 and Colton Prieto at 160.

Healdsburg also has two athletes heading into the second day, as Marco Montanez will take on the No. 1 seed at 106, and Ethan Williams - after recording a 10-0 decision at 170 - will carry the momentum from a pin and tech fall to advance to wrestle the division's No. 2 seed.

Other noteworthy Redwood Empire contenders in the Saturday championship rounds include Windsor's Isaiah Rubio at 106, Lower Lake's Tristain Day at 126, and Upper Lake's Jose Fernandez III and Lower Lake's Hugo Salazar at 132.

At 138, Ashton Stanley of Ukiah and Windsor's Justin Campbell will also have a chance at gold. At 145, Dominick Bertolino of Willits and Trent Silva will compete for a title, while Javante Gregoire of Kelseyville and Frankie Pomilia of Ukiah advance at 220 along with Sonoma Valley's Winslow.

Alex Garcia of Kelseyville will continue on at 160, Nathan Tyrrell of Ukiah will move on at 182 and Casa Grande's Jack Ferris gets a chance to medal at 285.

For full results of Day 1 and a complete list of who is competing on Saturday, visit ncswrestling.com.