Senior state hopeful David Perez breaks foot to end season
Windsor was the epicenter of high school wrestling on Saturday, Jan. 20, as the Jaguars played host to 30 teams and some 300 participating athletes in the 19th annual King of the Mat Tournament.
The Jags kicked off the action on Friday with the Prince of the Mat JV tournament, while the varsity KOM tourney was contested on Saturday.
The annual KOM has become a litmus test for elite high school wrestlers over the years and the 2018 edition was more of the same, including several of the top programs in Northern California and Nevada.
“It was a great weekend of competition, even though we were missing a number of kids with the flu,” Jags veteran coach Rich Carnation said, adding that a broken foot suffered by senior state qualifier David Perez in the finals on Saturday put a damper on things. “Overall, the kids battled hard and I liked our effort.”
Spanish Springs repeated as tournament champion with a winning total of 217 points. Rounding out the top five teams were Benicia (180.5), Folsom (170), Windsor (135) and Northgate (101).
Leading the way for Windsor at the KOM were individual champions; 108-pound Blake Fredrickson, who defeated Devin Griffen of Spanish Springs in the final, and 147-pound sophomore Trent Silva, who beat Eric Santo of Benicia in the championship match.
Other Windsor placers included 115-pound Brandon Fong (third), 140-pound Brennan Brown (fourth), 162-pound Josh Wagner (seventh), 222-pound Alex Cruz (seventh) and 287-pound Austin Jacob (fifth).
Perez, who settled for a second place KOM medal, suffered an injury default in the 154-pound final when he took down Conrad Trevino of Del Campo but his opponent came down with his knee squarely on Perez’ foot. The injury resulted in three broken bones which will require surgery this week.
“I told David this morning at the hospital that he doesn’t do anything halfway, even when he gets injured,” Carnation joked.
The Jaguars (4-0) are currently at the top of the North Bay League dual meet standings with wins over Maria Carrillo, Montgomery, Santa Rosa and Casa Grande, but things will get tougher starting on Jan. 24 when they host Cardinal Newman on Senior Night (6 p.m.). Windsor will wrap up the NBL regular season schedule with dual meets at Ukiah (Jan. 31) and Casa Grande (Feb. 7). The league tournament will be held at Montgomery on Feb. 17.
