UPPER LAKE’S SNEATHEN RANKED 10TH IN STATE
Senior heavyweight is 10-1 on season, in action this weekend in Middletown
UPPER LAKE >> Upper Lake High School senior Bradley Sneathen is the 10th-ranked heavyweight in the state as of the most recent ranking released Tuesday by The California Wrestler.
“He’s right up there in the mix,” said Upper Lake co-head coach Brandon Sneathen, who is also Bradley’s older brother and a former Upper Lake wrestling star (graduating class of 2010). “I’m stoked. I knew he was going up or staying the same after winning last week (at the Lou Bronzan Invitational in Brentwood).”
Sneathen, who is also ranked No. 1 in the North Coast Section, moved up five notches in the state rankings to No. 10. He is 10-1 on the season going into the Dennis Jensen Invitational, which opens Friday and runs through Saturday at Middletown High School.
“He should be 11-0,” Sneathen said of his younger brother. “No. 10 is a good a spot for him and he’s going to keep going up. Most of those wins are against stateranked wrestlers.”
A key test for Sneathen comes later this month during the Puma Classic at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa where the Upper Lake star could bump up against other top-ranked state heavyweights.
“Top 10 is not too shabby,” Sneathen said of his brother’s strong start during a 2021-22 season that originally had him moving down to the 220-pound weight class before the new year started.
“We thought about dropping to 220s, but he’s in a good place where his is,” Sneathen said.
Sneathen gives up an average of 30 pounds to most of his opponents, but he’s able to compensate with his strength and speed, according to his older brother.
The ultimate goal for the senior is to win some sort of state medal next month, which means finishing in the top eight during the CIF State Championships on Feb. 24-26 in Bakersfield. Only a handful of Lake County wrestlers have accomplished that feat, the most recent being two other Upper Lake standouts, Adriana Lopez (first at 121 pounds in 2019) and Junior Fernandez (fifth at 132 pounds in 2019).
“I’m a state qualifier, so I know how hard it is,” Sneathen said of the 2010 season when he reached the CIF State Championships as a 140-pounder. “If I don’t see him doing better than I did when I was his age, then I’m doing something wrong as his coach. Right now he’s doing better than I expected, so I’m pretty happy about that.”
Following the Dennis Jensen Invitational at Middletown, the Cougars return home Wednesday to host Lower Lake and Clear Lake in the Coastal Mountain Conference opener for all three teams.