Granite Bay wrestlers medal at tough Advocare-Foothill Invite

Granite Bay's Derek Jones and Eric Blank both won medals by finishing in the top eight of their weight classes over the weekend at the two-day Advocare-Foothill Invitational at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium.Jones tied for fifth at 174 pounds and Blank was eighth at 215 in the annual tournament, The annual tournament, which featured 84 teams and 64-man brackets, is considered among the most prestigious in California. "As far as scope is concerned, it's as big as the state tournament," Granite Bay coach Mike Lynch said.Woodcreek also attended the tournament and didn't produce a medallist. But Justin Hinkle, Andrew Obermark, Kenny Kellogg and Ryan Van Brunt all advanced to the second day of the tournament. They were a combined 0-7 Saturday.Jones was 6-2 over the two days with four pins and a technical fall to his credit. His match for fifth place Saturday was cancelled and he was awarded a tie because his opponent to-be had already wrestled the limit of five matches in one day.Blank finished 5-4. One of his defeats was to eventual champ Erik Nye of Red Bluff, who is the No. 3 ranked high school senior wrestler in the nation at 215 pounds by the National High School Coaches Association. Nye pinned Blank late in the second round."For getting started late in the year, Derek Jones and Eric Blank did a pretty good job for us," Lynch said. "It was a real good experience for our young kids. They got a chance to see high-caliber wrestling and see what it's like to be in a big tournament."Woodcreek's Amy Red Horse competed in a different tournament over the weekend, finishing third at the all-female Northeastern California Invitational at Vallejo High. That result qualified her to return to Vallejo High this Friday and Saturday for another all-girls event, the California Invitational, billed by meet organizers as the toughest girls tournament in the state.