With the end of the season quickly approaching, the Lowry High School wrestling team is fine-tuning its skills in the hopes of a seventh consecutive state championship.
The Buckaroos continued on their roll this past Saturday, easily winning the Douglas Lions Club Invitational in Minden with 261.50 points. McQueen was second with 167 points and Churchill County (112) was third. Douglas (96) and North Valleys (92) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lowry had six individual champions and two others that finished in the runner-up spot.
"It's wasn't as strong of a tournament that we are used to going at this time of the year," said LHS coach John Brooks. "In the same token, it is nice to see some of these kids win a tournament because they work their butt off in practice. It is a good reward for them."
Nathen Blanco claimed a title at 113 pounds, pinning South Tahoe's Addison Day 38 seconds into the championship bout. Blanco received a bye in round one and pinned Wooster's Cameron Boston in the first period. Blanco picked another pin over Beau Villarreal of North Valleys in the semifinals.
"He has been working hard and it was a good day for him," Brooks said.
Trase Bell (120) had an easy day as well, pinning Douglas' Ryan Adams and Reed's Lukas Yagi to reach the finals. Bell knocked off Pershing County's Riley Kendall 10-2 to win the weight class.
Gabe Molina (132) was named one of the most outstanding wrestlers on his way to the championship. Molina pinned Wooster's John Martel and Pershing County's Bo Kendall to reach the semifinals. The senior notched a 14-5 win over Yerington's Cade Draper in the semis and Molina pinned Galena's Atlas Fagg in the second period in the finals.
Nate Nelson (138) continued his strong season and went 3-0 on the day. Nelson pinned Gage Millard of North Valleys in the quarterfinals and collected a 15-2 decision over Spanish Springs' Scott Giordano in the semifinals. The senior defeated McQueen's Auddie Sweet 5-1 in the final.
"Nate has been wrestling well all year," Brooks said. "The win in the final was against a quality kid that was in the Division I state tournament."
Beau Billingsley (182) was the second Lowry wrestler to earn the most outstanding wrestling award. In his opening bout, Billingsley beat Churchill County's Juan Ledesma 17-2 and pinned Reed's Austin Cardwell-Rutt in the first period in the semifinals. The three-time state champion needed just 64 seconds to pin Galena's Elijah Rogers for the title.
Luis Cardenas (285) rounded out the sixth Buckaroo champion, beating McQueen's Damon Ramos 3-1 in the final. It took Cardenas just 23 seconds to win his first match by pin over Churchill County's Garrett Snooks. In the semifinals, Cardenas pinned Spanish Springs' Tyler Barats with six seconds left in the second period.
Brian Day placed second at 106 pounds, falling to Spanish Springs' Cody Jones in the final. Day knocked off teammate Matthew Souza in the quarterfinals and he collected a 6-2 decision over Churchill County's Terry White in the semifinals.
Kevin Blanco (126) also placed second, picking up wins over William Williams of Douglas and Reed's Austin Martinez. Blanco was matched up with North Valleys' Max Welch and lost 8-2.
Shaun Mentaberry (160), Tristen Waller (170) and Blake Hillyer (220) finished third for the Buckaroos. Mentaberry and Waller each made it to the championship semifinals, before suffering their first loss. Hillyer was knocked off in the championship quarterfinals, but came back to win his final four matches to finish third.
Anthony Hummel (195) went 2-2 on the day and placed fourth.
Lowry will take a step up in competition this weekend at the Kiwanis Invitational in Spring Creek. A handful of schools from southern Nevada, as well as Idaho, will be at the tournament.
"This is a big week," Brooks said. "We will see where we measure up. This will be a pretty good indication of what we have in front of us. This will not be a tournament where you are not going to have six champions. You are going to have guys wrestling back through the consolation bracket and scoring points that way. If we don't show up, we will be in trouble."[[In-content Ad]]
