WINNEMUCCA - It wasn't quite as easy as many thought it would be as the Lowry High School wrestling team looked to extend its dual streak to 67 against Churchill County on Thursday night in Winnemucca.
Despite some tense moments, the Buckaroos used five forfeits to their advantage to beat the Greenwave 49-26 to keep the second-longest dual win streak in Nevada history alive.
"We are fortunate we had some points to play with," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "We lost a couple of matches by pin that we shouldn't of. We can't afford to do that in a close dual."
Kevin Blanco at 106 pounds, Daniel Pollock (113), Beau Billingsley (152), Anthony Hummel (220) and Luis Cardenas provided Lowry with 30 points by not even hitting the mat.
Lowry led 12-0 after the first two matches were won by forfeit, when Churchill County won the next two matches to cut the gap to 12-9. The Greenwave's Sam Goings beat Eric Brooks 1-0 at 120 pounds. Churchill County's Anthony Sabatino followed up with a win by pin over Nate Nelson at 126 pounds.
Aaron Nelson put Lowry back on the winning track at 132 pounds as he beat Nathan Heck 3-0 to make the score 15-9. The Greenwave tied the dual at 15-15, when David Hughes pinned Lane Mentaberry 30 seconds into the second period with Mentaberry leading 2-0.
Lowry took control of the dual from there, winning four matches in a row starting with Brandon Okuma at 145 pounds. The Buckaroo junior beat Trae Workman 11-5.
After Billingsley won his match by forfeit, Donovan Brumm came through with a pin 65 seconds into his match. Lowry picked up a boost at 170 pounds, with the return of three-time state champion Michael Billingsley. The senior has been out of the lineup since the opening week of the season after knee surgery. Billingsley had little trouble in beating Dakota Schelling by pin with 14 seconds left in the period. That win gave Lowry a 37-18 lead.
"It was good to have Michael back in the lineup," added the coach. "Anytime you can stick a three-time state champion back in the lineup it's a good thing. We just need to get him back in wrestling shape."
Churchill County grabbed the next two wins as Jesse Francki pinned Jed Johnson at 182 pounds and Dalton Johnson beat Tytin Johnson 17-2 at 195 pounds.
"It was the first time we put Tytin against Dalton," Brooks said. "We know everything Dalton is going to do. You can't tie up against him. He makes a living on one move. We will work with Tytin and see what we can do."
The Buckaroos increased their margin of victory with Hummel and Cardenas winning the last two matches by pin.
Lowry travels to Spring Creek this weekend for the Kiwanis Invitational, which includes a number of teams from Idaho.
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