The Kiwanis Invitational in Spring Creek has been considered one of the toughest wrestling tournaments in Nevada. A number of teams from Idaho, southern Nevada and northern Nevada powers make the trip to eastern Nevada.
After the 2013 event was all but wiped out due to Mother Nature, the 2014 event was back to normal. Twenty eight teams took part in the two-day event last weekend, with a familiar winner.
Lowry High School dominated the invitational, winning by nearly 100 points at 301.50. Reno was second at 204.50 and Caldwell, Idaho, was third with 198.50 points. Spring Creek (187) and Virgin Valley (160.50) rounded out the top five. Lowry's Gold team placed 18th with 52 points.
"It was back to being the same tough tournament," said LHS coach John Brooks. "We cane out and wrestled well, which was nice to see. We got some good wins and let a couple get away from us. It was a chance to see Spring Creek and Virgin Valley. I think Virgin Valley can be a wild card at the end of the year."
Nate Nelson (126), Eric Brooks (132), Beau Billingsley (170) and Luis Cardenas (285) all claimed first-place honors for Lowry.
Nelson opened his tournament by defeating Hugo Lara of Jerome, Idaho by pin 59 seconds into the second period. The sophomore won by pin in the round of 16 against Reno's Raul Cruz and picked up a 13-2 win over Reed's Chase Holt in the quarterfinals.
Nelson continued his run though the bracket with a 6-4 victory over Battle Mountain's Andrew Cox and he won the title by pin against Atwanzo Manzanares of Caldwell, Idaho.
Brooks came in as the top seed in his weight class and the senior opened with a fall victory over Wells' Paul Moschetti. Brooks beat North Valley's Matthew Johnson 16-2 and pinned Reed's Cameron Jones to reach the semifinals.
Brooks knocked off Koy Meredith of Minico, Idaho, 9-1 in the semis and squeaked out a 2-1 win over Virgin Valley's Hunter Woods.
Billingsley had little trouble on his way to the 170-pound title, winning his first four matches by pin. The junior disposed of Reno's Austin Lemons in the first round, Yerington's Austin Schelgemilch in the round of 16, Elko's Jake Pengally in the quarterfinals and Reed's Erik Stockwell in the semifinals. The two-time defending state champion won the tournament with a 9-2 decision over Reno's Terry Mason.
Cardenas picked up a bye into the round of 16, where he beat teammate Seth Scott by pin in 32 seconds. The junior reached the semifinals with a 9-1 win over Jacob Yruegas of Nyssa, Ore., and he beat Kegan Lucker of Twin Falls, 22 seconds into the second period. Cardenas closed out the weekend by pinning Spring Creek's Jake Roumanos.
"I was really happy with how Nate wrestled," Brooks said. "He hasn't wrestled with the varsity team all year and got a lower seed. When I saw the bracket, I knew it would be good for him. That was really big. Eric looked good and Beau finally got that monkey off his back with the win over Terry. Luis is still looking good."
Brandon Okuma (152), Tytin Johnson (195) and Anthony Hummel (220) picked up runner-up finishes for the Buckaroos.
Okuma started the weekend off with a win by pin over Twin Falls' Sam Nelson. The senior defeated Spring Creek's Anthony Collins and teammate Tristen Waller to reach the semifinals. Okuma won by decision over Jerome's Kadin Williams 5-2. The senior lost 7-6 with no time left off on the clock in the final against Virgin Valley's Broc Smith.
"It was close match," Brooks said. "It could have gone either way. The referee made a call at the end and went against us. Brandon just can't put himself in that spot."
Johnson, the second seed, didn't wrestle until the round of 16, where he pinned Virgin Valley's Jacob Colburn in 67 seconds. The senior knocked off Wells' Jake Witte and Jerome's Bruno Garay to reach the finals. Johnson was defeated 6-2 by Reno's Sullivan Cauley in the championship.
Hummel pinned Battle Mountain's Cooper Burkhart and Reed's Calvin Cox to advance to the semifinals. Hummel then pinned Reno's Felix Torres to reach the finals, where he lost to Twin Falls' Garrett Pirtie.
Lane Mentaberry (145) finished third and Gabe Molina (138) and Jed Johnson (182) were fourth. Trase Bell (106) fifth and Kevin Blanco (120) was sixth. Chris Karchella (220) was sixth for the Lowry Gold.
Lowry travels to Fernley Friday and Saturday for the Vaquero Invitational.
"We still have a lot to do yet," Brooks said. "There will be some good teams in Fernley. Like I told the kids, we haven't won anything yet. We need to keep working and get better."[[In-content Ad]]
