In its final tournament test before the postseason, the Lowry High School wrestling team came away with an 18.5-point victory over Spanish Springs to win the Vaquero Classic championship last weekend in Fernley.
The Buckaroo dominance continued, as five wrestlers reached the finals, with three winning first-place honors. Lowry placed 13 wrestlers in the top five in the 32-team tournament. Eleven of the 12 teams from the Division I North participated.
Carson of Division I North was third with 220.5 points and Churchill County (169.5) and Battle Mountain (133) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
"We had a good medal round, which helped us," said LHS coach John Brooks. "There was some good wrestling throughout the weekend. Spanish Springs and Carson are tough and Churchill County can be a dangerous team. There were a few matches that we weren't aggressive and it cost us."
Lowry's two champions were Beau Billingsley (170) and Luis Cardenas (285).
Billingsley cruised into the semifinals with two wins by pin and advanced to the finals by pinning Wooster's Joey Pearson in a little over 90 seconds. The two-time defending state champion pinned North Valleys' Mason Myer in the second period. For his effort, Billingsley was named outstanding wrestler in the upper weight classes.
Cardenas continued his successful junior campaign as he defeated Spanish Springs' Chase Hauder in the 285-pound finals in 53 seconds. Cardenas had little trouble on his way to the finals, winning his first two matches in 29 and 24 seconds. Cardenas' longest match of the weekend happened in the semifinals, when he pinned Reed's Damon Gebhardt in 88 seconds.
"Those two keep on wrestling well," Brooks said. "No one really challenged them all weekend."
Brandon Okuma (152), Shaun Mentaberry (160) and Tytin Johnson (195) finished in the runner-up spot for the Buckaroos.
Okuma made his way into the semifinals with a pin and a 9-1 decision. The senior earned a 4-0 victory over South Tahoe's Andrew Herrera in the semifinals, before losing to Yerington's Reese Neville 7-3 in the title match.
Mentaberry used a 7-6 win over Fernley's Anfernee Sloan to advance to the finals, where he lost to Battle Mountain's Jeff Oakes.
"It was good to see that kind of finish from Shaun," Brooks said. "He is a kid we are going to need in the final few weeks. He was able to beat Sloan, who has beat him all year. He ran into a tough kid in Oakes."
Johnson used three pins to get into the finals, including one over teammate Bryan Ramos to reach the championship. The senior was defeated 10-2 by Spanish Springs' Brik Chesley.
Eric Brooks (132), Gabe Molina (138) and Jed Johnson (182) finished third for Lowry.
Brooks cruised in the first three rounds at 132 pounds, but lost 5-3 to eventual champion Max McReynolds of Bishop Manogue. The senior bounced back to beat Yerington's Beau Barrett 4-0.
Molina reached the quarterfinals with two decisions but lost to Carson's Nicholas Lani in the quarterfinals. Molina bounced back to beat Pershing County's Angel Ramirez and Spanish Springs' Cole Drescher.
Trase Bell (106) finished fourth and Nate Nelson (126) and Anthony Hummel (220) were fifth,
Lowry's Gold team placed 12th with 82 points and two wrestlers finished in the top four, including Bryan Ramos (195) in third and Blake Duncan (160) in fourth.
"We have done a lot of wrestling in the past month," Brooks said. "It's time to get the kids ready for the final few weeks of the year. We have made a nice push, but we haven't won anything yet. We still have work to do. No one is going to give anything to us."
Lowry travels to Yerington on Saturday for the Yerington Invitational, beginning at 9 a.m.[[In-content Ad]]
