If you were looking for drama last weekend at the Division I-A North duals in Fernley, the Lowry High School wrestling team left you disappointed.
The Buckaroos cruised to eight victories in the two-day event to win their sixth consecutive division championship. Lowry has now won 93 consecutive duals, the second longest streak in Nevada history. Yerington is first with 107, which lasted from 1971-79. The Buckaroos are also sixth and seventh on the all-time list with 42 and 40 straight wins.
Lowry defeated South Tahoe 82-0, Elko 62-12, Spring Creek 50-12, Fernley 60-10 and Sparks 80-0 on the first day of duals on Feb. 7. The Buckaroos opened Saturday's action with an 84-0 win against Truckee and they also beat Churchill County 60-21 and Dayton 81-0.
"The kids took care of themselves for the most part and we put ourselves in a pretty good position for the regional tournament," said LHS coach John Brooks. "We just have to maintain that momentum and not slip up in the next two weeks."
Seven Lowry wrestlers went 8-0, on the weekend and earned top seeds for this weekend's Division I-A North Regional tournament in Sparks.
Those grapplers included Trase Bell (106), Kevin Blanco (120), Eric Brooks (132), Brandon Okuma (152), Beau Billingsley (170), Tytin Johnson (195) and Luis Cardenas (285).
Iggy Medina (112), Nate Nelson (126), Lane Mentaberry (145) and Jed Johnson (182) went 7-1, and will be second seeds. Gabe Molina (138), Shaun Mentaberry (160) and Anthony Hummel (220) were 6-2 and will be seeded third.
Lowry won five of its 14 matches by forfeit against South Tahoe, with eight others won by pin. Nelson, Brooks, Molina, Okuma, Shaun Mentaberry, Billingsley, Jed Johnson, Tytin Johnson and Cardenas earned victories by fall. The only match that went the distance was Lane Mentaberry's 145-pound bout, where he beat Michael Crandall 13-1.
Elko claimed just two wins at 113 pounds and 160, as the Buckaroos won five matches by pin, five by decision and two by forfeits.
Lowry fell behind 6-0 to Spring Creek, as Sheldon Davis knocked Molina to begin the dual. The Buckaroos won the next six matches, beginning with Lane Mentaberry beating Anthony Barrington 5-2.
"That was a good win for Gabe," Brooks said. "He is been wrestling well all season. He has done a good job filling in for Aaron (Nelson). Aaron is back this week, but we will see how he does."
Okuma, Shaun Mentaberry, Billingsley, Jed Johnson and Tytin Johnson followed with wins to push the advantage to 25-6. Spring Creek's Jake Roumanos won at 220 pounds for the only other points for the Spartans. Roumanos just recently dropped from 285 pounds. Lowry closed out the dual with six consecutive wins by Cardenas, Bell, Medina, Blanco, Nelson and Brooks.
Lowry had little trouble against Fernley, winning 12 of the 14 matches. The Vaqueros claimed victories at 160 pounds and 182 pounds.
The Buckaroos finished up the first day of the duals against Sparks, winning all 14 of the matches, including five by forfeit and seven others by pin.
"I was surprised Sparks moved up their 145-pounder to 152 pounds," Brooks said. "He could have been strong in that weight class and Brandon handled him at 152 pounds."
Lowry lost just four matches in its three duals on the second day of action. All of those defeats came at the hands of Churchill County.
The Buckaroos had won every match by forfeit against Truckee, as the Wolverines' 132-pounder was injured and could not wrestle.
The Buckaroos shut out Dayton as well, winning nine matches by pin or decision and five more by forfeit.
Lowry travels to Sparks for the Division I-A North Regional Championships, which gets under way at 3 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Buckaroos will take four extra wrestlers as non scorers including Nate Nelson (132), Molina (138), Tristen Waller (152), Blake Duncan (160). Molina will become a scorer if Aaron Nelson can't wrestle.
The top four placers in each weight class advance to the Division I-A State Championships, which will be held Feb. 22 at The Star of the Desert Arena in Primm.
"I was happy with our showing but haven't done anything yet," Brooks said. "We still have work to do in the next couple of weeks."[[In-content Ad]]
