WINNEMUCCA - With the postseason just a couple of weeks away, the Lowry High School wrestling squad is staking its claim as the best team in northern Nevada, regardless of classification.
The Buckaroo dominance continued this past weekend, as nine wrestlers reached the finals, with five winning first-place honors at the Vaquero Invitational in Fernley.
The Buckaroos placed 13 wrestlers in the top five, easily winning the team championship with 311 points. Spanish Springs and Carson of the Division I North were second and third, respectively, at 256 and 183. Reno, another Division I school, was fourth at 153 and Pershing County rounded out the top five at 132. Fernley was the next Division I-A team in the standings in sixth with 122.50 points.
"It was a good showing for us," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "We had a great showing in the semifinal round. It was unbelievable. We were actually behind Spanish Springs going into the semifinals. At the end of it we were up by 60 points. It was just a great round. That's what you want to see at this time of the year."
Lowry's five champions included Daniel Pollock at 113 pounds, Eric Brooks at (120), Aaron Nelson (132), Michael Billingsley (170) and Luis Cardenas (285).
"It was a pretty good weekend when you place that many kids," Brooks said. "This was our last chance to see the bigger schools. This is a tournament that gives you one last shot at seeing if you made any gains and separates you from the others."
Pollock breezed through the early rounds of the 113-pound bracket on his way to the finals against Fernley's Ernesto Garcia. The senior found himself in a battle in the finals, pulling out a 2-1 decision over the Vaquero grappler.
Pollock made his way into the championship with a 10-1 win over Hug High School's Adrian Rodriguez. Pollock started off the tournament with wins over Reno's Raul Cruz and Battle Mountain's Tristen Payne.
"Daniel continues to wrestle well," Brooks said. "He had a pretty good battle with Ernesto. I am sure they will see each other a couple of more times."
Brooks claimed his first tournament title of the season as he continues to battle back from a kidney injury he suffered during the football season.
The junior breezed through his first three matches, pinning Fernley's Chris Neiman, Yerington's Paul Swirsky and Reed's Gavin Heit.
Brooks collected a 5-3 decision over Spanish Springs' Tyler Poalilo in the semifinals, and he pinned Carson's Kyle Sharp with 30 seconds left to win the championship.
"For what he has gone through, I am pretty happy for him," said the coach. He is starting to get back in shape and beat a quality kid in the finals. Kyle will probably win his weight class in the Division I regional.
Aaron Nelson won his first career tournament by pinning Yerington's Reese Neville in the second period of the championship match.
Nelson pinned Spanish Springs' Cameron Busby and Hug's Aldon Kaluan in the same 66 seconds in his first two matches. The junior defeated Carson Cole McCarthy 4-2 to reach the finals. McCarthy was the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
"He has been battling for a long time," Brooks said. "He has been working his tail off in practice. It's good to see him get paid off. If he keeps wrestling like he has, he will get rewarded."
Billingsley earned his second tournament win of the year, after coming off knee surgery, which kept him out of the lineup for much of the year.
Billingsley opened the tournament by beating Churchill County's Dakota Schelling 20-5. He went on to pin Carson's Nathan White and Reno's Bryce Cartlidge.
He had little trouble for much of the weekend. His closest match was in the semifinals, where he defeated Carson's Jordan Luhrs by a 12-6 decision. The senior, who is looking to become a four-time state champion, won his title with an 18-7 win over Reno's Terence Mason.
Cardenas continued his successful sophomore campaign as he defeated Spanish Springs' Chase Hauder in the 285-pound finals. Cardenas had little trouble on his way to the finals.
"Michael is starting to come along," Brooks said. "I have seen him make some gains in the last couple of weeks. He will tell you he is not where he was a year ago. He will get there."
The Buckaroos had another four wrestlers finish second, including Kevin Blanco (106), Beau Billingsley (160), Kirk Berentsen (152) and Cody Andersen (220).
Blanco won his first match by disqualification over Reed's Chase Heit and reached the semifinal by pinning Carson's Caeden Lehman in 57 seconds.
In the semifinals, Blanco narrowly defeated Manogue's Bailey Right 3-2 before falling 5-1 to Elko's Aram Villegas.
"I am normally a coach that doesn't watch film," Brooks added. "But I am going to watch this match again. Kevin beat him earlier in the year and the Elko kid has won the last two matches. This is a big weight class for us. You want to get the seeding just right."
Berentsen moved into the 152-pound weight class for the weekend and upset Yerington's Josh Lauderdale 9-0 in the semifinals. Lauderdale was the No. 2 seed in the weight class. Berentsen met up with Yerington's Salyas Conner in the final and lost by pin in the second period.
Beau Billingsley moved up a weight class to 160 pounds ran into Pershing County's Jared Jensen in the finals again. Jensen used the same move in the match to score five points apiece to earn the victory.
Billingsley defeated his teammate Donovan Brumm in the opening round and picked up three more victories over Pershing County's Jameson Shirley, Spanish Springs' Kevin Avalos and Spanish Springs' Justin Shaffer.
"Jared has a move that he likes and he caught Beau a couple of times," added the coach. "Jared is a quality kid and a loss for Beau isn't a bad thing."
Andersen had another strong weekend for Lowry, as he reached
the finals before losing to Wooster's Omar Torres at 220 pounds.
Jed Johnson (182) and Tytin Johnson (195) placed fourth for the Buckaroos and Gabe Molina (126) and Blake Duncan (145) finished fifth.
Lowry's Gold team placed seventh as a team with 97 points and four wrestlers finished in the top six. Trase Bell (106) was fourth and Alec Mayo (170), Blake Hillyer (182) and Mikea Somers (285) all placed sixth.
"That team has been wrestling hard all year," said the coach. "It's good to see that out of those kids. They will have to step up for us in the future."
The Buckaroos travel to Spring Creek for the Division I-A North Duals today and Saturday. Lowry currently has a 67-match win streak in duals, which is the second longest streak in Nevada history.
Those dual results will determine the seeding for the Division I-A Regional Tournament to be held Friday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb. 2, in Winnemucca.
"I think we have put ourselves in a good position in the state tournament," Brooks said. "As long as we don't have any let downs. It all starts this week. If we have a good two days this weekend we will be in good shape. The kids have to understand a loss to someone you should not lose to will hurt them down the road."
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