WINNEMUCCA - It was suppose to be the first of hopefully two championship performances in front of the home crowd, but the Lowry High School wrestling team will just have to settle for the Division I-A North regional title.
The Buckaroos captured their 18th regional title, the most in Nevada history, last Saturday at the Winnemucca Event Center, scoring 294.50 points. Lowry finished with six champions and had 11 wrestlers in the finals.
Spring Creek was second with 205 points, Churchill County was a distant third with 195 and Fernley and Elko rounded out the top five with 152 and 139 points, respectively.
Lowry qualified 17 of their 18 wrestlers (all 14 scorers) for the state tournament.
That state tournament was originally scheduled for Winnemucca this weekend, only to have the NIAA move the championship to the Reno Livestock Events Center due to the lack of hotel and motel rooms to house the wrestlers in Winnemucca. The Buckaroos will attempt to win a record 15th state championship in the process.
"It was a good weekend for us," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "We had a great semifinal round and that is what won it for us. It's nice to have 11 in the finals and have six champions. I was hoping to get a couple of more. Hopefully, we will have another round like that in Reno. It's different this year. You just can't concentrate on the kids you know. With all the new schools in the south, it is a wild card in the tournament."
Daniel Pollock (113), Brandon Okuma (145), Beau Billingsley (160), Michael Billingsley (170), Cody Andersen (220) and Luis Cardenas (285) all won individual titles.
"Brandon showed up and had a good weekend," Brooks said. "Daniel wrestled well and after he got up in the championship, Goings was done with him."
Pollock picked up a bye in the first round and needed just two wins to claim the 113-pound championship. He defeated South Tahoe's Kalen Ippolito 3-2 in the semifinals and Churchill County's Sam Goings 13-3 in the title bout.
Okuma had to go a round further with more wrestlers in his weight class to earn his title at 145 pounds. The junior pinned Ivan Garcia and Rodrick Pooi in the first two rounds to reach the semifinals.
From there he earned a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Churchill County's Trae Workman and followed that up with a 9-5 win over Sparks' Mario Guadron in the finals.
Beau Billingsley cruised to the 160-pound championship in three matches, as he beat Spring Creek's Derrik Neislen by pin in the first round of the quarterfinals. The sophomore stopped Churchill County's Hunter Mori by a second-round pin in the semifinals and beat Fernley's Andrew Nelson 13-6 in the finals.
After receiving a first-round bye, Michael Billingsley easily won all three of his matches at 170 pounds, starting in the quarterfinals with a pin over Spring Creek's Joey Halcrow. The senior, who is looking to become the second four-time state champion at Lowry, then beat his teammate Alec Mayo by pin in the semifinals. Billingsley had no trouble with Churchill County's Dakota Schelling, winning by a technical fall at 20-4.
Jace Billingsley, Michael Billingsley's cousin, is the only other four-time state champion at Lowry.
"Michael is getting back to where he needs to be," added the coach. "He has one more week and can become a four-time champion."
Andersen cruised to victory at 220 pounds, taking just 1 minute, 44 seconds to beat Fernley's Julian Franco in the semifinals. The senior finished the weekend by pinning Spring Creek's Jake Roumanos with seven seconds left in the second period in the finals.
Cardenas needed just 19 seconds to pin Manuel Gracia-Bacerra in the quarterfinals at 285 pounds. The sophomore's semifinal match went just four seconds longer as he defeated Churchill County's Wyatt Hampton. Cardenas earned his first regional title by pinning Spring Creek's Zach Freeman in the first period of the finals.
Kevin Blanco (106), Eric Brooks (120), Aaron Nelson (132), Kirk Berentsen (152) and Tytin Johnson (195) all finished second.
Blanco received a first-round bye and looked sharp in his first match on the weekend, pinning Sparks' Scotty Wages in 62 seconds in the quarterfinals. Blanco needed just 90 seconds to pin Spring Creek's Eric Forstrom in the semifinals, but the sophomore came up short in the finals, losing 9-1 to Elko's Aram Villegas.
Brooks had little trouble in his quarterfinal match, pinning Christopher Neimanin in just less than two minutes. The junior defeated Churchill County's Anthony Sabbatino 14-2 in the semifinals but came up short in the finals, losing by pin to Spring Creek's Sheldon Davis in the championship.
After a first-round bye, Aaron Nelson had to wrestle his younger brother in the quarterfinals, where he won by pin in the second period. The elder Nelson pinned Churchill County's Nathan Heck in the semifinals but lost 12-5 to Spring Creek's Dustin Tripp.
Berentsen pinned Connor Timerson in the quarterfinals, and continued on in the tournament as he pinned Elko's Gage Castagnetti in the second period of the semifinals. The junior reached the finals but lost 8-4 to Fernley's Salyas Conner.
Johnson pinned his first two opponents in the 195-pound weight class, beating Spring Creek's Saxton Carter and Elko's Angel Lievanos. The junior continued his battle with Churchill County's Dalton Johnson in the finals, with the Greenwave grappler claiming the title with a 10-5 victory.
Gabe Molina (126) and Donovan Brumm (160) were third and Nate Nelson (132), Lane Mentaberry (138), Donovan Brumm, Mayo (170) and Jed Johnson (182) were fourth. Nate Nelson, Brumm and Mayo were extra wrestlers entered and could not score any points.
Lowry travels to the Reno Livestock Events Center on Friday and Saturday for the NIAA State Wrestling Tournament presented by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Farmers Insurance. Wrestling gets underway Friday at 1 p.m. and resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.
"The chances of what we did last year will be tougher with the new schools in it this year," Brooks said. "We will try it. We have a good wrestling team. We still have to remember we haven't won anything yet. I wasn't quite sure what I had at the beginning of the year, but these guys have come on throughout the year. I am proud of this bunch. It's nothing but hard work that has gotten them here."
2013 NIAA Division I-A State Tournament
Lowry first-round matches
106: Kevin Blanco vs. Ronnie Mortensen (Boulder City)
113: Daniel Pollock vs. Levi Gundacker (Pahrump Valley)
120: Eric Brooks vs. Jason Arnold (Cheyenne)
126: Gabe Molina vs. Ramon Verduzco (Desert Pines)
132: Aaron Nelson vs. Patrick Garvin (Boulder City); Nate Nelson vs. Trenton Dolby (Faith Lutheran)
138: Lane Mentaberry vs. Jeremiah Rodriguez (Boulder City)
145: Brandon Okuma vs. Ruben Corona (Mojave)
152: Kirk Berentsen vs. Freddie Briones (Chaparral)
160: Beau Billingsley vs. Jared Repp (Moapa Valley); Donovan Brumm vs. Scott Maughan (Pahrump Valley)
170: Michael Billingsley vs. Seth Monahan (Desert Pines); Alec Mayo vs. Carl Trantham-Ramsey (Western)
182: Jed Johnson vs. Allan Isagiurre (Desert Pines)
195: Tytin Johnson vs. Michael Hervis (Clark)
220: Cody Andersen vs. William Dunagan (Boulder City)
285: Luis Cardenas vs. Joseph Tanefski (Boulder City)
[[In-content Ad]]
