WINNEMUCCA - Even though the Lowry High School wrestling team has won a state-record 15 state championships, including the last five in a row, there is always room for improvement.
The Buckaroos traveled to Fallon this past weekend for the Earl Wilkens/Lee Riggins Memorial Tournament. Lowry extended its dual winning streak to 82 with seven wins. The streak is the second-longest in state history, behind Yerington's 107.
However, the Buckaroos may have found a team that they will have to battle all season in host Churchill County. Even though Lowry won the dual 52-27, the Greenwave picked up key wins over the Buckaroos.
"I knew they were going to be a good team," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "I watched them grow up through the younger programs and now they are making their way to high school. They won three matches right off the bat against some of our top guys. They had to forfeit three matches due to not having wrestlers. It will be a dog fight when they have everybody. They certainly have my attention and respect and I think the kids know that as well. We have to get back to work and get after it."
Lowry began the tournament on Friday, Dec. 6, with a victory over Incline, which included wrestlers from other schools to fill the roster. The Buckaroos followed that up with a 56-18 win over Elko and finished the day with a 74-6 victory over the Churchill County JV and 78-6 against Dayton. The only points that Churchill County and Dayton scored were forfeits by Lowry at 113 pounds. The Buckaroos did not fill that weight during the weekend.
On Saturday, Lowry opened with the 52-27 win against Churchill County and closed out the day with a 64-12 victory over Spanish Springs and a 67-12 over Yerington.
"There weren't a lot of strong teams there, but there were some excellent wrestlers," Brooks said. "We saw some of those wrestlers, which was nice. Not filling a weight class hurts you and hopefully we can get that fixed soon. I would like to have gotten more mat time, but overall it was not too bad."
The Buckaroos picked up five pins in the win over Elko, including Trase Bell (106), Gabe Molina (132), Eric Brooks (138), Brandon Okuma (160) and Tytin Johnson (195). Anthony Hummel (220) and Luis Cardenas (285) won by forfeit. Aaron Nelson at 145 pounds won 9-0, Lane Mentaberry (152) claimed a 4-0 victory and Beau Billingsley (170) and Jed Johnson (182) also won by decision.
Just two matches went the distance against the Churchill County JV, with Blake Hillyer and Nelson winning by decision. The rest of the matches were won by forfeit or pin. None of the matches against Dayton went the full three periods.
The Buckaroos found themselves in trouble against the Churchill County varsity squad on Saturday. The Greenwave won the first three matches to lead 15-0. Trey Workman, Cameron Matzen and Sam Goings defeated Lowry's Nelson, Mentaberry and Okuma, respectively.
The Buckaroos regained the momentum at 170 pounds and won the next six matches. Ryan Rasmussen started the rally with a forfeit win and Billingsley and Tytin Johnson countered with victories by pin. Hummel won by forfeit at 220 pounds and Cardenas and Bell pinned their opponents to give Lowry a 36-15 lead.
The teams traded forfeits at 113 and 120 pounds and the Buckaroos picked up wins from Molina and Brooks at 132 and 138 pounds, respectively, to seal the win.
"If Fallon can gel together, they will be contenders," Brooks said. "It might be a good thing that some of our guys got beat. You will probably see the intensity level go up from us. Hopefully, that woke us up."
Lowry lost just two matches on the mat the rest of the day, one each to Spanish Springs and Yerington.
The Buckaroos are at home this weekend for the Cody Louk Invitational at the Winnemucca Event Center. Action gets underway at 2 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Lowry stays at home on Tuesday for a dual match with Battle Mountain at 5 p.m.
"We weathered it and came out on top," Brooks said. "Boy, we have work to and we need to get a lot better. The middle weights this year are going to be tough."
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