WINNEMUCCA - While the other half of the squad was in Nampa, Idaho, for the Rollie Lane Invitational, a second group of Lowry High School wrestlers made the trip west for the Sparks Invitational last weekend.
The Buckaroos had eight grapplers finish in the top six of their respective weight classes en route to placing sixth out of 21 teams.
McQueen High School won the tournament, while fellow Division I North schools North Valleys and Spanish Springs were second and third. Yerington and Churchill County rounded out the top five.
"It was a good tournament for us," said LHS coach Brant Corak. "We were in second for pretty much all of the first day. We had a bad round in the semifinals and that hurt us. Overall, we are still competing. All of the teams look at our second team and it is a goal for them to beat us."
Gabe Molina posted the best finish for the Buckaroos as he placed third. Tyler Benson, Kirk Berentsen, Alec Mayo and Anthony Hummel all placed fourth. Michael Venzor finished fifth and Cameron Okuma and Mikea Somers each placed sixth.
"The biggest thing I saw was that we need to battle better," Corak said. "We have all the technique in the world, but technique can take you just so far. We need to fight for the little points. That is something we need to work on. When we came in Monday (head) coach John (Brooks) really ratcheted up the practice to address that."
Lowry travels to Spring Creek today and Saturday for the Kiwanis Invitational.
"For some of the kids that are not going to the regional, they have a couple of weeks left in the season," Corak said. "A lot of them probably don't realize it. For some it's a chance to be one of the four extra wrestlers you can take to the regional. I would be one of those kids that doesn't want my season to end."
[[In-content Ad]]
