WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School wrestling team can check off the first box on the list of goals for the season.
The Buckaroos dominated the competition at the Division I-A North duals last weekend in Spring Creek, sweeping all eight of their duals to claim the division championship.
Lowry has won 75 consecutive duals, the second longest streak in Nevada history, and trails Yerington, who won 107 consecutive duals from 1971-79. The Buckaroos are also sixth and seventh on the all-time list with 42 and 40 straight wins.
Lowry defeated Sparks 81-0, Elko 72-10, Spring Creek 51-25, Fernley 64-10 and Sparks 81-0 on the first day of duals on Friday, Jan. 25. The Buckaroos opened Saturday's action with an 84-0 win against Truckee and also beat Churchill County 67-9 and Dayton 82-0.
"I thought we wrestled fairly well," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "We put ourselves in a pretty good position for the regional tournament. It will follow you all the way to the end. You just don't want to end up on the wrong side of the bracket."
However, the score with Churchill County changed slightly as one of the Greenwave wrestlers will have to forfeit all of his Saturday matches due to missing weight. The NIAA ruled on the case on Wednesday and the rest of the Greenwave wrestling team will not have to forfeit its matches for being late to weigh-ins.
"After agreeing to hear an appeal and then following up with extensive research regarding our original decision to have Churchill County's wrestlers forfeit Saturday's (league dual) matches due to a missed weigh-in time," said NIAA assistant director Donnie Nelson in an email to respective Division I-A coaches and administrators, we have decided to rescind that original decision but with the following stipulations."
The one CCHS individual who did not make weight is not affected by this new ruling. Sam Goings, at 113 pounds, will still be required to forfeit his Saturday matches (but a "common sense" seeding criteria should still be considered, if even valid, when creating that region tournament's particular bracket this weekend). Other CCHS wrestlers will be allowed to count their Saturday matches for seeding purposes (forfeits thus waived). Coach Mitch (Overlie) will be required to sit out Friday but have full coaching eligibility on Saturday.
Six Lowry wrestlers went 8-0, on the weekend and earned top seeds for this weekend's Division I-A North Regional tournament in Winnemucca.
Those grapplers included Brandon Okuma (145), Beau Billingsley (152 pounds), Michael Billingsley (170), Tytin Johnson (195), Cody Andersen (220) and Luis Cardenas (285).
"We have had some pretty good strength at our heavier weights," Brooks said. "We have a sophomore sitting at 152 pounds and at 285 pounds. That is nice to have as a coach. That's what you need to build a program."
Daniel Pollock (112) went 7-1, with his only loss to Goings by a 7-3 decision. Using the "common sense" rule, it is still possible for Goings to have the top seed.
Kevin Blanco (106), Eric Brooks (120), Aaron Nelson (132), Kirk Berentsen (160) and Jed Johnson (182) all went 7-1 and will be No. 2 seeds
"Kirk came in and has filled an important role for us," added the coach. "We needed someone to step into that weight class and he has done that. Jed picked up a good win over a Churchill County kid."
Gabe Molina (126) went 6-2 over the two days, with his two losses to Robert White of Churchill County and Tyler Tate of Springs Creek.
Lane Mentaberry was 5-3 and will be the No. 4 seed, but will likely move to the third seed as his match against Churchill County will be reversed.
Lowry won seven of its 14 matches by forfeit against Sparks, with five others won by pin. Blanco, Brooks, Beau Billingsley, Michael Billingsley, Andersen and Cardenas earned the victories by fall. The only match that went the distance was Okuma's 145-pound bout, where he beat Mario Guadron 9-4.
Lowry had little trouble against Elko, winning 12 of the 14 matches by pin or forfeit. The Indians claimed victories at 106 pounds with Adam Villegas and Wade Fry at 138 pounds.
In the most anticipated dual of the year, Spring Creek scored the first six points on a victory by Layton Perry, but it was all Lowry after that.
The Buckaroos won the next 10 matches to take a commanding 51-6 lead. Okuma, Jed Johnson and Blanco won by decision, while Pollock, Beau Billingsley, Berentsen, Johnson, Michael Billingsley, Tytin Johnson and Cardenas winning by fall.
Lowry continued its dominance against Fernley, won 12 of the 14 matches. Three matches went the distance with Blanco winning 11-2, Mentaberry 2-1 and Beau Billingsley 9-4. The Vaqueros won their bouts at 160 and 182 pounds, respectively.
The Buckaroos finished up the first day of the duals against Sparks, winning 14 of the matches, including half by forfeit and six others by pin.
Lowry lost just two matches in its three duals on the second day of action. Both of those defeats came at the hands of Churchill County.
The Buckaroos had only two matches against Truckee and five matches against Dayton
Lowry hosts the Division I-A North regional tournament, which gets under way at 3 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday at the Winnemucca Event Center.
"The other thing we are overlooking is that there will be some wrestlers we have no idea about," Brooks said. "There will be some wild cards. There could be some that could blindslide you. Everybody has their studs. It will be the kids that you don't read or hear about that will make the difference."
The top four placers in each weight class advance to the Division I state tournament, which will be held Feb. 8 - 9 at the
Reno Livestock Events Center.
"We still have a couple of weeks to go and have not won anything yet," Brooks said. "We just have to stay focused on what is in front of us. There is still work to do and we can not rest on what we have done."
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