For the first time in a number of years it looked as if the Lowry High School wrestling team was going to be challenged at its home Cody Louk Invitational.
Six teams from the Division I North, as well as Middleton, Idaho, made the trip for the two-day tournament. After everything was said and done, the Buckaroos were still able to prevail in easy fashion, winning with 264 points.
Spanish Springs was second with 214.50 points, Carson placed third at 206 and Churchill County (183) and Reno (146.50) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Lowry was without two regulars in its line up in Kevin Blanco and Beau Billingsley, who were taking the ACT test.
However, the Buckaroos had other grapplers step up over the weekend. Lowry had three of the 14 individual championships and three others placed second.
"I was happy with what I saw, especially on day two," said LHS coach John Brooks. "I don't think we wrestled that great on the first day. We had a talk before they left Friday night and the kids responded. We had some guys step up. It helps to know that we have a little more depth than we thought we did. A lot of teams that lose a guy have no one to replace him. We came in and replaced a three-time state champion."
Gabe Molina at 132 pounds, Nate Nelson (138) and Luis Cardenas (285) won their respective weight classes.
Molina won his first two matches by pin over Dayton's Nicholas Langstaff and Hug's Dale Chapman to reach the semifinals. The senior met up with sophomore Fernley's John Hires-Caulk in the semifinals and came away with a another pin. Molina claimed the title in the weight class with a 13-4 win over Carson's Spencer Rogers.
"Gabe looked good all weekend," Brooks said. "He is a tough kid and that was some of the best wrestling I have seen from him."
Nelson had to battle his way to the title in his weight class. The junior beat Spanish Springs' Jacob Griffin 10-2 in the first round. The match was much closer than the score as Nelson scored points late in the match. He recorded a win by pin over Pershing County's Tad Milich in the second round and pulled out a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals over Middelton's Tyler Lucarelli 3-2.
It was a different story on Saturday, as Nelson pinned Reno's Cy Giovanetti and Churchill County's Jack Swisher for the title.
"He was one of those guys that wrestled a lot better on Saturday," said the coach. "He had some struggles on the first day."
Cardenas won three of his four matches by pin on his way to win the 285-pound weight class. However, the senior almost missed his semifinal bout on Saturday.
Cardenas was also taking the ACT, but decided to wrestle as well. As the semifinals were about to conclude, Cardenas raced into the Event Center and reached the table with less than a minute on the clock. If he didn't make it before time expired, he would have had to forfeit the match to teammate Chris Karchella. Cardenas went on to beat Karchella 5-2 and he defeated Spanish Springs' Tyler Barats 14-1 in the final.
Blake Duncan (152), Anthony Hummel (182) and Kelvin Meza (195) finished second for the Buckaroos.
Duncan cruised to three wins on the first day of the tournament, pinning Elko's William Prempeh, Carson's Hector Perez and Spanish Springs' (B) Raphael Andrade. The senior earned a 5-2 decision over Pershing County's Angel Ramirez in the semifinals, but lost 7-2 to Wooster's Christian Hanly in the final.
Hummel dropped down from 195 pounds to take Billingsley's spot and 182.
Hummel had a bye in round one and knocked off Carson's Kevin Rusler 7-3 in round two. Hummel then defeated Middleton's Gabriel Lamas 5-3 in the quarterfinals. The senior beat Wells' Wyatt Gibbs by fall in the semifinals, but lost a 3-2 decision to Battle Mountain's Jeff Oakes in the final.
Meza in turn took Hummel's spot at 195 pounds and after a first-round bye, he knocked off Pershing County's Rhett King and Middleton's Gabriel Lamas to reach the semifinals.
The senior picked up an 11-3 decision over Douglas' Ryland DeSomber in the semifinals, before dropping the final to Carson's Connor Sievers.
"I was pleased with how Hummel came in and filled that spot," Brooks said. "He had a good tournament. Blake and Kelvin wrestled well and that is what we need."
Karchella came back to claim third place at 285 pounds, pinning Carson's Sheldon Miller in 72 seconds. Blake Hillyer (220) posted a fourth-place finish for the Buckaroos. Hillyer lost in the second round of the championship bracket, only to win his next five matches in the consolation bracket. The senior lost the third-place match to Reno's Bryce Cartlidge.
Trase Bell (120) and Tristen Waller (170) placed fifth and Quint Bell (126) was sixth.
Lowry travels to Reno Friday and Saturday for the Reno Tournament of Champions. A second team will travel to Lovelock this weekend.
"We haven't done anything yet," Brooks said. "It's always nice to win your home tournament. "There were some good teams here. Our kids answered the call. It's something they can build on. It will get tougher from here and we still have to get better."
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