LAS VEGAS - Every once in a while you have one of those special teams and that was the case this year for the Lowry High School wrestling team.
The Buckaroos dominated their competition for much of the season, claiming the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho, while finishing third at the Sierra Nevada Classic and seventh at the Reno Tournament of Champions.
Coming into last weekend's NIAA 3A State Championships presented by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Farmers Insurance, the Buckaroos did not disappoint. Lowry won its fourth consecutive state title and 14th overall, tying with Yerington, who also won the 2A state championships this year.
Lowry ran away with the team title on the first day and was never seriously challenged by its competitors at the Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV. The Buckaroos finished with 264 points to beat out rival Spring Creek, who had 154.50. Boulder City, the Southern 3A champion, was third at 131, while Fernley and Churchill County rounded out the top five with 73 and 64 points, respectively. In addition, the Buckaroos were named the academic state champions for a second straight year.
"I am just about speechless and don't know what to say," said LHS head coach John Brooks. "It is just a culmination of a special bunch of kids on a pretty good season. Talking with coach (Jim) Billingsley, you sweat and stress over it, but the kids made it look pretty easy and you have to give them credit. They came in this weekend and took it and it was just unbelievable. They stuck together and I only wish I had this group for one more year."
The Buckaroos transferred 15 wrestlers into the semifinals on Friday night and had 10 grapplers reach the finals, with six winning individual titles in the runaway victory. All 17 wrestlers placed in the top five, including 13 in the first three spots.
Gus Duncan at 145 pounds, Beau Billingsley (152), Jace Billingsley (160), Michael Billingsley (170), Ryan Nelson (182) and Fernando Herrera (285) all claimed individual titles. Jace Billingsley became the first Lowry wrestler to win four individual titles (see front page for story). Michael Billingsley, Duncan and Nelson are all three-time champions and Herrera won his second consecutive title.
Duncan had to wrestle his younger brother, Blake, in the first round and won by pin, setting up a semifinal matchup with Churchill County's Hunter Mori, who he pinned as well. In the final, the senior dominated the action against Sparks' Mario Gaudron, winning by technical fall at 20-5 in the third period.
Freshman Beau Billingsley won a state title in his first year to keep up with his older brother and cousin. The youngest Billingsley was dominant in one of the tougher weight classes. He beat Elko's Kevin Smith by majority decision in the opening round and pinned Spring Creek's Ryan Hoyos in the semifinals and Boulder City's Tyler Washburn, 49 seconds into the second period.
"That is good to see," Brooks said. "We have seniors going away and to have a freshman win it, that is a nice sign. We also had three sophomores in the finals, so we have a good bunch coming back. Beau was in a tough weight class all year."
Michael Billingsley made it three-for three for the family and won his third title and will be a favorite to win his fourth next season. The junior had little trouble with Churchill County's Jesse Francki, winning by fall. Later on Friday night, he beat Elko's Koltin Howe by technical fall and in the finals on Saturday, he went the distance with South Tahoe's Tyler Nesbitt, winning easily 17-5.
"You have two three-time champions right there in Gus and Michael," said the coach. "Michael came out and wrestled hard all season and Gus turned it up to another level at the start of January."
One of the most exciting matches of the finals in any of the classifications was the 182-pound match between Nelson and Spring Creek's Nick CdeBaca. The two wrestled close matches all year and this was no different. CdeBaca gained the early advantage and led 5-0, when Nelson mounted his comeback. The senior came back to tie the match at 6-6 and in the final seconds recorded a takedown to win the match. Nelson breezed through his first two bouts, pinning Fernley's Edward Gaitan and Truckee's Tyler Curtis.
"I am glad he was able to come back and win that match," Brooks said. "He had bad luck the last time he was in Las Vegas. He got down 5-0 but fought his way back. It makes you nervous when two guys wrestle that much in a year."
Herrera used an escape and a stalling call to beat Fernley's Pablo Gomez 2-1 to win his second championship in as many years. The senior defeated Boulder City's Joe Tanefski by decision in the quarterfinals and teammate Luis Cardenas in the semifinals.
Lowry had four wrestlers finish in the runner-up spot, including Daniel Pollock (106), Eric Brooks (113), Aaron Nelson (126) and Cody Andersen (220).
Pollock, who was wrestling with an injured knee, came out in the first round and pinned Churchill County's Anthony Sabbatino. He moved into the semifinals Friday night, where he beat Virgin Valley's Brok Williams. The junior lost his title match to Spring Creek's Sheldon Davis.
Brooks easily made his way into the semifinals, with a win by fall over Churchill County's Jackson Mori. The sophomore earned some revenge in the semifinals, beating Virgin Valley's Hunter Woods by decision. Woods defeated Brooks by decision at the Spring Creek Invitational. For the second year in a row, Brooks met up with Boulder City's Clinton Garvin in the final (last year at 103), with Garvin picking up the 9-0 victory.
Aaron Nelson made his second trip to the state finals in as many years and gave Spring Creek's Dustin Tripp all he could handle. The Spartan wrestler hung on for a 6-4 win.
"That is part of our future right there and he gave Tripp a match," added the coach. "If there was a little more time left in the match anything could have happened."
The younger Nelson went through South Tahoe's Michael Crandall and Boulder City's Patrick Garvin to reach the finals.
The heartbreak of the tournament went to Andersen, who lost 7-6 in the final to Boulder City's Brandon Foster on a controversial call. Andersen was leading 6-5 in the final seconds, when Foster was awarded reversal points and won the match.
"Every year I tell the kids, 'wrestle good enough to keep the referees out of it,'" Brooks said. "I think it should have been put into overtime, but what can you do. Cody still had a pretty good year."
Andersen picked up wins over Moapa Valley's Tysom Mortenson and teammate Tytin Johnson to get into the finals.
Three others placed third in Daniel Raynor at 132 pounds and Johnson (220) and Cardenas (285).
Raynor beat Elko's Michael Villa by fall in the opening round but lost by decision to Churchill County's David Hughes in the semifinals. The senior came back to defeat Spring Creek's Anthony Barrington and Fernley's Anfernee Sloan to claim third.
Both Johnson and Cardenas won their first-round matches before losing to teammates in the semifinals. Johnson, a sophomore, wrestled through the consolation bracket to beat Spring Creek's Thomas Moore and Fernley's Julian Franco for third. Cardenas pinned Sparks' David Valentine in his first consolation bout and won third place with an 8-0 win over Boulder City's Jackson Dunagan. Both Johnson and Cardenas were extra wrestlers and were non-point scorers.
"It was nice to have Daniel back for his senior season," said the coach. "We have two underclassmen that did a pretty good job in the upper weight class that are coming back."
Lane Mentaberry (120) and Brandon Okuma (138) placed fourth for the Buckaroos. Mentaberry won his opening-round match over Virgin Valley's Fernando Gonzalez but lost to eventual champion Tyler Tate in the semifinals. The sophomore came back to beat Elko's Tommy Headley in his first consolation bout but lost 7-5 to Churchill County's Clay Amezquita in the third-place match.
Okuma defeated Fernley's Andrew Nelson by decision in the quarterfinals but was beaten by Virgin Valley's Jade Jensen in the semifinals. The sophomore pinned Spring Creek's Jordan Ahlin in the consolations but was pinned by Fernley's Nelson in the third-place bout.
Blake Duncan (145), who was also a non-scorer, and Juan Ochoa (195) each finished fifth.
"Without a doubt this is one of the best groups of kids that I have ever had," Brooks said. "I would have to go back and talk with coach (Jim) Billingsley and see what he had back in history and see how we would match up.
"I don't know what to say. It was all the kids today and it makes coaching pretty damn easy. You are always a little nervous going in, but these kids were not going to let anything happen. It is a special day for us and this doesn't happen everyday. The more impressive thing is that they are academic champions again. That is the group of kids they are."
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