The Lowry High School wrestling team wasn't perfect last weekend in Sparks but that didn't prevent the Buckaroos from winning their sixth consecutive Division I-A North Regional Championship.
The Buckaroos captured their 19th regional title, the most in Nevada history, last Saturday scoring 277.50 points. Lowry finished with seven champions and had nine wrestlers in the finals.
Churchill County was second with 183 points, Spring Creek was fourth at 181 and Elko (140) and Fernley (136) rounded out the top five.
Lowry qualified 13 of their 17 wrestlers (13 scorers) for the state tournament.
"For the most part it was a pretty good weekend for us," said LHS coach John Brooks. "There are a couple of matches keeping me up at night that went south on us and at the hands of Fallon. I knew they were a team that could do some damage and they hurt us in a couple of weight classes. It's nice to have nine in the finals and have seven champions."
Trase Bell (106), Kevin Blanco (120), Eric Brooks (132), Brandon Okuma (152), Beau Billingsley (170), Tytin Johnson (195) and Luis Cardenas (285) were individual champions.
"Those guys are looking good right now," Brooks said. "Trase got a good win over (Riley) Twitchell of Fernley and Blanco beat (Dillon) Maguin. I just want them to keep that momentum going."
Bell needed only 29 seconds to win his opening bout by pin over Dayton's Will Owen. The sophomore wrestled 17 more seconds in the quarterfinals to pin Fernley's Devin Partain. Bell used a 13-4 decision over Spring Creek's Cole Campbell in the semifinals and beat Twitchell 4-2 in the final.
Blanco picked up a bye in the first round and needed just two wins to claim the 120-pound championship. He defeated Spring Creek's Payden Shafer 7-6 in the semifinals and Maguin 3-2 in the finals.
Brooks had to go a round further with more wrestlers in his weight class to earn his title at 132 pounds. The senior pinned Dayton's Nick Langstaff and South Tahoe's James Sorenson to reach the finals. Brooks pulled out a 5-3 win over Spring Creek's Zachary Rockwell.
Okuma picked up four wins in the 11-man bracket at 152 pounds. The senior opened with an 8-0 win over Spring Creek's Anthony Collins and he pinned Fernley's Steven Akerson in the quarterfinals. Okuma pinned Elko's Jacob Owen in the semifinals and Sparks' Tymon Dozier 8-5 in the final.
Billingsley cruised to the 170-pound championship in three matches as he beat Dayton's Danny Alcantara by pin in the quarterfinal round; Elko's Eugene Golez by a first-round pin in the semifinals; and Spring Creek's Jacob Boulette by pin in 59 seconds in the finals.
After receiving a first-round bye, Johnson easily won his other two matches at 195 pounds. Johnson pinned Spring Creek's Manuel Bacerra-Garcia in the semifinals and Churchill County's Dakota Schelling in the finals.
Cardenas needed 31 seconds to pin Spring Creek's Tobias Wheeler
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in the quarterfinals at 285 pounds. The junior's semifinal match went 17 seconds longer as he pinned Elko's Luis Salazar. Cardenas earned his second regional title with a win over Sparks' David Valentine.
Iggy Medina (113) and Nate Nelson (126) finished second.
Medina advanced to the semifinals with a pin over Elko's Eder Lujan in the second period. The junior earned a 7-1 win over Fernley's John Hires-Caulk in the semifinals but lost to Elko's Aram Villegas in the finals.
"We have some kids that put themselves in a tough spot and they are going to have to come through the brackets the hard way," Brooks said. "Other guys have put themselves in a good spot."
Nelson's first match at 126 pounds came in the semifinals, as he knocked off Elko's Trevor Basaaraba by technical fall. Nelson lost by pin to Churchill County's Anthony Sabatino in the finals.
Gabe Molina (138), Jed Johnson (182) and Anthony Hummel (220) were third and Shaun Mentaberry (160) was fourth.
Lowry travels to the Star of the Desert Arena on Saturday for the NIAA State Wrestling Tournament. Wrestling gets underway at 9 a.m.
"We have nothing locked up," Brooks said. "We are going to need everyone to score points for us. We are not going to be able to rely on just a couple of guys. We are in better shape than anybody else, I suppose. There is still a lot of work to do. Hopefully, our numbers give us the advantage."[[In-content Ad]]
