The Battle Mountain High School wrestling team, along with some the best Division I and I-A schools converged on Winnemucca last weekend for the Cody Louk Invitational.
The Longhorns finished fifth with 134.50 points and was the top finishing Division III school. Spanish Springs out of Sparks won the tournament with 294.50 points and Carson was second at 220. Reno (192) and Lowry (183) were third and fourth, respectively.
“This is a good tournament at this time of the year,” said BMHS coach Mitch Domagala. “It allowed us to see where we are at and what we need to improve on.”
Cameron Thomson claimed the 106-pound championship, going 5-0 over the two days. Thompson cruised to the semifinals on Friday beating Elko’s Brandon Mariluch, North Valleys’ Ian Bowman and Douglas’ Kindel Isham, The first two wins were by pin in the first period and the victory over Isham was a 8-0 decision.
In the semifinals on Saturday, Thompson defeated Sparks’ Anthony Carrillo by pin in the third period, and he knocked off Carson’s Terrin Keller in the championship by pin in the second period.
Jake Legarza (113), Jeff Oakes (182) and Zach Heese each finished in the runner-up spot. After a first-round bye, Legarza reached the championship semifinals with wins over Pershing County’s Jeff Martin and Carson’s Ethan Lepire. In the semifinals on Saturday morning, Legarza notched a 9-4 victory over Lowry freshman Ridge Ricketts. Legarza lost in the final to Reno’s Frank Giovanetti.
Oakes cruised to pins over Dayton’s Juan Diaz and Elko’s Erik Kerr in his first two matches of the tournament. Oakes earned an 18-8 major decision over Douglas’ Mason Broderorf in the quarterfinals.
In the Saturday morning semifinals, Oakes cruised to another major decision, beating Middleton, Idaho’s Brennan Lucarelli 24-9. In the finals, he had a tough match against Reno’s Andrew Berreyesa, where he lost a 5-2 decision for the title.
Heese needed just matches on Friday to reach the semifinals, as he knocked off Carson’s Corey Jasper and Spanish Springs’ Kyle Engelken by pin in the first period.
Heese needed just 63 seconds to advance to the finals on Saturday as he defeated Fernley’s Robert Askew. Heese was beaten in the finals by Lowry’s Mikeas Somers.
Cooper Burkhart (285) finished fifth for Battle Mountain. He pinned Galena’s Andres Alejo and Middleton’s Josh Sheffield to advance to the quarterfinals. In that round, the senior lost a 10-3 decision top Bryce Cartlidge. Heese came back to win two matches in the consolation round over Dayton’s Jose Hernandez and Sparks’ Hunter Nobbs.
In the consolation semifinals, Burkhart lost to Lowry’s Chris Karchella by a 6-0 decision, but came back in the fifth-place bout to beat Sheffield for a second time by pin.
Deandre Powell (120), Bobby Kester (126), Braden Stallard (126), Daegan McClary (138) and Fernando Carrillo (152) won matches but came short of placing.
“The kids wrestled tough all weekend,” Domagala said. “They competed real well. We had a good team showing against a solid field. That happens because of how hard these kids work every day.”
Battle Mountain travels to Lovelock on Saturday for the Mustang Invitational at 9 a.m.
