With a lot of new faces scattered throughout the lineup, the Lowry High School wrestling team hit the mat for the first time this season in Fallon this past weekend.
The Buckaroos picked up six wins in its seven duals, losing to Spanish Springs. Lowry earned victories over Douglas, Carson, Bishop Manogue, Wooster, Elko and host Churchill County.
“Overall, I thought we wrestled pretty well,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “We are young and still learning. We have things to work on. I was disappointed in the way we lost to Spanish Springs. I thought we would have done better. We will see what happens down the road, but Spanish Springs might be the team to beat in the 4A.”
Lowry started the tournament on Friday, Dec. 2, with a 55-24 win over Douglas of the Northern 4A. The Buckaroos won the first four matches, as Bryan Day at 138 pounds and Zack Peters (145) pinned their opponents.
Quint Bell (152) followed that with an 11-2 victory and Seth Hornbarger won by forfeit at 160 pounds to give the Buckaroos a 22-0 lead.
Lowry dropped two of its next three matches, with Connor Starkey winning at 182 pounds. With a 28-12 advantage, the Buckaroos won the next five matches behind Mateo Flores (220), Bryan Ramos (285), Isaiah Blanco (106), Taylor Corak (113) and Cade Bell (120). Nathen Blanco (132) won the final bout of the dual in an 8-2 decision.
Lowry took on Spanish Springs in their next dual and were defeated 79-0. The Cougars won 12 of the 14 matches by pin. Quint bell and Day were the lone wrestlers to go all three periods.
“We just could not do anything against them,” Brooks said. “I know we can do better than what we showed. The good thing about the weekend was that we responded after that. It was just the second dual of the weekend. With a young team, we could have easily tucked our tails and feel sorry for ourselves.”
After the Spanish Springs loss, the Buckaroos next took on Carson and won 39-36. The Senators ended the Buckaroos’ 109-match dual streak in the tournament a year ago.”
Lowry’s Quint Bell, Hornbarger and Starkey won by pin to give the squad an 18-6 advantage after four matches. The Senators claimed the next three bouts to go up 21-18, when Isaiah Blanco won his match by pin in the third period to put the Buckaroos up 24-21.
Corak followed with a pin of his own to push the margin to 30-21 with five matches to go. Carson answered back with a win by fall at 120 pounds, but Matthew Souza (126) gave the Buckaroos a narrow six-point lead after winning a 5-2 decision.
The back-and-forth battle continued, as Carson tied the dual at 33 with a victory in the 132-pound weight class. Day all but assured Lowry of the win, pinning his opponent in 59 seconds at 138 pounds. In one of the best matches of the dual, Peters lost 8-7, but the Buckaroos earned the 39-36 win.
“After losing the streak to them last year, I wanted that one,” Brooks said. “The kids did a good job of responding.”
On Saturday, Dec. 3, Lowry knocked off Wooster 64-18, Manogue 63-18, Churchill County 45-18 and Elko 39-33.
The Buckaroos dropped just three matches to Wooster, with Josiah Chapman, Starkey and Flores winning by forfeit. Billingsley was the only wrestler to go the full six minutes, winning 12-1. Isaiah Blanco, Corak, Cade Bell, Quint Bell, Day and Peters won by pin.
The dual with Manogue went quickly, as Lowry won eight of the 14 matches by forfeit. James VanKuiken at 132 pounds and Peters won by pin and Quint Bell notched a 9-2 victory.
Lowry was back on the mat to take on defending 3A state champion and host Churchill County. The Greenwave jumped out to a 15-0 lead after three matches, but that quickly went away. Ramos pinned his opponent in 26 seconds in the 285-pound match and Isaiah Blanco and Corak won by forfeit to put the Buckaroos in front 18-15.
Churchill County won the next two bouts at 120 and 126 pounds to go up 25-18, but it was Lowry from there. Beginning with a forfeit for VanKuiken, the Buckaroos won the next four matches.
Day, Peters and Quint Bell pinned their opponents to give Lowry a 42-25 win. Billingsley capped off the dual with a 4-2 win over Conley Hyde.
In the final dual of the weekend, Lowry found itself in another 15-0 deficit, this time against Elko. The Buckaroos countered with 15 straight points, behind victories from Isaiah Blanco, Corak and Cade Bell.
The Buckaroos were down 24-15, when Day and Peters collected wins by pin to put Lowry back up 27-24. That did not last long, with the Indians answering with two wins to lead 33-27.
Lowry needed to win the final two bouts to earn the dual win. The Buckaroos got just that, as Billingsley and Starkey won by pin to come back and claim the dual 39-33.
“I figured it would be that close,” Brooks said. “Elko has improved quite a bit and it was a battle. I was really happy with my freshmen and younger kids. They are going to have to step up for us. I thought Zack, Isaiah and Taylor had good weekends.”
Lowry hosts the Cody Louk Invitational this weekend, with action concluding on Saturday at the Winnemucca Event Center.
