The Lowry High School wrestling team will send 11 wrestlers to the NIAA State Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The Buckaroos finished second at the Northern 3A Regional Championships this past weekend in Spring Creek with 230.50 points. Spring Creek, the defending 3A state champions, won the regional title with 298.50 points.
Elko was a distant third with 139 points and Fernley (122) and Churchill County (120) rounded out the top five. Sparks (110), South Tahoe (56) and Dayton (6) completed the team standings.
“Overall, we wrestled pretty well,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “We let a couple matches get away from us that we probably shouldn’t have. It came down to a dual between us and Spring Creek in the finals and they got the best of us.”
Taylor Corak was the Buckaroos' lone regional champion, winning the 113-pound weight class. He defeated Spring Creek’s Kodis Campbell 2-0 in the championship match.
“Taylor wrestled well,” Brooks said. “He beat a pretty good kid.
Matthew Souza (126), Bryan Day (138), AJ Gonzalez (145), Quint Bell (152), Cade Billingsley (170), Anthony Peterson (182) and Joe Peterson (195) all finished in the runner-up spot.
Souza opened the tournament with a pin of South Tahoe’s Derek Robbins in the second period. The senior overcame a 7-1 deficit in the semifinals to beat Spring Creek’s Riley Fuchs 10-8 in overtime. Souza battled with Elko’s Kevin Villegas in the 126-pound final but lost 1-0.
“That was pretty impressive of him to come from 7-1 down and win,” added the coach. He gave Villegas everything he could handle.”
Day won his first two matches by pin over Sparks’ Colby Bowman and Elko’s Lincoln Ratliff. Day lost 10-2 in the final to Spring Creek’s Dyllan Fuchs.
Gonzalez made his way into the semifinals after a bye and pinned Elko’s Joshua Boulard in the semifinals. Gonzalez took on Spring Creek’s Anthony Chavez in the final and lost 9-0.
After receiving a bye in round one, Bell knocked off Spring Creek’s Caden Constable 8-2 in the quarterfinals.
Bell reached the finals with a pin against Elko’s Ezekiel Stewart, but the senior dropped a 3-1 decision to Spring Creek’s Beau Chacon in the final.
Billingsley needed just 79 seconds to win his opening match against Fernley’s David Sisneros. It was a different story in the semifinals, as the senior beat Churchill County’s Marcel Poracky. Billingsley lost to Elko’s Carl Hansen in the final.
Anthony Peterson continues his impressive freshman campaign with victories over Sparks’ Nathaniel Perez and Fernley’s Gabriel Richards. Peterson lost to Spring Creek’s K-Ci Slade in the final.
Joe Peterson had just two matches on the weekend and pinned Sparks Aleki Pooi in the semifinals. The senior dropped a close 6-5 decision to Spring Creek’s Jeff Guthrie in the championship bout.
Cade Bell (132), Zack Peters (138) placed third and earned the last transfer spots into the state tournament. Peters was an extra at 138 pounds and will not be a scorer at the state tournament.
Bell won his opening match over Fernley’s Tyler Egan but the sophomore lost in the semifinals. Bell bounced back to beat Sparks; Avery Aranas 5-1 and South Tahoe’s Nate Singelyn 4-1 to place third at 132 pounds.
Peters lost his opening match to Spring Creek’s Dyllan Fuchs but he battled his way back for third. Peters received a bye in the first consolation round and followed that with a 14-1 win over Ratliff. Peters completed the comeback with a 2-0 win over Bowman of Sparks.
Isaac Mori (106), Caden Ricci (120), Ryan Johnson (160) and Trent McKellips (220) were fourth.
The Southern 3A only had four wrestlers in the 220-pound weight class, opening up a spot for McKellips at the state championships for an 11th Lowry wrestler.
Kole Mattson (195) placed fifth and Caleb Sanchez (170) was sixth.
Lowry took part in the NIAA State Championships on Friday. Results can be found at www.trackwrestling.com.
