This is the first of a two-part series that offers a look back at the local sports scene in 2017. Today’s stories are from January through July.
January
• Mother Nature wreaks havoc with high school basketball and wrestling for Lowry and McDermitt high schools. A snowstorm forces the schools to move games. The Buckaroo wrestlers had a trip to Idaho canceled.
• The McDermitt boys open Eastern 1A play with wins over Wells and Jackpot, a run that will see the Bulldogs win the Eastern 1A regular season championship with an 11-1 record, a season after missing the playoffs.
• Cleto Bengoa, Nate Green and Teo Maestrejuan are inducted into the Winnemucca High Schools Hall of Fame during halftime of the Lowry/Fernley boys varsity basketball game. Bengoa attended Humboldt County High School from 1962-66, Green went to Lowry from 1998-2002 and Maestrejuan was also in school from 1998-2002.
• Where there is smoke there always isn’t fire. Late in the Lowry/Truckee boys basketball game, smoke is seen in one of the heating units in the gym. The game is halted as firefighters arrive on the scene and get on the room of the gym to check for a fire. The game is moved to the smaller gym below and Lowry wins.
• The Lowry wrestling team finishes second at the Vaquero Invitational in Fernley to Reno. Quint Bell and Seth Hornbarger each finish second.
• The McDermitt girls basketball team avenges an earlier loss to Jordan Valley, with a 49-44 win over the Mustangs. Krissy Long scores 20 points and Precious Masters adds 12 in the victory. Just a few days later, the Lady Bulldogs avenge an earlier loss to Wells with a 53-28 win over the Leopards to celebrate Winterfest.
• During Winterfest activities, Lowry High School's Amaya Herrera and Brady Lange are crowned queen and king, respectively. Tim Naveran is named the honorary Buckaroo.
February
• McDermitt’s Krissy Long is honored before a game as the all-time leading rebounder in girls basketball in the state of Nevada. On that same night, Long recorded 24 rebounds to set a state record for rebounds in a game.
• Three Amigos (Jasin Richards, Christian Salazar, Taylor Prather) wins the annual Don Peters Memorial Bowling Tournament.
• The Lowry wrestling team sends eight grapplers to the NIAA 3A State Tournament after placing third in the Northern 3A Regional Championship. Isaiah Blanco at 106 pounds, Bryan Day (132) and Quint Bell (152) win individual titles. Taylor Corak and Cade Billingsley place second in their weight classes.
• A week later, the Lowry wrestlers finish fifth at the NIAA 3A State Championships at Spanish Springs High School in Sparks. It is the first time since 2008 that Lowry does not finish first or second at the state tournament. Quint Bell finishes second at 152 pounds.
• The McDermitt boys basketball team rallies from a double-digit deficit against Eureka to win 59-56 and capture the league title with an 11-1 record. However, a week later the Bulldogs’ dream season ends with a first-round loss to Sierra Lutheran in the Northern 1A Regional Tournament.
• The Lowry High School girls basketball team finishes second in the Northern 3A Regional Tournament to Churchill County. The Lady Bucks advance to their fourth consecutive state tournament and beat Moapa Valley in the semifinals. Lowry falls to Churchill County in the state title game.
• The McDermitt girls basketball team finishes third in the Eastern 1A and qualifies for the Northern 1A Regional Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs defeats Mineral County in the first round but loses to Owyhee in the semifinals.
• The Lowry boys basketball team run of eight straight appearances in the regional playoffs comes to an after a loss to Dayton. The Buckaroos do beat Sparks and Truckee to end the season on a high note.
March
• The 28th annual Ranch Hand Rodeo is held at the Winnemucca Event Center. It features over 30 teams, including many from outside the Winnemucca area. The event includes saddle bronc riding, calf roping, team roping, ranch doctoring, wild mugging and team branding. More than 2,00 people pack the Winnemucca Event Center.
• Lowry High School’s Don Walton is named the 3A Athletic Director of the Year.
• McDermitt High School graduate Va Draunidalo is named the Freshman of the Year in the Golden Valley Conference for Feather River College. She is also named to the first-team, all-league team.
• Lowry's Kobe Stoker is the lone selection to the Northern 3A all-league teams. Stoker is named to the honorable mention squad after averaging 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.
• Lowry's Sydney Connors and Alyssa Kuskie ares named to the Northern 3A all-league, first-team. Connors is named to the all-state first team and Kuskie to the second team. The Lady Bucks' Kenadee Jeppsen, Brooklyn Waller and Hannah Hillyer are also honored.
• McDermitt's Precious Masters is named the Eastern 1A Player of the Year as a sophomore. Krissy Long is named to the first team. Jaimi Wilkinson is named the co-Coach of the Year in the Eastern 1A.
• McDermitt's Cauy Crutcher is named Eastern 1A Player of the Year, while teammate Troy McKee is named to the first team. Edger Reyes is named to the second team. Jack Smith is named the Coach of the Year.
• The Winnemucca Junior High School eighth-grade wrestling team wins the Tah Neva championship with four individual champions in Isaac Mori, Julian Esquivel, Caden Ricci and Anthony Peterson. The seventh-graders place third with five individual champions in Coda Nichols, Chris Gildone, Brayden Casalez, Angel Huerta and Jesse Hawkins.
April
• The Lowry softball team shines in its home debut and outscores Elko 41-4 in a three-game series on the Indians' home field to extend its Northern 3A winning streak to nine games.
• Winnemucca cowboys Shaun Mentaberry, Mitch Pollock and
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Luke Logan shine for College of
Southern Idaho in the saddle bronc. The three cowboys qualify for College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.
• Lowry’s Bryan Terry breaks a 32-year-old school record with a throw of 166 feet, 2 inches in the shot put to win the event at the Carson Invitational. The old record stood since 1985 and was held by Pat McDade.
• The Winnemucca Trap Club holds 29th annual Miner/Merchant, Spring Fling Shoot.
May
• After a two-year hiatus, the Lowry High School boys golf team qualifies for the NIAA 3A State Tournament after finishing third in the Northern 3A. The Buckaroos finish fourth at the state tournament in Spring Creek. Peyton Capellen finish 11th as an individual.
• Longtime Lowry baseball coach Ron Espinola retires after 20 years with the program. Espinola guided the Buckaroos to a number of regional and state tournaments.
• The Lowry softball team comes up short in a bid for the state tournament, losing to South Tahoe in an elimination game at the Northern 3A Regional Championships in South Lake Tahoe. The Lady Bucks entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed.
• The Lowry High School girls track and field team finishes second at the Northern 3A Regional Championships in Carson City. The Buckaroos record seven first-place finishes.
• Lowry’s Bryan Terry wins state titles in the shot put and discus at the NIAA 3A State Championships in Henderson. The Lady Bucks 4x400 girls relay team of Kenadee Jeppsen, Hailey Fernandez, Hailey Hinkle and Shelby Garrison win the state title. Rachel Garrison finishes second in the discus.
• McDermitt’s Precious Masters finishes second in the shot put at the NIAA 1A State Track and Field Championships in Henderson.
• The Lowry High School swim team shines at the NIAA State Championships in Carson City. The boys 200-yard medley relay of Gray, Perkinson, Liam Walls and Alex Shurtliff had the best finish of the day for the Buckaroos, placing in the runner-up spot. Lowry had a time of 1:56.22, while Boulder City won the race in an impressive time of 1:46.56. Garrett Gray finishing fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 5.05 seconds, which was .88 seconds quicker than his seed time.
• Running Late (Jasin Richards, Randy Elder, Casey Knuston) win the Bad Boys Bowling Tournament.
• Lowry's Kyle Young and Brendan Domire are named to the Northern 3A honorable mention baseball team.
• The Lowry High School softball team places nine players on the all-league team. Kyllie Sappington is named the Northern 3A Player of the Year and named to the all-state, first-team. Alanna Miller, Sydney Connors, Alyssa Kuskie and Sylvie Prokasky are named to the all-league, first-team. Kelcey Cooper, Madison McClellan, Tiana Herrera and Macey Katzenmeyer also honored.
• The Nevada State High School Finals Rodeo rolls into Winnemucca with junior and high school action. Julianne Montero, Chris Gleason, Steven Bosch, Quint Bell, Bailey Reynolds and Marie Curtis qualify for the National High School Finals Rodeo.
• Lowry’s Julia Laird is the pound-for-pound best lifter in the lower girls weight division a the Northern Nevada High School Weightlifting Championships in Reno.
June
• The Badgers 14U and 16U traveling baseball teams celebrate Fathers Day by winning tournaments in Elko.
• The NIAA makes rule changes to the way boys golf is scored. Under the old rules five scores were kept for a team score. Now, four scores will be kept. In addition, a mercy rule is added to boys and girls soccer.
• Under new realignment, the NIAA approved the move of North Valleys from the Northern 4A to the 3A in all sports. In addition, Wooster moves back to the 4A in football.
