The Lowry High School wrestling team closed out its Christmas break at the end of last week at the Sierra Nevada Classic in Reno.
Senior Cade Billingsley had the best performance of the tournament, reaching the seventh-place match at 182 pounds and finishing eighth.
Billingsley made his way into the championship quarterfinals on the strength of three fins by pin. He opened by beating Liam Leckie of Vista del Lago in the second period. He needed just 50 seconds to beat Lakeland’s Hunter Oles in round two. Billingsley made his way into the quarterfinals with a win over Jonathan Contreras of Madera South.
Billingsley lost to Virgin Valley’s Cresent Crandall in the quarterfinals. He bounced back in the consolation round to beat Daniel Jurado of Servite. Billingsley lost in the next consolation round, dropping an 11-3 decision to Malik Lewis of Franklin.
Bryan Day made his way into the sixth round of the consolation bracket and advanced to day two. The senior earned a tough 7-4 decision over Churchill County’s Tommy McCormick in round one. Day needed just 61 seconds to pin Winter’s Brandon Gomez in round two.
Day dropped a 6-0 decision in the third round to Elk Grove’s Kendall Frank. Day bounced back with two wins by a point in the consolation bracket, beating El Capitan’s Nathan Gonzalez 3-2 and Lakeland’s Ryan Quimby 2-1. Day’s tournament ended with a 6-2 loss to Rhys Panero of Escalon in the sixth round of the consolation bracket.
Fellow senior Joe Peterson made it to the fifth round of the consolation bracket at 195 pounds. Peterson had to come back the hard way after dropping his first match of the tournament. After a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, Peterson reeled off three wins.
He beat Mazama’s Eric Griffiths and Marina’s and Jared Causse by pin. The winning streak continued with a 4-1 decision over Franklin’s Dylan Myers. His tournament ended with a loss to Damonte Ranch’s Richie Garcia.
Cade Bell reached the fifth round of the consolation round at 132 pounds. The sophomore started the tournament with a 11-8 win over Franklin’s Colby Spencer. A pin inn 82 seconds over Benicia’s Sawyer Dizon moved him on to the third round.
Bell lost that match to Gabriel Terry of Mountain View but he answered back in the consolation round with a pin over Benicia’s Gerren Morgan. Bell’s tournament came to an end with a 8-3 loss to Elko’s Kevin Villegas.
Ryan Johnson went 4-2 over the two days and had to wrestle a pig-tail match to get into the bracket. He pinned Crater’s Tanner Lee at the end of the first period to do that. Johnson advanced to the next round with a 7-3 win over Reed’s Noah Roth.
The senior lost in the next round to Nyssa’s Dearden Woodruff by a 7-4 decision. Johnson bounced back with wins by pin over Reno’s Nico Howe and Mater Dei’s Emmett McGee. Johnson was eliminated in the fourth round by an 8-6 decision against Evan Myture of El Capitan.
Every wrestler for the Buckaroos scored points, with freshman Isaac Mori advancing to the fourth round of the consolation bracket at 106 pounds. Mori won his first two matches by pin but dropped his next two and was knocked out of the tournament.
Senior Matthew Souza advanced to round four at 126 pounds. Souza lost his first match of the tournament but came back to win three matches in the consolation round. Souza’s tournament ended late on Thursday night with a loss to Hunter Hiatt of Crater.
Freshman Anthony Peterson made his way to the fourth round of the consolation bracket and had one the more exciting matches of the tournament. In his final match, Peterson battled Bishop Manogue’s Lincoln Hauck in four overtimes, losing 3-2. Peterson won his first two matches of the tournament.
Sophomore Trent McKellips returned from injury and advanced to the fourth round of the consolation bracket.
He lost his first match but came back to beat Carson’s Gurjant Mand and Rocklin’s Joey Weulfing by pin. McKellips was eliminated after an 8-0 loss to John Kelley of Calaveras.
Zack Peters collected three wins at 145 pounds and Taylor Corak picked up two wins at 120 pounds and AJ Gonzalez had two wins at 152 pounds.
Lowry finished 14th in the team standings with 103 points.
Rancho Bernardo won the tournament with 217.50 points. Lakeland was second at 183 and Thurston was third with 172 points.
Lowry is back in action this weekend at the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho.
