With a relatively young squad, the Lowry High School wrestling team continues to improve on the season, winning its second consecutive tournament.
The Buckaroos were at home this past weekend and won the Cody Louk Invitational with five individual champions.
Lowry was on top with 239 points and Fernley was second at 211. Reed (297), Reno (161) and Douglas (98) rounded out the top five.
Even though the Buckaroos have won back-to-back tournaments, head coach John Brooks noted its gets much tougher from here on out to the end of the season.
“It was a good weekend for us,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “The kids wrestled well. It’s good for the kids, but we are still climbing the ladder. We haven’t done anything yet. They are learning with every match and learning that this is a team sport. They all helped score points and were right by the mat cheering each other on. It’s always fun to win a tournament. We haven’t won our tournament in a while. It gets tougher from here.”
Angel Huerta at 113 pounds, Taylor Corak (138), Cade Bell (152), Anthony Peterson (182) and Kole Mattson (285) all won individual titles.
Mattson’s title was the closest and the last of the day, as the bout went through all the periods of overtime against Wooster’s Joseph Garibay-Perez.
Garibay-Perez scored the first point of the match and Mattson tied in the third period. Neither wrestler scored in the first-overtime, which was a minute long. Mattson did not allow Garibay-Perez escape in the second overtime, while Mattson was able to get away in the final overtime for the 3-2 win.
Mattson won his first matches of the tournament, pinning Yerington’s Floyd Thomas and Reno’s Kedrick White.
Anthony Peterson needed just three matches to win his title at 182 pounds.
The junior was on the mat for less than three minutes combined in his first two matches. He pinned Fernley’s Eric Juliott and Josh Owens to get into the final. In the championship, he went the full six minutes for the first time this year in beating Reno’s Adam Clawson.
Cade Bell was one of the busier Lowry wrestlers, needing five matches to win at 152 pounds.
The senior cruised in the first round, pinning Reed’s Thomas Johnson in 41 seconds. He pinned Fernley’s Bronson Lyman and Yerington’s Logan Davis by pin to reach the semifinals.
Bell found himself in battle with Wells’ Lucas Peavey, holding on for a 5-4 win. He needed to go the full six minutes again in the final, defeating Yerington’s Donavan Coplin 11-6.
Corak had to wrestle five times as well over the two days, pinning four of his opponents.
The senior recorded first-period pins over Yerington’s Tell Baptist and Reno’s Mason Miller to reach the quarterfinals.
Corak knocked off teammate Asher Garner in the quarterfinals with a second-period pin and followed that up by beating Wooster’s Shane Hepner in the first period by pin. Corak had to go the distance in the championship bout, beating Reno’s Aiden Layfield 8-0.
Huerta improved to 11-2 on the season, winning all four of his matches by pin. He knocked off Fernley’s Cody Edwards in the first round and reached the final with victories over Galena’s Connor Cuddy and Reno’s Nick Bland. Huerta won his title by beating Fernley’s Brody Garrett in the second period.
“Those guys have been wrestling well all year,” Brooks said. “I have liked what I have seen from them.”
Coda Nichols (106), Wade Mori (120) and Caden Ricci (145) finished second for thew Buckaroos.
After a first-round bye, Nichols spent just 33 seconds on the mat in his first match to beat Dayton’s Sheamus Greenwalt.
The freshman pinned Eureka’s Orrin Knudsen by pin and Douglas’ Hunter Morris 13-2 to reach the final. Nichols lost in the championship to Excel Christian’s Jesse Fehr. Fehr was named the most outstanding wrestler at the lower weights.
Mori won his first three matches by pin to reach the title bout, beating Wooster’s Lizbeth Liquidano-Cortez, Reed’s Arturo Espinoza and Fernley’s Angel Guzman. Mori lost to Reno’s Ryan Lopez in the finale.
Ricci picked up a first-round bye at 145 pounds and picked up two quick wins when he got on the mat over Spanish Springs’ Garytt Ostrander and Damonte Ranch’s Michael Kiker.
Ricci advanced to the final with a 9-3 win over Galena’s Brayde Wolfe, Ricci suffered the loss in the championship to Reed’s Alejandro Casarez.
Issac Mori (132) placed fourth, going 3-2 on the weekend. He won his first two matches by pin in the first round over Fernley’s Lucas Jurich and Spanish Springs’ David Estrada-Chavez. Mori lost in the semifinals to Reno’s Colton Sellers but bounced back in the consolation semifinal against Jurich. Mori dropped the third-place match to Yerington’s Jonah Eriksen.
Braden Hammargren picked up thee points for the Buckaroos, reaching the third round of the consolation semifinals.
Lowry heads to Reno on Friday and Saturday for the Sierra Nevada Invitational, which features nearly 90 schools from around Nevada, California.
“It’s just what the kids needed,” Brooks said. “Now, we got to get back to work. We have to get through Christmas break with everyone. The season gets tough from here to the end.”
