With the calendar turning to 2019, the Lowry High School wrestling team is looking to put the finishing touches on the season as the state tournament nears.
The Buckaroos will have the honor of hosting the NIAA State Wrestling Championships this year on Feb. 8-9 at the Winnemucca Event Center.
More than 50 teams from around the state will converge to northern Nevada to decide the best wrestlers in the state in the 1A/2A, 3A and 4A..
Lowry headed out of the state last weekend for the Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho. The tournament is one of the toughest in the area and featured nearly 70 high schools
Lowry finished 42nd with 51 points between nine wrestlers and every wrestler scored points.
Crook County won with 212 points, Columbia was second at 196, Post Falls third at 179.5, Kuna fourth with 153 points and Fruitland rounded out the top five at 135.5
“We took a long ride on a bus to Idaho,” LHS head coach John Brooks said. “The kids traveled well and they did all right. Isaiah (Blanco) had a hell of a day. He did it the hard way. He got beat in his first match of the whole tournament, and he wrestled all the way back through and he ended up beating the guy who beat him, which is really hard to do.”
Blanco, a senior, grabbed the only medal for the Buckaroos, finishing third. He defeated Kyle Rice from New Plymouth 9-7 in overtime. Blanco wrestled at 106 pounds and won his final eight matches.
“He just kept getting better and better as the day progressed, and that was good to see,” Brooks said. “This is a tough tournament and we had three kids that took it to the second day. Isaiah, Anthony (Peterson), and Jimmy (Rackley); everyone got a lot of wrestling in. They brought 68 boys teams and 32 girls teams to the match.”
Rackley won his first two matches at 132 pounds, defeating Thunder Ridge's Gage Holt 16-5 and Columbia's Jacob Cox by pin in the second period.
Rackley lost in the third round but bounced back to beat Nampa's Roberto Carillo 6-2. The senior lost in the next round to be eliminated from the tournament.
Peterson lost his first match of the tournament but fought his way back to the fifth round of the consolation bracket. After a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket, the sophomore won his next three matches.
Caleb Sanchez picked up two wins at 170 pounds.
“The Rollie Lane Tournament is always a circus, I tell the kids to check where you are at, because we have to get a bearing on where we are,” Brooks said. “They all got a lot better by just being there.”
The Buckaroos head to Spring Creek for a two day duel on Friday, Jan. 11 and Saturday, Jan. 12. Lowry returns home for a one day dual against Pershing County on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m.
The Lowry seniors will be honored prior to the dual
“It has always been a good tournament in Spring Creek, it has gotten better and better each year,” coach Brooks said. “Spring Creek is obviously the team to beat, and hopefully we can get up there and play great alongside them.”
Lowry travels to Fernley on Jan. 18-19 for the Vaquero Invitational. That will be the final regular season tournament of the year.
The Northern 3A duals will take place Feb. 25-26 at Spring Creek.
The Northern 3A Regional Championship moves to Fernley on Feb. 1-2. The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.
