The end of the season is quickly approaching for the Lowry High School wrestling team and the perennial power in the 3A is looking to fine tune the lineup before the postseason rush.
Lowry made a rare home appearance on Wednesday night, honoring its four seniors, as Pershing County made the short trip from Lovelock. The Mustangs battled to the end but the Buckaroos held on for a 46-26 victory.
“They are not a bad team,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “One match swings the other way and the outcome is different. The dual went pretty much how I thought it would go. I have been telling the kids it is the pins and bonus points that matter. We got those tonight. What I was happy about was a couple freshmen in the line up got two big wins for us.”
Anthony Peterson opened the dual at 182 pounds, with a win over Elias Allen in 32 seconds. But Pershing County won the next three matches to lead 18-6. Marcus Glanton won by forfeit at 195 pounds and Axel Gonzalez (220 pounds) and Davis Murphy (285) both won by pin.
Isaiah Blanco got Lowry back on the winning track at 106 pounds, as he pinned Devin Moura in the first period. Angel Huerta collected a win by pin in the first period over Zeke Jackson at 113 pounds and Isaac Mori won his match by forfeit at 126 pounds and Lowry went back ahead 24-18 and did not trail again.
Ivan Contreras (126) and Taylor Corak (132) won their matches by pin to extend the lead to 36-18.
In the only varsity match that went the distance on the night, Jimmy Rackley beat Haydon Burrows 18-2 at 138 pounds.
The Mustangs got back on the winning track, as Jayce Leyva won his match at 145 pounds, but the Buckaroos clinched the dual, as Cade Bell pinned Sean Gottschalk with one second left in the second period at 152 pounds.
Pershing County won the final to matches, with Joaquin Wanner winning by pin at 160 pounds and Dylan Hultenschmidt by forfeit at 170 pounds.
Josiah Chapman picked up a 6-3 win over Glanton in a JV match.
“I am comfortable that the kids are working hard and getting better,” Brooks said. “I am not comfortable about finishing third in tournaments. We are not used to that. We have a couple more weeks to get better and see what we can do.”
Lowry travels to Fernley this weekend for the Vaquero Invitational and will be back in Spring Creek for the Northern 3A duals on Jan. 25-26. The Northern 3A Regional Championships take place in Fernley on Feb. 1-2. The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.
The NIAA State Championships will take place at the Winnemucca Event Center on Feb. 8-9.
