MESQUITE — One drought ended for the Lowry High School wrestling team at the NIAA State Championships and the squad is hoping to end another one in the near future.
The Buckaroos had not won an individual state championship since Trase Bell in 2016, until this past weekend at Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite.
Taylor Corak at 132 pounds and Anthony Peterson (170) fought through adversity over the two days to win individual titles.
“Overall, for seven guys it was a pretty good weekend to finish fourth as a team with seven kids,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “We had a great first round, but struggled in the semifinal round. We have to find a way to get over that hump. We were finally able to break that drought. I am happy for Taylor and Anthony. They wrestled great this weekend. I know Anthony wasn’t sure at first about dropping to 170 pounds, but it paid off for him.”
Corak had little trouble in the quarterfinals in beating Pahrump Valley’s Coby Tillery by pin with 20 seconds left in the first period.
The senior had a much tougher time later on Friday against Kasius Graham of SLAM Academy. In a low-scoring match, neither wrestler could get a takedown in the six minutes of regulation wrestling. In an unusual ending, Corak won 2-1 in overtime on a stall call on Graham.
The crowd from the North liked the call, as the Northern 3A schools celebrated each SLAM loss on the day. SLAM is a new school in Henderson and many believe the school is recruiting to build a super program.
On Saturday afternoon, Corak took on another SLAM opponent in the final in Ryan Hrcka. Despite having the match stopped on a handful of occasions on blood time for Corak, the senior dominated the match winning 7-1.
He scored five points in the first period with a takedown and 3-point near fall. It was the first state title for Corak.
“I have dreamed of this and worked hard and it’s a dream come true,” Corak said. “It’s crazy right now. “I didn’t know anything about the kid from SLAM. I just wanted to do what I know best and put it on the line. I matched up good with him. I like wrestling people I haven’t before. I liked it, I was able to use my bread and butter moves.”
Peterson got poked in the eye in his first match of the tournament, but came back to pin Moapa Valley’s Hayden Redd in the third period. The junior advanced to the finals at 170 pounds with a pin over Boulder City’s Cade Crowley.
In the championship match on Saturday, Peterson scored a quick takedown in the first period against Boulder City’s Ladd Cox and Peterson made the advantage hold. Cox scored an escape in the second period, but that was all the scoring in the match. Peterson spent much of the year at 182 pounds, but dropped to 170 late in the year.
“I kind of doubted myself throughout the season,” Peterson said. “I worked really hard throughout the year. I felt I fitted better at 170 pounds and everything clicked at the end. I am super proud right now. It was battle, but I m a state champion now. This is something to build on for next year.”
Lowry won all seven of its matches in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, as Kole Mattson finished fourth at 285 pounds. Mattson opened with a pin over Pahrump Valley’s Jared Mudge in 80 seconds. Mattson dropped his semifinal match 4-2 to Virgin Valley’s Wyatt Hilligus.
The junior came back in the consolation semifinals with a 1-0 win over Spring Creek’s on Saturday afternoon. Mattson dropped his fourth-place match to Elko’s Gabe Lazono 2-0.
Angel Huerta (113) opened with a pin over Virgin Valley’s Cutler Crandall, but lost in the semifinals to SLAM Academy’s Billy Sullivan and SLAM Academy’s Tyler Kaahannui.
Isaac Mori (126) collected a 5-1 decision over Western’s Acencion Garcia in the quarterfinals. Mori lost to SLAM Academy’s Anthony Aniciete in the semifinals and 9-2 in the consolation semifinals to Virgin Valley’s Austin Workman.
Caden Ricci opened with a 13-6 win over SLAM Academy’s Brandon Corsaro in the quarterfinals at 138 pounds. Ricci met up with another SLAM opponent in the semifinals but lost that match. In the consolation semifinals, Ricci lost to Western’s Alexander Sullivan.
Cade Bell (152), one of two seniors at the state tournament for Lowry, won his opening match by pin over Mojave’s Jeraun Irby. Bell battled SLAM Academy’s Gabriel Ojeda in the semifinals for the full six minutes, but Oejda pulled out a 5-3 win. Bell lost his consolation semifinal match to Spring Creek’s Gaberiel Ekanger.
Spring Creek won its fourth straight state team title, scoring 182 points. SLAM was second at 168 and Virgin Valley (83) was third. Lowry (63) and Fernley (60) rounded out the top five.
“Hopefully, this finish can kick start us and get us going for the future,” Brooks said. “Hopefully, the kids can see what they can accomplish. It’s all a number of games. We need to build those numbers up to fight for another state championship.”
