The Lowry High School wrestling team was back atop the standings once again, winning the Douglas Invitational this past weekend in Minden.
The Buckaroos won with 202.50 points, beating out second-place Fernley (193). Reno was a distant third with 119 points and Yerington (103.50) and McQueen (99) rounded out the top five.
Isaac Mori at 126 pounds, Taylor Corak (132), Caden Ricci (138), Anthony Petersen (182), Kole Mattson (285) all won individual titles for the Buckaroos.
“It was a good weekend for us,” said LHS coach John Brooks. “The guys battled their butts off to win. We had a pretty good week of practice leading up to the tournament. Hopefully, the lesson is that hard work pays off. We need to keep getting better. The kids got to see a few barn-burner types of matches. We won a couple big ones in overtime and lost a couple we probably shouldn’t have.”
Mori cruised in his first two matches, winning both by pin in the first period over Damonte Ranch’s Kyle Ford and Tonopah’s Damian Pace.
The junior met up with the first of two Yerington opponents to conclude the tournament, defeating Logan Galvin by an 11-6 decision. In the championship match, Mori cruised to a 16-0 win over Brock Bader.
Corak improved to 23-7 on the season, winning all four of his matches by pin.
The senior opened with a first-period victory over South Tahoe’s Andrew Singelyn. Corak followed that by beating teammate Brenton Baker to reach the semifinals.
Corak needed just 95 seconds to pin Fernley’s Lucas Jurich and in the finals, Corak pinned Reno’s Colton Sellers with 53 seconds left in the match.
Ricci had little trouble in his opening match, pinning Fernley’s Bronson Lyman in just 43 seconds. The junior advanced to the semifinals, pinning Churchill County’s Wyatt Hatch with just two seconds left in the match. Ricci won by technical fall in the semifinals, beating Reno’s Aidan Layfield 22-7 and he completed the weekend with a 9-3 win over Eureka’s James Filippini in the title bout.
Peterson had little trouble on his way to the 182-pound title, winning three matches by pin and another by technical fall.
The junior was on the mat for just 47 seconds in the opening-round win over Douglas’ Mariano Herrera. Peterson followed that victory, with first-period pins over Damonte Ranch’s Noa Tuia and Fernley’s John Owens. Peterson closed out the tournament with a 16-1 win over Fernley’s Nathan Glass.
Mattson neared the 20-win mark on the season with his four wins during the tournament. He started with a pin over Dayton’s Seledon Leyva in the third period of the first round. The junior was on the mat for less than two minutes in his next two matches, pinning teammate Hunter Smith in the second round at 1:18 and Fernley’s Alec Carr in just 48 seconds in the semifinals.
Mattson won the weight class, pinning Damonte Ranch’s Chris Gonzalez with 14 seconds to go.
Lowry’s Angel Huerta was second in the 113-pound weight class. The sophomore reached the second round by forfeit and was on the mat for 61 seconds in his first bout, a pin over Reed’s Damien Taylor. In the semifinals, Huerta cruised past Damonte Ranch’s Tracy Willis, but lost a close 9-8 decision to Douglas’ Elzie Morris in the finale.
Wade Mori (120) and Cade Bell (152) each placed third for Lowry. Mori won his first matches by pin over Quincy’s Devin Vert and Douglas’ Vance Hickman.
The freshman dropped his semifinal bout to McQueen’s Preston Ham, sending him to the consolation bracket where he pinned Reed’s Arturo Espinoza.
Mori had to go into overtime to beat Fernley’s Angel Guzman, scoring a takedown in the first extra period for the 9-7 win.
“That was a good win for Wade,” added the coach. “Wade was getting beat and wore his kid down and came back to beat him in overtime.”
Bell, one of just three seniors on the squad, reached the semifinals by pinning Fernley’s Austin Kollar and Churchill County’s Steven Moon. Bell was leading his semifinal match over Fernley’s Kyle Jones, but go caught with a move that ended with Jones winning by pin. Bell regrouped to pin Reno’s Josh Brass in the consolation semifinals and he claimed third place, as Yerington’s Dante Revigilo didn’t wrestle the bout. The Yerington wrestler was returning from an injury.
Emilio Magana (135), Juan Lopez (220) and Jeremiah Simmons reached the consolation semifinals for the Buckaroos.
Lowry travels to Spring Creek this weekend for the Kiwanis Invitational, which will feature more than 30 teams from Nevada and Idaho.
“This will be a pretty good test for us,” Brooks said. “This will be a strong tournament. You will see Spring Creek, some teams from the south and good schools in Idaho.”
Lowry will be at home on Wednesday for a dual with Yerington at 5 p.m. Coach Brooks also noted that Pershing County may come down to the dual as well with its six wrestlers.
