SPRING CREEK —After battling through injuries and sickness throughout the season, the Lowry High School wrestling team looked to steal away a Northern 3A Regional Championship this past weekend in Spring Creek.
The Buckaroos had a strong weekend and will qualify 12 grapplers for the state tournament but came up just short in the team standings.
Elko, which has one of its strongest groups in recent memory, held on to its first-day lead and won with 284 points. Lowry was second at 247.50 and Spring Creek (235), Fernley (168) and South Tahoe (136) rounded out the top five.
Lowry had two individual champions in Coda Nichols at 106 pounds and Wade Mori at 132 pounds.
The Buckaroos also featured four runner-up finishes in Marcas Ricci (113), Jesse Hawkins (145), Jhett Harber (160) and Boni Jacinto (220).
Nichols never saw match go past the first period, winning all three bouts by pin.
He took down Elko’s Carlos Marquez in the opening round in 98 seconds and reached the semifinals in his first match on Saturday morning, beating Spring Creek’s Jaxson Taylor at the 1:46 mark. Nichols needed just 61 seconds to pin Fernley’s Camron Mcmackin.
Mori had one more match on the weekend, earning four wins, all by pin, including two on Friday night. Mori began the weekend by beating Dayton’s Caleb Coleman in 2:50.
Mori reached the semifinals with a 91 second pin against Chris Mossontte of South Tahoe.
Mori found himself in battle in the semifinals against Elko’s Cael Sellers. In a back-and-forth match, Mori scored two points late in the bout to win 9-8. It was much easier for Mori in the final, as he pinned South Tahoe’s Kash Hendrick in the second period.
Ricci had a bye in the first round and did not wrestle on the first day at 113 pounds.
In the semifinals on Saturday morning, Ricci took down Spring Creek’s Joe Gillespie in just 40 seconds. Ricci was knocked off in the title match, with Elko’s Marco Ramirez winning by pin.
Hawkins had four bouts on his way to lacing second at 145 pounds. Hawkins won by fall in the opening round in 61 seconds and advanced to the semifinals with a quick 34-second pin against Fernley’s Teague Kenison.
Hawkins had to go nearly the distance in the semifinals, but won by pin at 5:31 against South Tahoe’s Garrett Friederici. Hawkins was defeated by pin the final by Spring Creek’s Terron Morgensen.
Harber was second at 160 pounds and picked up wins by pin on Friday night over Wooster’s Xavian Velazquez and Fernley’s Austin Kollar. In the semifinals on Saturday morning, Harber knocked off Elko’s Christian Felix in the second period, but lost in the final by pin to Churchill County’s Steven Moon.
Boni Jacinto was second at 220 pounds and opened his weekend with a 30-second pin over Wooster’s Christopher Najera. Jacinto narrowly advanced to the final with a 4-3 decision over Elko’s Leonard Dohl. Jacinto lost in the final to Elko’s Nathan Glass.
Angel Huerta (120), Brenton Baker (126) and Hunter Smith (182) each placed third.
Huerta had a long weekend to earn his third-place finish after losing an opening round match to Elko’s Titan Kennedy.
Huerta came back in the second round of consolation round to pin Spring Creek’s Chandler Green. In the consolation third round on Saturday morning,
Huerta beat teammate Logan Ricci and Huerta got his revenge in the consolation semifinals, beating Kennedy 3-2 in a rematch. Huerta went on to pin Churchill County’s Jaiden McFadden for third.
Baker received a first-round bye and in his only bout on Friday, he beat Churchill County’s Lonnie Adams by technical fall at 15-0.
Baker lost to Elko’s Blaze Jones in the semifinals but bounced back with wins over North Valley’s Jaylen Solorzano and Churchill County’s Andrew Douglas.
Smith opened his tournament with a 7-0 win against Wooster’s Cesar Benavides in his only match on Friday. Smith faced Spring Creek’s Shawn Lortie in the semifinals and lost 6-4.
The senior bounced back to pin South Tahoe’s Owen Earl in 23second sin the consolation semifinals. Smith was given third place on an injury default by Fernley’s Nicholas Glass.
Damon Fetty (152), Luke Fentress (170) and David Walker (285) finished fourth.
Fetty won his first bout by pin over South Tahoe’s Joseph Causing, but dropped his quarterfinal bout to Fernley’s Marciano Montano. Fetty came back through the consolation bracket with three wins but lost the third-place match to Spring Creek’s Anthony Ward.
Fentress reached the semifinals with a win over Wooster’s Rogelio Santiago but was knocked of in the semifinals by Fernley’s Brandon McCullar.
Fentress earned a 9-1 win over Fernley’s Anthony Robles but lost to Elko’s Andres Flores in the third-place match.
Walker won his first bout by pin over Wooster’s Isileo Masi but dropped the semifinal bout to South Tahoe’s Jesus Chavarin. Walker bounced back to pin Churchill County’s Sean Reeder in the consolation semifinals but lost to Elko’s Luke Bement in the third-place match.
Gage Kinder placed fifth at 132 pounds and Christopher Gildone (138), Jakob Bauman (145) and Javier Gonzalez (152) also wrestled for the Buckaroos.
Lowry heads to Boulder City on Saturday for the NIAA State Championships. Wrestling is set to start at 9 a.m.
