There was simply no way Tim McCarthy could stay away from wrestling in northern Nevada.
So, just three months after he resigned as head wrestling coach at Carson High School, McCarthy is back on the scene. He was in the gym Saturday for the Capital City Duals, an event he launched at Carson five years ago, only this time he was just watching and enjoying the sport.
Oh, and by the way, McCarthy was taking some mental notes for his new role as coordinator for the Northern Nevada Top 5 high school wrestling rankings.
The preseason Northern Nevada Top 5 is already out, ranking teams and individuals according to their respective weight classes. Everyone is ranked together, regardless of school classification. It's strictly unofficial. Strictly for fun, and for the purpose of promoting the sport around the region.
"This is something other coaches and I had talked about for numerous years but no one was really ever interested in being the one to dive into it and put their neck on the line," McCarthy said. "So since I wasn't a head coach, which takes so much time, so much paper work and stuff like that, I figured I'd jump into this."
McCarthy resigned as Carson's head guidance counselor and wrestling coach in August, citing a conflict in his family insurance benefits. McCarthy's dual meet record in eight seasons was 124-36 and the Senators compiled a perfect 15-0 regular season record last winter. He coached two individual state champions: Doug Brooks and Justin Sarnowski, both of whom won in 2001.
He has since accepted a position as a counselor at Galena,
"My kids are insured now and I helping out just volunteering with the wrestling program three days a week at Galena," McCarthy said. "It's a lot less stress not being a head coach. I just go there and work out with the kids. It's just kind of fun, plus my two kids (ages 4 and 7) are involved with the (Carson) Bulldog wrestling program, so I'm able to go to those tournaments and that's important."
It also leaves time to take care of those rankings. They're obviously subjective, even controversial, but that's just fine by McCarthy.
"Basically, what we're trying to achieve is to get a little more publicity for the sport and maybe create a little controversy," he said with a slight grin. "There's certainly some McCarthy subjectivity to it, but I'm using what the other coaches have sent in, information on their wrestlers and what they've done in the past couple of years."
December is a busy month with a schedule that includes the Reno Tournament of Champions -- which will will showcase teams from across the country -- and the Vietnam Veterans Tournament in Winnemucca, both on the weekend of Dec. 20-21. Then there's the prestigious Sierra Nevada Classic on Dec. 27-28 in Reno.
"Those are big tournaments," McCarthy said. "Especially, if kids do well in the Sierra Nevada Classic or the Reno TOC, that will carry a lot of weight for the rankings."
McCarthy was even willing to make one concession on his preseason team rankings after watching the finals of the Capital City Duals. "I guess I'd better move Douglas up a couple of spots," McCarthy said with a chuckle after the No. 5 Tigers pinned a 37-29 loss on the No. 3 Carson Senators.
"Fallon has got to be the favorite. They return an awful lot of tough kids," he added. "Dean (Schmanski, new head coach) is doing a good job, so I think Carson is going to be right up there once they get their lineup a little more settled. Douglas is good. And at state, you have to watch out at state for a team like Wooster with kids who are going to be in the finals all the time."
Of course, everything will be decided officially in February when the regional and state tournaments are held. The Northern 4A Regional Tournament will be held Feb. 7 at Sparks High, followed by the 4A state tournament Feb. 14-15 at Reno High. The Northern 3A Regional will be held Feb. 7 at Fernley and the 3A state tournament on Feb. 14-15 at the Winnemucca Indoor Events Center.
"It's a long season," McCarthy said. "In wrestling, probably more than any other sport, you have kids who get knocked out of the lineup due to injuries. Your body just takes a pounding from having to watch what you eat to make weight and all that. And quitting is a factor just because the sport is so demanding. That's kind of why I'm putting this ranking thing together, just to get something more for those kids who are putting the time in and working their tails off.
"I'm sure there will be wrestling people saying, 'What's this kid doing ranked above him.' But the main reason is to generate a little more publicity, a little more exposure, and to get people talking more about the sport."
NORTHERN NEVADA TOP 5 PRESEASON RANKINGS
Compiled by former Carson coach Tim McCarthy
Team: 1, Fallon; 2, Lowry; 3, Carson; 4, Spring Creek; 5, Douglas.
Individual
103 pounds: 1, Ryan Martinez, Douglas; 2, Adam Sorenson, Lowry; 3, Joe Sanford, Galena. 112: 1, Joel Rivadeneyra, Galena; 2, Eric Aguilera, Carson; 3, Daniel Stenovich, Spring Creek; 4, Pat Dominguez, Battle Mountain; 5, Rusty Faulkner, South Tahoe. 119: 1, Josh Wilson, Wooster; 2, Rudy Maynez, Fallon; 3, Joe Malsam, Incline; 4, Flint Reno, Reno; 5, Jesse Lemos, Yerington. 125: 1, David Dominguez, Battle Mountain; 2, Jessee Woodruff, Reed; 3, Brady Moulton, Lowry; 4, Zach Fitzgerald, Spring Creek; 5, Bradley Johnson, Douglas. 130: 1, Brandon Barrett, Spring Creek; 2, Stephen Schurwing, Incline; 3, Chris Hunton, Elko; 4, Spencer Christian, Galena; 5, Jim Hesterlee, McQueen. 135: 1, Jacob Johnson, Spring Creek; 2, Scott Barnato, Spanish Springs; 3, Micah Parker, Galena; 4, Louie Gabriel, Douglas; 5, Chris White, Carson. 140: 1, Jarrin Prokasky, Lowry; 2, Tim Doring, Battle Mountain; 3, Reece Jones, Fallon; 4, Paul Carter, Carson; 5, Sean Gettings, Reno. 145: 1, Zach Lazzari, Wooster; 2, Dane Ashley, Elko; 3, David Kirn, Galena; 4, Ty Sestanovich, Eureka; 5, C.J. Keith, Douglas.
152: 1, Matt Zander, Elko; 2, Dale Seely, Fallon; 3, Mike Kummer, Reno; 4, Kyle Vance, Spanish Springs; 5, Joe Roman, Carson. 160: 1, Cody Louk, Lowry; 2, Ed Perreira, Wooster; 3, Shayne Wallace, McQueen; 4, Chris Ceccarelli, Carson; 5, Raymond Gabriel, Douglas. 171: 1, Darren Lewis, Fallon; 2, Grant Hall, Douglas; 3, Apollo Leighton, Hug; 4, Ryan Davis, South Tahoe. 189: 1, Joe Sturgis, Reno; 2, Dan Molina, Douglas; 3, Allen Wooldridge, Carson; 215: 1, Chad Espinoza, Wooster; 2, Nick Shine, Carson; 3, Cody McElroy, Manogue; 4, Josh Magua, Fallon. Heavyweight: 1, Kelly Anundson, Sparks; 2, Jeremiah Jones, Galena; 3, Jeff Prinz, Fallon; 4, David Vasquez, South Tahoe; 5, Mike Moore, Carson.