Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Carson High School wrestlers 275 pound Zach Taylor effortlessly holds 112 pound Todd Banko above his head on Monday night at the high school practice facility.
It could be an ironic twist, but the wrestlers who could decide if the Carson High wrestling team wins the Northern 4A title this weekend will not score a point.
Carson has four "wild card" wrestlers competing at this weekend's Northern 4A Championships at Spanish Springs, whose performances will not count in the team points standings. Each school can bring four extra wrestlers whose efforts won't count in the points standings.
But their performances could very well take away valuable points from other schools and that could be the difference this weekend. The meet gets underway at 4 p.m. Friday, with wrestling scheduled all day Saturday.
Three of Carson's four extra wrestlers could actually qualify for next week's NIAA 4A State Championships by finishing in the top three in their weight class themselves. Owen Craugh at 112, Wes Reddick at 125 and Adam Carmazzi at 130 could all qualify for state - if not be on the podium as zone champions themselves.
If Craugh, Reddick and Carmazzi finish in the top three or better, that's good news for Carson. Craugh is a two-time state qualifier and Carmazzi qualified for state last year.
"It could make the difference in the final standings," Carson coach Casey Schweitzer said. "If we're not getting the points, nobody else is getting them, either."
Carson's fourth extra wrestler is Trent Simpson at 215. If Simpson could pick off a wrestler from another school along the way, that could only help the Senators' cause all the more.
The Senators will be at a disadvantage as they will only have 13 out of a possible 14 wrestlers as they will not have a wrestler at 103.
"You know what, we're not dwelling on the guys we don't have," Schweitzer said. "We're focusing on the guys we do have."
The zone tournament figures to be a three-way race between Carson, Fallon and Douglas. "I think Fallon, Carson, Douglas are obviously in the running," Schweitzer said.
But Schweitzer also said Galena and Damonte Ranch can't be counted out. Here's a look at Carson's wrestlers and their outlook for the zone event:
112 - Todd Banko. He's one of the favorites and has an excellent chance to qualify for state by placing at least in the top three.
119 - Caleb Davis. He's one of several darkhorses who will need to do well for the Senators to have a chance at the zone title. "You can't count him out," Schweitzer said. "He's scrappy enough."
125 - Brian Halverson. Another wrestler who could contend for a top three finish and a state berth. Damonte Ranch's top wrestler could be the favorite and there's also Douglas High's Bryan Kaplan. Halverson beat Kaplan 4-3 at the Damonte Ranch Tournament to begin the year, but Kaplan came back to beat Halverson 8-4 a few days later in the Carson-Douglas dual meet.
130 - Kyle Banko. One of the biggest favorites in the meet, Banko's highlight was winning the Sierra Nevada Classic. Carson will likely need Banko to win the title and can't afford him to stumble.
135 - Robbie Bozin. He has been out for the past couple of weeks with a sprained ankle, but is ready to go. He could be heading for a showdown with Damonte's Trey Edmonds in the finals.
140 - Aaron Jolcover. Another darkhorse who needs to score points for Carson and could surprise, Schweitzer said. "If he has a good weekend, he could finish top three," Schweitzer said.
145 - Blake Davidson. Another darkhorse who needs to score points.
152 - Martin Azzam. Another darkhorse in a tough weight class that features Galena's Joey Milegich and Douglas High's Ryan Pruitt. "Martin's got his work cut out," Schweitzer said.
160 - Travis Lamborn. Another favorite to make the finals, Lamborn could have a chance at revenge against North Valleys' Mitch Tolley, who beat Lamborn 1-0 in a dual meet earlier this year.
171 - Ahron Osheroff. Another possible champion, Osheroff could be in a tough weight class as well depending on which weight class wrestlers such as Fallon's Riley Orozco chooses to wrestle. There's also Galena's Cole Dowty, who Osheroff has beaten twice this year.
189 - Jonas Schenzel. Another possible finalist. Douglas High's Shane Miller, who won the Sierra Nevada Classic, is the favorite.
215 - Garrett Truesdale. Another darkhorse who's wrestling about 30 pounds above his weight.
Heavyweight - Zach Taylor. The first-year wrestler may have gone from being a darkhorse to a wrestler who could crack the top three. Taylor is coming off two top three finishes in Bay Area tournaments.
"Our team is wrestling very confident right now," Schweitzer said. "We feel we're where we need to be."