Carson wrestlers pound Manogue

As winning and losing go, those were relative terms as far as evaluating the performacne of Carson High's wrestling team on its opening night.

As expected, Carson rolled to a 54-30 win over Manogue on Wednesday at Morse Burley Gym. But the Miners weren't at full strength leading to a contest in which all 14 matches were decided by pin or forfeit.

Manogue forfeited five matches. In the contested matches, Manogue won five of the nine contests.

"That's not that bad," Carson coach Tim McCarthy said about every match being decided by pin or forfeit. "It makes for a quick night."

But McCarthy wasn't overjoyed about his team's performance. "Mixed feelings about the first effort," he said.

McCarthy, though, was looking forward to Saturday's Capitol City Duals at Morse Burley Gym in which the Senators will wrestle five dual matches in pool competition. "We're going to learn a lot more Saturday what kind of team we are," McCarthy said.

Adam Welch (130 pounds), Brandon Patterson (140), Jae Chun (160) and Justin Steele (189) all won by pin for Carson. Carson's Brett Allen (152) and Luke Carter (171) also ran into tough competition.

Former Carson Bulldog Ricky McDonald, who took third at last year's NIAA 4A State Championships, pinned Allen while Manogue teammate Gary Albright, who took fourth at state last year, pinned Carter.

Patrick Craugh (112), Bryce Landolt (145), Adan Ortega (103), Austin Brown (119) and Max Schadeck (heavyweight) all won by forfeit for Carson while Manogue won by forfeit at 103.

Ricardo Urgarte, who's expected to be one of Carson's top wrestlers at 119, moved up to 125 and was pinned by Manogue's Curtis Bright. Manogue also won by pin at 135 and 215.

Carson wrestlers without two of its top wrestlers, Nick Schlager and Junior Valladarez, but both will wrestle on Saturday. Schlager, who was held out with a sore knee, will wrestle at 125. Valladarez will wrestle at 171 and will eventually move down to 160 where he will wrestle this season.