Carson ready to defend Sierra League wrestling title

Carson High wrestling coach Tim McCarthy didn't mince words. He is counting on his senior wrestlers to lead the Senators to another Sierra League championship.

"We have six solid senior starters," said McCarthy, who guided the team to an 11-1 record in dual meets last season. "All are very tough.

"We hope to do as good or better than last year. We're looking to improve as a tournament team. You obviously need kids who can place high in tournaments. We had pretty solid kids at every weight, but not solid enough to place in the top three or four."

Start with Nick Schlager at 135 pounds. Schlager won the 4A regionals at 125 last year and finished second in the state. He finished with a 22-2 record. Both Ricky Ugarte (119) and Junior Valladares (171) missed qualifying for state by one victory, and both are hungry to reach state.

"He's grown a couple of inches," McCarthy said of Schlager. "He's lean. From 112 to 140, it's loaded in every weight class. You can't find an easy one in there. He's as good as they come.

"There are a number of solid guys in Ricky's weight. He's trying to settle in where he was last year. He'll go all out."

Valladares has moved up from 160 to 171, and McCarthy said he should be among the finalists for regional honors.

"I really think he can make it to state," McCarthy said. "He's working hard. He went to a couple of camps over the summer and did pretty well."

The back end of the lineup is loaded with Luke Carter (189), Ryan Hoskins (215) and Justin Barlow (heavyweight). Carter has moved up from 171 to 189, forcing Hoskins to move up a weight class.

"Luke is getting a lot more aggressive," McCarthy said. "He's bringing a lot of confidence in the first three weeks of practice.

"Ryan only weighs 190, but pound-for-pound he's the toughest kid in school. With Justin we're working on technique. He's going to be going up against guys that weigh up to 285 and he only weighs 240."

The rest of the lineup is Pat Craugh (103), Cole McCarthy (112), Austin Brown (125), Ty Welch (130), Jordan Luhrs (140), Dillon Winkleman (145), Nicolas Garcia (152) and Jimmy Weir (160).

"I think Pat is going to have a big year," McCarthy said. "He's a junior wrestling at 103. That's a weight where you usually have freshmen and sophomores. He didn't end up growing much from last year.

"Weir is passionate. He hates to lose. He's a good fighter. Welch had a good JV year until he separated his collarbone."

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The Senators kick off their season Saturday morning (9 a.m.) when they host the 12th annual Capitol City Duals.

Twelve teams - Carson, Douglas, Golden Valley of Merced, Reno, Bishop Manogue, Lowry, Fallon, Spanish Springs, North Valleys, Wooster, Galena and Fernley are entered into the event.

"Lowry returns most of its team from last year when they were 3A state champions and Golden Valley are the favorites," McCarthy said. "We (Carson) look pretty good. We'll be missing a couple of guys early (Hoskins and Schlager) because they are taking SATs. Hopefully that won't hurt us."

Douglas won the event last year and Carson finished third.