Carson High wrestlers seek regional title

With a regular-season Sierra League title already in hand, the Carson High wrestling team goes after the NIAA 4A regional title this weekend at Spanish Springs High School.

Action begins today at 3:30 with opening ceremonies. On Saturday, wrestling is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. The top three finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament in Winnemucca.

Carson is coming off a second-place finish at the Armijo Invitational in Fairfield and a Dawn to Dusk tournament title in Marin County in the last two weeks.

"We've done well (11-1) in duals," Carson coach Tim McCarthy said. "We've come on strong in the last two tournaments.

"I've been out of Northern Nevada wrestling as far as high schools are concerned for a number of years. From talking to a lot of wrestling people, it's going to be as open a race for first as it's been in a long time."

McCarthy said in recent years that wrestlers are seeded based on their performance in league meets and not overall.

"It's not what I would call the fairest," McCarthy said. "You would get a lot truer seeding if you did it the old way. Certainly there would be some arguments."

Here is a breakdown of the tournament by weight:

103

Carson's Patrick Craugh went 7-1 in dual meets. The most formidable wrestler in the bracket is probably Spanish Springs' Curtis Lampert, who had six league wins. Lampert won the Sierra Nevada Classic this year.

"There will be three guys battling for two spots," McCarthy said, alluding to Craugh, Reno's Jake Garfinkle and McQueen's Joseph DeLeon. South Tahoe's Cody Shindelbower is a darkhorse.

112

Carson's Austin Brown would be considered a long shot to qualify for state unless he can pull off a couple of upsets.

Douglas' Dillon Spates, Reno's Bo Bettinson, Fallon's Collin Merkley and Todd Peterson of Spanish Springs figure to battle for the top four spots.

119

Ricky Ugarte is entered here for Carson. Galena's Ikae Gunzel, Douglas' Tim Souza, South Tahoe's Cameron Cason and Ugarte figure to be the frontrunners.

"It's basically four guys for three spots here, and Ricky is one of them," McCarthy said. "The bracket is really stacked on the Sierra league side."

125

Carson's Nick Schlager is one of the favorites in the division. He was second a year ago at this weight and third at state. Reno's Joe Smith will be in the mix along with Garrett Manoukian of Damonte Ranch and Michael Wilcoxsin of Galena.

"He could have been the top seed but he was out for a while with a broken finger," McCarthy said. "He should be fine."

130

Adam Welch is Carson's entrant, and he's in the toughest weight class of all according to McCarthy.

Douglas' Michael Sepulveda, Wooster's Steve Elicegui, Galena's Jeremy Wilson and Spanish Springs' Jes Sylvester appear to be the frontrunners based on records.

"I expect him to go top three," McCarthy said of Welch.

135

Bryce Landolt was expected to be in the lineup, but family issues have forced him to move back to Oregon, so McCarthy will leave that spot vacant.

McQueen's Jordan Lee, Galena's Doug Del Porto, Douglas' Nick Prudhomme and Reed's Reece Dassinger have the best won-loss records.

140

Freshman Nicholas Garcia is Carson's entrant. Galena's Luke Riley, Douglas' Nico Barker, Fallon's Charlie Heck and Reed's Mitchell Payne are the favorites.

"Nicholas has shown great improvement over the past couple of weeks," McCarthy said. "He's in a weight class dominated by upperclassmen."

145

Carson's Brett Allen will be among several wrestlers vying for the two spots behind Manogue's Ricky McDonald. Douglas' Eddie Kollar, Reed's Derek Ratto and Blake Myers of Spanish Springs also are in the mix.

"Brett has a good chance to go," McCarthy said. "When Brett is wrestling well he's very dangerous."

152

Jimmy Weir, who managed two league wins, is Carson's entrant.

McQueen's Ed Sullivan, Manogue's Gary Albright, Reno's Justin Rashidi and Fallon's Derek Sammaripa appear to be the quartet battling for the three state spots.

"Weir is a tough kid," McCarthy said. "He can surprise somebody."

160

Junior Valladares, according to McCarthy has an excellent chance to make it to the top three. However, he'll have to face Trent deBraga of Fallon in the semifinals.

Wooster's Anthony Faddis and Mitch Von Ronk are the other contenders.

171

Luke Carter and Ryan Hoskins represent Carson.

Carter compiled four wins in dual meets as did Franklyn Christian of Damonte Ranch and Aaron Sexton of Wooster. The favorite out of the High Desert league is Spanish Springs' Chris White.

"This weight class isn't considered to be stacked," McCarthy said. "Luke has a good chance to be in the top three."

189

Justin Steele produced five league wins, but he's in the same division as returning state champ Brandon Gebhardt of Reno. Evan Miller of Manogue also is considered a sure thing to advance.

215

Justin Barlow will be up against Damonte Ranch's Cody Kilgore, Hug's Benjamin Carman and Erwin Soto of Spanish Springs. Barlow did pin Kilgore during the regular season.

"There are four good wrestlers for three spots," McCarthy said.

Heavyweight

Max Schadeck compiled six league wins, but he'll be contending with South Tahoe's Jon Fago't, Reed's Matt Roberts, Spanish Springs' Billy Dean and Galena's Jeremy Byrnes.

"Fago't is probably the class of that group," McCarthy said.

- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling 881-1281