Brandon Basa
RENO — With 30 points in hand because of five forfeits, it wasn’t whether Carson High would beat Wooster Wednesday night, it would be by how much.
The Senators won seven of the nine matches contested, rolling to a 70-10 win over the Colts in a Sierra League dual wrestling match.
Carson moved to 2-0 entering Saturday’s Sutter Invitational. Carson was originally scheduled to go to a different tournament, but school officials wouldn’t it leave school early on Friday.
“We wrestled how I expected we would wrestle,” CHS coach Justin Shine said. “We’re getting a lot of hard work done in the wrestling room.”
Carson got wins from, in order of appearance, Jake Roman (132, pin), Nathan Mersino (138, pin), Brady O’Keefe (145, pin), Jarod Butler (160, pin), Kevin Rusler (181, pin), Terin Keller (106, pin) and Kyle Ruedy (126, 11-1 win).
The only losses were by Austin Rudy at 152 and Brandon Basa at 120. Rudy lost by a second-round pin, while Basa lost 11-3 to nationally ranked Ian Timmins. Basa has been wrestling most of the year at 113.
Originally, Basa was scheduled to go at 120 and Timmins was supposed to go at 126. However, when the 120 match was called, the Colts pulled a switch.Timmins got a first-period takedown for a 2-0 lead, and then Basa got an escape to make it 2-1. Timmins, however, ended the second period with an 8-3 lead before getting an escape and takedown en route to the four-point decision.
“The Basa match for sure,” Shine said when asked what match stood out. “He keeps cutting the gap with Ian which means we’re getting better. Brandon has been working very hard.”
“It was good that I wrestled Ian,” Basa said. “I don’t care that they changed (their lineup). I’ve been working out a lot more; working early in the morning, and coach Shine is working with me a lot.”
Basa has never beaten Timmins, but he doesn’t back down. In fact, Basa has embraced the challenge of trying to beat Timmins, who finished third at the prestigious Doc Buchanan Invitational last weekend.
What was impressive about Carson’s performance was it didn’t let down against weaker opposition. The Senators showed a killer instinct, and that’s good because they will be favored in their remaining three Sierra League matches (Galena, Bishop Manogue and Douglas).
“I think beating Damonte (in the opener) pumped the team up,” Basa said. “We want to get the title back, and we know we can’t let down.”