Carson High’s Dominic Porter sets up for a move against a McQueen wrestler last season. Porter will be a senior for the Senators’ and began his season by going 9-0 in Utah.
Photo by Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage.
Carson High School wrestling has been one of the upper echelon programs in the Class 5A North over the last several years and the Senators’ don’t expect anything different this winter.
The Senators traveled to Syracuse, Utah last weekend to get their first look at regular season action, going 3-6 in nine team duals against Utah programs.
Head coach Nick Redwine expressed his desire to shake things up a bit at the beginning of the season and get the Senators’ challenged by new competition.
“Every single team that we wrestled was a dogfight to the finish,” said Redwine. “This is one of the gnarliest wrestling tournaments I’ve ever been too.”
WEIGHT CLASSES
Carson expects to fill every weight class this winter outside of 106 pounds.
In the lineup on a weekly basis will be several seniors who will be crucially important if the team as a whole wants to have success.
Redwine’s year-to-year expectations don’t change.
“I want to win as many duals as possible. I want to qualify as many kids for state as we can and I want to beat Douglas,” said Redwine. “We have a lot of seniors so I want to make sure that those seniors have the absolute best season they can have.”
Leading the way will be senior heavyweight Dominic Porter.
Porter didn’t lose a match in Utah to open the season and spent the summer traveling to Europe, dedicating his time to beach wrestling.
“He looked like pound-for-pound a top three wrestler at that tournament,” said Redwine. “Porter is pulling other moves on other heavyweights where he looks like a middleweight.”
Porter was named the team’s MVP for the Utah tournament.
Jesse Oliva will take over at 113 pounds this winter after making the regional finals at 106 pounds a season ago.
“Dominant, very offensive. He looks clean and polished,” said Redwine of Oliva, who was 7-2 in Utah.
Keona Basa will wrestle at 126 pounds this season after taking third at regionals at 120 pounds last season.
Fellow senior Jett Rupert will look to build upon his third place finish in the 138-pound bracket of last season’s regional tournament.
Konnor Crisp, who was third at 165 pounds last winter, is likely to get a full season of varsity experience this year.
“He’s really focused on wrestling and it shows,” said Redwine of Crisp.
JT Heaton, who went 8-1 in Utah, took second place at regionals at 175 pounds last season.
Junior Ethan Linehan will fall into the mix at 175 or 190, according to Redwine.
Senior Izaiah Oliva is expected to be at 215.
At 120 pounds, Redwine expects sophomore Wyatt Bauerle to come up from junior varsity and make some noise after spending the summer in club wrestling.
“It’s like the other side of a coin. He looks like a completely different wrestler,” said Redwine.
The 132-pound slot is still up in the air between two returners – Matthew Manley and Jaden Allec.
“They are both tough, hardworking, very strong sophomore varsity wrestlers,” Redwine.
Robert Vega will be the Senators’ main option at 144 pounds while the 150-pound spot remains up in the air.
Junior Damian Porter could be a name to watch at 165 pounds.
“We should be a pretty tough dual team again and we should have two or three that make it pretty deep into some of these individual tournaments we go to,” said Redwine.
(JT Heaton competes in the Earl Wilkens tournament last winter. / NNG file photo)
GIRLS LINEUP
Carson is still looking for a girls coach, which has been the case for the last year.
Turnout this winter for the Carson girls wrestling team is four participants, including of a pair of freshmen as well as junior returner Lexie Oliva, who won the Hug tournament last weekend.
Oliva went 2-0 in the 167-pound weight class.
LEAGUE EXPECTATIONS
Spanish Springs ran through the Fallon Duals this past weekend to open its campaign. The Cougars are the top team in the league until someone is able to prove otherwise.
“If anyone wants to be a regional champ they’ve got to beat Spanish Springs and they’re going to need help to do it,” said Redwine. “One team isn’t going to take them out.”
Redwine said McQueen and Reno also will be tough outs.
Carson’s first home dual will be Dec. 18 against Fernley.