Carson wrestlers sweep McQueen

This may have been no Picasso, but the Carson High School wrestling team scored points in clutch situations en route to a 45-21 Northern 4A dual meet victory at home against McQueen on Wednesday afternoon.

Veterans Justin Sarnowski, Doug Brooks and Branden Lamborn won narrow decisions in matches that came down to the wire to help the Senators secure their victory against McQueen at Morse Burley Gymnasium. Coupled with a 60-19 win against Reed to wrap up the double dual meet, Carson improved its record to 4-3 in conference (9-4 overall), but coach Tim McCarthy was somber afterward.

"We picked up a couple of wins, but they certainly weren't things of beauty," McCarthy said. "I don't know what happened, especially when you consider how well we wrestled last weekend.

"I just hope it was just a case of us looking ahead. We are going to face a big test on Saturday because four of the five top teams in the league are going to be out in Elko," added the coach, whose Senators were coming off a championship performance last weekend at a 24-team tournament in Albany, Calif.

Wednesday did bring satisfaction for Brooks, as the junior 140-pounder posted a 1-0 win over McQueen's T.J. Dean. An escape at the outset of the second period was the only point Brooks needed to reverse a loss he absorbed at the hands of Dean at the Capital City Duals last month. Brooks now boasts a 27-8 season record, including back-to-back gold medals at the Sparks and Albany tournaments.

"This was a big win for me. He had a great defense against me, but I was able to ride him out," Brooks said. "I've stepped it up lately, ever since the Sparks tournament."

Carson pulled out another hard-fought match when Sarnowski scored a 6-4 overtime victory in his 130-pound bout against McQueen sophomore Doug Barker. Sarnowski, the defending zone tournament 130-pound champion, used a fireman's carry to win it with a takedown 49 seconds into overtime

"I haven't seen him before and I wasn't too prepared," Sarnowski said. "I'm just going to have to go back and practice harder the rest of this week."

McQueen coach Shayne Wallace wasn't totally surprised by Barker, who wears a protective face mask during his matches because of recurring nose bleeds.

"He's been showing signs of improvement since Christmas," Wallace said. "He can go with the big kids. Tonight he had an opportunity to pull the upset, but he didn't quite get it."

Lamborn was an 8-6 victor over Dan Tresler at 160 pounds, thanks to a late takedown that broke a 6-6 tie.

One bright spot for Carson was sophomore Dan Dunbar's two victories at 189 pounds, including a first round pin against Reed.

GALENA 37, LOWRY 25

The Grizzlies kept their hopes of winning the Northern 4A dual meet championship alive by knocking shorthanded Lowry from the unbeaten ranks during a three-way meet hosted by Douglas in Minden.

Galena picked up victories in three of the final four matches, including Ricky Wesley (171 pounds), Jesse Jones (189) and heavyweight Pat Nohr, who decisioned Lowry's talented Brian Light, 2-0.

Lowry was wrestling with four regulars missing from the lineup.

DOUGLAS 42, LOWRY 27

Drew Hall, John Hillenbrand, Nathan Bennett and Carl Wymer scored successive victories to lift Douglas (5-3) to a surprising victory. Hall's 4-2 win at 160 pounds broke a 24-24 tie and put the Tigers on top for good. Bennett won his 189-pound match by fall in only 34 seconds and Wymer needed 54 seconds to win his 215-pound bout. Romaine Smokey, wrestling for the first time in nearly three weeks, also pinned his 119-pound opponent in 33 seconds.

Douglas hosts its own Carson Valley Lions Invitational on Saturday.