Carson wins tourney, extends league streak

Carson High’s wrestling team flexed its collective muscle Saturday by winning the 16th annual Capitol City Duals, and even more importantly, grabbing two Sierra League wins to push its league winning streak to 27 straight matches.

Carson went 5-0 on the day, including a 72-12 thrashing of rival Douglas in the championship match. The Senators knocked off Bishop Manogue, 78-3; Wooster 72-12; Reed 48-20; and McQueen B, 84-0. Carson lost just 13 matches all day.

“It was a good day for Carson wrestling, a very good day,” said first-year head coach Paul Carter, whose team is 7-0 in dual meets thus far. “It (winning) gives us good confidence. Winning the tournament is nice, but our goal is to win league and we took a big step toward that today.”

Carter was referring to the wins over Bishop Manogue and Wooster, which gives Carson a 2-0 league record. Carson’s next Sierra League dual is Jan. 15 at home against Damonte Ranch. The Mustangs gave Carson its closest match last season.

The championship match turned out to be a huge mismatch, as Carson recorded 10 pins in 14 matches. The other two wins came via forfeits.

Dominic Kinder (132), one of five CHS wrestlers to go undefeated on the day, got the title match started in impressive fashion with a second-round pin of Parker Biehn. Kinder had a 9-0 lead when he registered the fall. Nicholas Lani (138) made it 12-0 with a first-round pin of David Whilden. At 145, Brady O’Keefe stopped Ryan Weese by pin in the opening period to make it 18-0. Ben Ray (152) led 8-7 before pinning Garrett Seward for a 24-0 lead. Nolan Shine, who didn’t lose on the day, pinned Cody Lewis in the opening period of their 160-pound match for a 30-0 lead.

Shine, who tore his medial collateral ligament a year ago, didn’t wrestle earlier this week when Carson knocked off Fallon and Reno. He barely had the five workout days needed between sports because he went on a hunting trip.

“I was a little conscious about my knee coming off what happened last year,” Shine said. “I wanted to come out and dominate. None of my matches (today) went long enough for me to get gassed. I’m not in the best shape right now, but I will get in better shape.”

The Carson coaching staff thought Shine would have made state last year had it not been for his injury, and Shine wants to get there this year.

“He was a little sloppy in that first match,” Carter said. “After he got things worked out, he wrestled really well. He wrestled really aggressively like he did before his injury.”

The onslaught continued, as Cody Cunningham (170) won by forfeit and Brady Rivera (182) recorded a first-round pin to make it 42-0. Zach Singer (195) broke the Carson streak with a pin of Connor Sievers. Douglas’ Chance Thoeme pinned Sheldon Miller at 220 to make it 42-12. Football standout Aaron Cowee grabbed an early 2-0 lead and then pinned Ian Kendrick in the first round to make it 48-12. Brandon Basa (106), Casey Stevens (113) and Sammy Mercado (120) all recorded pins for a 66-12 lead before a walkover closed out the match.

Stevens’ win was impressive. He led 2-0 early, but gave up eight unanswered points to fall behind 8-2 before recording the fall.

In the opener against Manogue, Basa and Stevens gave the Senators a quick 12-0 lead, but Mercado lost 11-5. Carson ripped off 11 straight wins, five by pin and six forfeits, to make it a runaway. Austin Martinez (126), Kinder, Lani, Shine and Miller recorded pins.

Against Wooster, the Senators got pins from Stevens, Kinder, Lani, O’Keefe, Shine and Cunningham.

Reed gave Carson its toughest match of the day, but the Senators won three of the first four matches to build an early lead. Mercado, Kinder and Lani recorded pins for an early 18-3 lead. After losses by O’Keefe (5-2) and Ray (21-5) Reed cut the deficit to 18-11. Carson won six of the last eight matches, as Rivera won 15-5, and Cowee and Basa recorded pins.

It was a pin-fest against McQueen’s B squad. Carson had five pins that were a minute or quicker. Sievers had the quickest at 22 seconds, Rivera’s came at 29 seconds, Shine’s was at 33, O’Keefe 52 and Cunningham had one at 60 seconds.

•••

The JV squad participated in the Hug Takedown in Reno on Saturday,

Elijah Fajayan won first in his weight class, while Alex Estrada, Dakota Erickson, Diego Francis and Stephen Rash all finished second in their respective weight classes. Kyle Hetrick and Gage Gunzberg each grabbed a third-place finish.