Senator wrestling splits home dual

Tuesday evening was the first of two straight competition nights in Morse Burley Gymnasium for Carson High School wrestling.

The Senators grappled with Damonte Ranch and McQueen in a rescheduled triangular from January 10.

Carson’s first dual against the Mustangs went the way of the Senators, as the blue and white pulled out a 46-29 win over Damonte Ranch.

The second dual against McQueen didn’t go as planned, as Carson fell 49-30.

Earlier this season at the King Duals, Carson had bested McQueen, 44-33.

“We’ve been practicing to beat McQueen all year. It’s been a focal point in our room,” said Carson head coach Nick Redwine. “We got pinned too many times. In close duals against good teams, you can not do that. We’ve definitely wrestled better than we did tonight.”

At heavyweight, Dominic Porter continues to progress into a better and better wrestler, going 2-0 on the evening with two first round pins.

Against McQueen, Porter momentarily got into trouble, but flipped around for the pin in 1:42. He needed just 1:06 to pin his opponent from Damonte Ranch. 

Izaiah Oliva, who competed at 190 pounds, was also perfect Tuesday evening with two wins by fall.

Both of Olivia’s pins came in the second period while the junior was leading.

Ean Thomas, who didn’t compete against Damonte Ranch due to an open spot at 150 pounds, put together a pin in 3:35 against McQueen to secure six points for Carson.

Connor Crisp battled back from a loss against the Mustangs to grab a win by fall against the Lancers at 165 pounds.

Lucas Wold had two tough matches Tuesday night, winning his first 7-5 by decision against the Mustangs.

His match against McQueen went to sudden victory overtime, where Wold fell by an 8-6 decision.

In his second match, Wold was able to pass his opponents’ leg to avoid a takedown and turned it into a single leg takedown of his own to go up 3-2.

In the third period, Wold led 6-4 with an immediate takedown after an escape point, but gave up a takedown to remain tied 6-6 after three periods.

“He’s wrestled him a couple of times. He’s kind of made it his mission to beat him and he almost pulled it out right there. … Lucas probably has the best repertoire of moves on our teams,” said Redwine.

After losing by tech fall to Braelen Toles of Damonte Ranch, Carson’s JT Heaton bounced back with a win by fall in 3:01 at 175 pounds against McQueen.

“Toles is a tough kid. I like how he responded against the McQueen kid. He understands what it is to go from a tough, tough opponent to another tough opponent,” said Redwine. “He kept his head on straight and wrestled really well against McQueen.”

Toles took third place at the state tournament at 175 pounds last season.

Matthew Manley (113 pounds) and Jett Rupert (138) both had wins by fall against Damonte Ranch.

Carson moves to 3-2 in Class 5A North league duals while McQueen jumps into the No. 2 spot at 4-1. Damonte Ranch fell to 1-4.

UP NEXT: Carson welcomes Bishop Manogue and rival Douglas for another triangular Wednesday. Douglas will face Bishop Manogue first, starting around 4 p.m. The Senators will follow with duals against the Miners and then end the night with their dual against the Tigers.

“After coming up short, tomorrow we are going to have some fire. I don’t think I will have to say much, but I will have them ready to go tomorrow,” said Redwine.