Carson wrestlers win Sparks event

Superior depth made the difference again for the Carson High wrestling team as it won its second straight Sparks Invitational on Saturday.

Even though the Senators had just one individual champion in Mallory Bozeman (119 pounds), virtually all of the Carson wrestlers placed to give them the team win in a tournament that traditionally serves as a preview for the Northern 4A Regionals.

Carson finished with 236 points to win the title in the 18-team event. The Senators were followed by Douglas (212), Fallon (186) and Galena, which placed fourth with 144.5 points.

"It was definitely a great effort to win the team title," Carson coach Tim McCarthy said. "That's exactly what it was, was depth, having all those thirds, fourths and fifths. It was definitely a depth win."

Bozeman pinned Galena's Micah Parker in the first round of the 119-pound championship match.

Paul Carter (140) and Allen Wooldridge (215) also placed second for Carson. Carter was among the wrestlers who McCarthy was most impressed with.

"Paul Carter at 140 had a real tough weight class and wrestled really well," McCarthy said. "Some kids wrestled really well."

But McCarthy also said his team showed some "deficiencies." "Those are the things that we're really going to work on in the next few weeks," he said.

Other wrestlers who placed for Carson were: 103 -- Eric Aguilera, fourth; 112 -- Kevin Riggin, fifth; 125 -- Tim Ellis, fifth; 130 -- Chris White, third and Tyler Preston, sixth; 135 -- Chandler Brown, fifth; 145 -- Joe Roman, third and Micah Whitcome, third; 152 -- Chris Kotter, third. 160 -- Chris Ceccarrelli, fourth; 171 -- Anthony Bass, fifth; 189 -- Jeremy Steele, fourth; 215 -- David Cadwallader, fifth.

Carson was able to win despite not having one of its best wrestlers, Nick Shine, who was unable to make weight. Josh Aguilar is also out with an elbow injury he sustained last month.

Douglas produced two individual champions: David Tingle at 160 pounds and Nathan Bennett at 171 pounds.

Galena's Justin Ellmaker won the 135-pound title while Joel Rivadeneyra placed second at 103 pounds and Jeremiah Jones second in the heavyweight division.

The Northern 4A tournament will be held at Galena on Feb. 8-9. Galena also hosts Elko, Reed and Sparks in a four-way High Desert League match next Saturday. Carson travels to the Bay Area on Saturday to compete at the Albany Invitational.