Senator wrestlers win Lions crown

By DARRELL MOODY

Nevada Appeal News Service

MINDEN - The rivalry between Carson's Eric Aguilera and Galena's Joel Rivadeneyra goes back several years to their youth wrestling days.

"We used to wrestle a lot when we were little, and I almost never seemed to beat him," Aguilera said. "I beat him our freshman year, and that was the last time until tonight. It felt good."

Aguilera knocked off Rivadeneyra 10-6 to win the 125-pound division title at the annual Douglas Lions Invitational Saturday night, sparking the Senators to the team title.

Aguilera, who was named one of three outstanding wrestlers of the event, was one of five Carson wrestlers to win an individual title. Owen Craugh (103), Joe Roman (171), Chris Ceccarelli (189) and Nick Shine (215) were the others.

Robbie Bozin (112) placed second, and Micah Whitcome (152) was third. Travis Lamborn, Kevin Riggin (140) and David Cadwallader (heavyweight) was fourth. Cadwallader normally wrestles at the junior varsity level, according to coach Dean Schmanski.

Those five wins helped Carson roll to its first tournament win of the season. The Senators finished with 222 points, well ahead of Reno (130 1/2), Alhambra of Martinez, Calif. (123), Douglas (104) and Galena (95 1/2).

"Our goal was to have 10 wrestlers medal, and we had 11, so I'm happy," Schmanski said. "I'm enthusiastic about the way our 103 (Craugh) and 112 (Robbie Bozin) wrestled.

"The tournaments we've gone to (Scotts Valley, Sierra Nevada Classic and TOC) we've seen a lot of California schools. The lightweights in California tend to be a lot stronger. It was refreshing to wrestle against our area teams to see how we stacked up."

Ceccarelli was especially impressive, racking up four consecutive pins. He pinned Reno's Jake Killeen in the finals.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to wrestle Killeen for a while," Ceccarelli said. "I wanted to save it for zone. I have to get better and stronger."

"Those four pins (by Ceccarelli). That's the highlight," Schmanski said.

Roman rolled to an easy 10-3 win over Reno's Bear Hollis in the finals. The only points Hollis scored were on escapes or illegal holds. With the score 4-2, Roman piled up back-to-back takedowns en route to a commanding 8-2 lead.

Shine scored a quick first-round pin over Yerington's Lucas Mudloff in their 215-pound final.