R-C Sports Notebook: A look ahead to winter sports

The R-C Sports Notebook is a weekly online-exclusive column that appears every Tuesday on www.recordcourier.com. It contains observations, rumors, scoops and briefs from the Douglas County sports world.

The beginning of the season is always the most promising time of the year. Everyone looks promising, and anyone could turn out to be the dark horse surprise or the big bust of the season.

The defending Sierra League champion Douglas wrestling team appears poised for another strong run. The Tigers lose defending state champ Shane Miller but return starters in nine of 14 spots.

Ryan Pruitt, Garrett Hekhuis, Nico Barker, Ryan Olsen, Jake Williams and Sean Molina should be among the team's leaders.

The Tigers are on a 10-match winning streak in duals, but that will be tested early on with improving Damonte Ranch and perennial favorite Carson High leading off the schedule.

Regionally, Fallon, Carson, Galena, Douglas and Damonte Ranch all figure to be in the mix for the overall team title.

In girls' basketball, Douglas' strong corps of front court players was gutted due to graduations, but the Tigers will return one of the most exciting players in the Sierra League in sophomore Jessica Waggoner. The 6-1 center will be complimented by a strong backcourt, led by two-year starter and second-team all-leaguer Bridget Maestretti.

Douglas was solid on defense last season and won five of its last six games in the regular season.

Reno, as always, will be the team to beat in league play, but Carson came on strong late last season. North Valleys loses star post player Anita Burdick. Damonte Ranch may surprise the league with former Tiger and all-league performer Colleen Carlson coming into her senior season.

Galena, Reed, Elko and McQueen should be strong in the High Desert League.

The boys' basketball team is coming off a season in which it missed the playoffs for the first time in several years. It returns, however, with plenty of promise as all of its starters, minus point guard Jordan Hadlock (who will focus on baseball), are expected back.

Dougla returns all-region standout Keith Olson, who recently signed with Northern Arizona, and all-league honorable mention players Nate Whalin and Mike Gransbery.

Several talented players from the Tigers' strong junior varsity and freshman programs are expected to infuse into the lineup, making Douglas a very potent team.

Reno, Hug, South Tahoe and North Valleys will be among the top teams in the league and Galena and Reed should be very strong in the High Desert.

Hug and Galena each boast high-profile Division I recruits, while Reno has a strong and talented, but young lineup.

- We were incorrect earlier this football season when we reported that the 75 points the Tigers scored against South Tahoe was both the state 4A and the Douglas High School records for points scored in a game.

While it was the most the Tigers, or anyone else, have scored since moving to the large-school league in Nevada, Douglas put up 86 points against Stewart Indian School in 1971. That same season, Douglas beat Fallon while scoring 71 points.

The Record-Courier is in the process of recording school records for each sport played at Douglas. It's a slightly tedious task that involves combing through the old issues of the paper dating back to the early 1900s. However, the farther back we go, the less it seems people paid attention to statistics.

Anyone with any statistical records of any of the teams throughout the school's history would be more than welcome to share them with us. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to call (775) 782-5121, ext. 212 or e-mail jcrandall@recordcourier.com. We even take faxes at (775) 782-6132.

- Athletes of the week: Picking out the standout athletes at Douglas High for a week when no sports were even played is always a bit of a stretch, but this week the nod goes to Whitney Lindsey and Taylor Biaggi of the Tiger cross country team.

The two placed in the top 10 at the NIAA 4A state championships in Boulder City on Nov. 4. It is the third time this season Lindsey has been named athlete of the week and the second Biaggi has won the honor.