The word dynasty in the dictionary should reference Carson High’s wrestling team.
The Senators, 4-0 this year, stretched their Sierra League win-streak to 29 straight duals with a dominating 71-9 win over rival Douglas Wednesday night at Morse Burley Gym. All that is left for a sixth straight unbeaten season is a home match against Galena next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
There were no high-fives at the end of this one and no dog piles. It was very ho-hum. It was truly a walk in the park for CHS. The Senators won 12 matches, eight by pin, one by technical fall and three by forfeit. They lost just twice all night.
“It went about like I expected,” Carson coach Paul Carter said. “We had some good things happen and some bad things happen. Elijah (Fajayan) getting pinned when he was ahead wasn’t good, but I’ll get over it. I’m glad it was tonight and not at regionals. Brady Rivera’s win I thought was the highlight, and Sheldon Miller was outstanding. Overall we wrestled well.
“We dominated from start to finish. If it had come down to the last couple of matches the reaction might have been different, but we dominated from start to finish. It was anti-climatic.”
Added Rivera: “It’s not that we don’t get excited, but coming in we expect to win every dual. We have a lot of faith in each other out there.”
Douglas was hurt by the fact that it had to forfeit three matches (106, 145 and 195). It’s tough enough to beat the Senators if you’re at full strength, but when you give them 18 free points, forget about it.
“Both my 220 and 138 pounder were injured we had to forfeit three classes,” said Douglas coach David Singer. “Carson is a very tough team.”
The match started at 220 pounds, and Miller made quick work of his for with a pin with 50.5 left in the opening period.
Douglas’ Ian Kendrick moved up to heavyweight, and used his length to overwhelm Corey Jasper, 10-5, cutting the lead to 6-3. Jasper cut into Kendrick’s, 8-5, after a reversal. However, Kendrick managed a takedown late in the match.
That’s when the domination really got started. Carson won the next eight matches — six by pin, one by forfeit and one by technical fall — to stretch its lead to 53-3.
Brandon Basa (106) cruised to a 10-0 lead over Kindel Isham before winning by fall with 32.4 left on the clock. After a forfeit win at 113, Austin Martinez (120) got an early 2-0 lead on Ryan Adams. He built that lead to 6-0 in the second period thanks to two penalty points and a takedown. After letting Adams escape, Martinez got a takedown and then ended the match with a pin with 24.1 left in the second period. Dom Kinder (126) built a quick 6-0 lead against Diego Silva and finally recorded a pin with 1.2 left in the first period to make it 30-3.
Kyle Sharp’s match didn’t go past the first round, either. Sharp took a 2-0 lead 20 seconds into his match with Parker Biehn and led 6-2 before his pin with 23 seconds remaining. Sharp would get a takedown and then let Biehn escape and then take him down again. He did that twice before getting the pin. Nicholas Lani (138) followed the same pattern in his match. He gained a quick 2-0 lead, let Ryan Weese escape, recorded a takedown and then a pin with 53.8 remaining in the opening period. A forfeit at 145 made it 48-3.
At 152, Nolan Shine threw Isaiah Schat around like a rag doll. He led 10-3 after one period and eventually won 23-6. It was a mauling.
Fajayan had a 7-4 lead in the second period against Garret Steward, but the Douglas wrestler worked a reversal early in the second period and then pinned the CHS sophomore to make it 53-9. Cody Cunningham made it 59-9 with his pin of Joshua Jensen with 58.9 left in the opening period.
The Rivera-Zach Singer match was expected to be a tough one. Rivera got a takedown with 43.3 left in the first round, and then increased the lead to 5-0 with an escape and takedown halfway through the second period.
“That was their stud,” Rivera said. “I watched him wrestle at the (Sierra Nevada Classic). The last time I wrestled him was in eighth grade. I felt really confident about it.”
“He dominated from start to finish,” Carter said.
