Arbor View has lead over usual powers

In a Sunset Region that Spring Valley, Shadow Ridge and Bishop Gorman have often dominated, there hasn't been much room for wrestling teams such as Arbor View's.

Which made the Aggies' accomplishment Friday even sweeter.

After the first day of the Sunset tournament at Bonanza, Arbor View had a surprising lead with 83 points, four more than Palo Verde and Northwest League champion Shadow Ridge. Spring Valley (71), Bonanza (68) and Cimarron-Memorial (64) also remain in contention.

The tournament continues at 8 a.m. today, with the semifinals to begin at noon and the finals at 5:30 p.m.

"It's always good to show people we're working hard," said Arbor View 140-pounder Kevin Caruso, who beat Gorman's Tommy Field 6-1 to advance to the semifinals against Kenny Pero of Cheyenne. "I don't think a lot of the teams around here have been working as hard as we have. So it's nice to show."

Caruso led from the start, going up 4-0 after two periods before releasing Field in the final 10 seconds of the match.

"I feel like I wrestled real well," Caruso said. "I knew I had an advantage on my feet, and I wanted to capitalize on that."

Bonanza's Shaun Kinney pulled off one of the bigger upsets in the second round, surprising Spring Valley's Rasheem Waters with a third-period pin.

The 152-pounder followed with a 9-3 victory over Arbor View's Keith Lasko to move into the semifinals against Steven Hernandez of Bishop Gorman.

"Everybody's stepping up, everybody's winning," Kinney said of Bonanza's team effort.

Contact reporter Sean Walker at swalker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430.