North Texas athletes bring home 8 golds from state meet
AUSTIN — It’s a three-peat for the Allen Eagles as the wrestling machine soared easily past the competition on the strength of four gold-medal victories in the UIL state meet in Austin.
Allen nearly doubled second-place Canyon Randall, 189-90, with Flower Mound finishing third.
“We have been focused on this since the first day of practice, the team was prepared,” said Allen coach Jerry Best.
While the Eagles were impressive in their title march, three individuals racked up rarefied honors, including the first boys and just the second girls four-time state champions, a state-record win streak of 179 consecutive matches as well as the first four-year unbeaten streak..
Shelby Morrison, a 119-pound champion from Bushland, and Nick Hermann of Amarillo Tascosa, in 120 pounds, each won their fourth straight state championship.
Keller Central’s Greg Wilson won his third consecutive state title and a state record 179 matches in a row.
Morrison also owns the girls record for unbeaten matches, as she concluded her high-school career with a 110-0 record, never having lost in four years.
Morrison and Hermann join Hilary Cordero of Amarillo Caprock, who was the first to win four consecutive titles, in 2008-11.
Dallas-Fort Worth area grapplers won eight golds, led by the Allen foursome of Jarrod Trotter (126), Bo Nickal (145), Matt Meyer (170) and Nick Cobb, who won his third consecutive title, this time at 195.
Other locals grabbing the gold were Scott Akers of Flower Mound (132); Dominic Yang, a 138-pounder from South Grand Prairie, who edged Jack Bass of Allen in the finals; powerful Greg Wilson of Keller Central at 182; and 285-pound champion Sam Rice of Coppell.
D’Andre Brumfield of Lake Highlands was second at 106 pounds, as was Dammion Heard of Fossil Ridge, at 113 pounds. Dylan Akers of Flower Mound was second at 120 pounds while Oliver Pierce of Allen was second in the 145-pound class. Also finishing second were Brandon Litten of Marcus (182), Troy Mercer of Rockwall Heath (195) and Donovan Kleckner of Colleyville Heritage (220).
Add in a bit a controversy for Allen as Bass lost in the 138-pound finals to Yang of South Grand Prairie, 2-1, in an unusual finish. After wrestling to a 1-1 deadlock in regulation, each of the wrestlers managed an escape in overtime forcing a 30-second sudden death with a tie score of 2-2. Bass, however, was cautioned for his hand position at the start of the sudden death, and it was the second item resulting in a point to Yang, who won the match 3-2 without the sudden death period actually starting.
“I realized right away when he was cautioned that I won, it was amazing,” said Yang. “Jack is very good and we were very evenly matched.”
In girls competition, Amarillo Caprock won their ninth consecutive state title, with 79 points. The title was their tenth overall. Katy Morton Ranch was runner-up for the second year in a row, with 68 points, and San Antonio Wagner finished third, with 55.5 points.
UIL STATE WRESTLING
(At Austin)
SATURDAY'S FINALS
BOYS
TEAM RESULTS
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
106—Brice Bassinger, Saginaw, d. D'Andre Brumfield, Lake Highlands, 11-7
113—Braun Marquez, Canyon Randall, d. Dammion Heard, Keller Fossil Ridge, 7-1
120—Nick Herrmann, Amarillo Tascosa, d. Dylan Akers, Flower Mound, 6-5
126—Jarrod Trotter, Allen, d. Jacob Rubio, Canyon Randall, 2-0
132—Scott Akers, Flower Mound, d. Petey Martinez, Katy, 5-0
138—Dominic Yang, South Grand Prairie, d. Jack Bass, Allen, 3-2
145—Bo Nickal, Allen, d. Cougar Babin, Klein Oak, 9-3
152—Aaron Walker, Converse Judson, d. Oliver Pierce, Allen, 4-3
160—Travis Leiskau, Klein Oak, d. Donaven Roberts, Canyon Randall, 4-0
170—Matt Meyer Allen d. Brian Dorsey, Austin Bowie, 6-4
182—Greg Wilson, Keller Central d. Brandon Litten, Marcus 10-6.
195—Nick Cobb, Allen d. Troy Mercer, Rockwall Heath, 8-2
220—David Jones, Bryan p. Donovan Kleckner, Colleyville Heritage, 3:41.
285—Sam Rice, Coppell d. Justin Ackerman, Clear Brook, 5-4.
GIRLS
TEAM RESULTS
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
95—Kendra Castillo-Bates, Amarillo Caprock d. Michele Guerrero, Akins, 8-3.
102—Haley Moreno, Saginaw d. Bri Lowe, Keller, 9-3
110—Christina Bautista, Colleyville Heritage p. Mayra Franco, El Paso Bowie, 1:12.
119—Shelby Morrison, Bushland d. Diaysha Moore, Cy Ridge 8-5.
128—Anna McAleavey, Cy Creek d. Kennon Henderson, Centennial 6-1.
138—Yvonne Galindo, Jefferson p. Abril Ramirez, El Paso, 5:35.
148—Natalia Hinoso, El Paso Montwood d. Cadey Widacki, Katy Morton Ranch 5-1.
165—Armani Bethely, San Antonio Wagner d. Ashley Miles, Katy Morton Ranch 11-7.
185—Nina Wyre, Katy Taylor p. Amanda Allen, Liberty, 1:26
215—Malexsis McAdoo, Amarillo Caprock p. Paige Garcia, Keller Fossil Ridge, 1:46.