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By DREW BUTLER
Globe-News Sports Writer
Amarillo Caprock's Marissa Paver, right, is declared the winner after pinning San Antonio Churchill's Mari Martinez during the 95-pound UIL girl's state wrestling championship in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Feb. 27, 1999. Paver won the match, becoming the first girl's state wresting champion. |
AUSTIN - You can't blame Tascosa wrestling coach Johnny Cobb from getting a little emotional when he looks at his three seniors.
The group known as the "Killer Bs" - Buck McLamb, Brett Robinson and Aaron Baker - have enhanced the statewide reputation and have established a national profile for the Tascosa Rebels.
The three finished their high school careers by winning titles in the University Interscholastic League State Wrestling Championships in the Austin Convention Center on Saturday night.
All three have won multiple state titles for Tascosa, all three are nationally ranked, and all three are special to Cobb.
"When you see kids like that go, it's sad, but it's more sad to me because I've known these kids ever since they were little," Cobb said. "To be losing them now is like losing my own sons. I'm going to miss them, to put it real mildly."
Tascosa, which won the state championship last year before the sports became UIL-sanctioned, finished second Saturday to Dallas Highland Park, which relied on its depth in all weight classes and easily outdistanced the field. The Scots scored 190 points to second-place Tascosa's 101.5.
McLamb ended the best individual career at the school since Brandon Slay appeared in his fourth state final and won his third title. This year, McLamb faced Randall's Matt McCormick, who was making his second finals appearance, and topped him in the heavyweight class 6-3.
"Matt's a good guy," McLamb said. "I really liked wrestling Matt. He did a good job. Heavyweight was tough this year. It was a good tournament."
He finished 27-0 this season and hasn't lost since falling in the state final as a freshman. On Saturday, he got a semifinal win against defending state champion Ben Stephens of Arlington Bowie.
McCormick and McLamb previously met in the Region I semifinals, where the Rebels' two-time state champion pinned McCormick with less than a minute left in the match.
Robinson got his second straight title by winning the 135-pound championship with an 11-2 win against Highland Park's Owen Lonergan. Lonergan was 45-2 entering the match, but the senior was able to take a 7-1 lead after two periods and finished his season at 30-1.
"It's awesome coming back from last year and winning state," Robinson said. "It's something I've been working for a lot. It's exciting for us, all of us being seniors and winning in our senior year. I'm excited about it right now."
Aaron Baker ended his career with a 38-4 record as a senior as he beat Highland Park's Craig Nelson 5-2 at 160. Baker had a 3-0 lead after two periods, and Nelson scored on two escapes in the third period. Baker added a takedown for the win.
"That's the best part," Baker said. "We've all spent a lot of time in the wrestling room working for this."
Five area wrestlers won state titles Saturday night. At 180, Caprock's Monty Eakin avenged a loss to El Paso Franklin's Jaime Hernandez in the Region I finals with a 10-4 win in the state final. Although Eakin is a senior, it is only his second year in the sport.
"That match was something that I've watched (for the past two weeks) to get ready for state," Eakin said. "I didn't think I could win. I just wanted to finish in the top four because it is only my second year."
In an all-Texas Panhandle final, Randall's Michael Sherill won the first individual state wrestling title in school history by beating Boys Ranch's Jason Kontopedes in two overtimes at 140.
The match was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation and after the first overtime. In the second OT, Sherill had to score an escape in 30 seconds and did to get the win. The title match was a rematch of the third-place match in the Region I tournament two weeks ago, which was also won by Sherill.
"It's tough to wrestle someone who knows your style and can defend against it," said Randall coach David Quirino. "I knew he would win a title."
Sherill, a sophomore, advanced to the final with a 6-3 semifinal win against Highland Park's Scott Boren, who was able to make it 4-3 with 30 seconds remaining.
"I already had a stalling call, so I had to shoot to get two points," said Sherill, the best chance for Randall's first individual state title.
"I wanted to get to the finals, but I didn't know what kind of competition I had."
In other finals, Tascosa's Adolph Ortega advanced to the 125-pound final and lost to El Paso Hanks' Frank Soto. The two wrestled in the Region I final in one of the best matches of the tournament as Ortega won it 7-6.
Grapevine was third in the team standings with 90.5 points, Carrollton Newman Smith fourth with 70.5, and San Antonio Churchill fifth at 68.
Randall finished sixth in the tournament with 51 points.
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Settling the issue quickly
Rebels easily claim region wrestling title
By DREW BUTLER
Globe-News Sports Writer
Hereford's Amariah Rodriguez controls Caprock's Norma Garcia during a girls' championship match of the Region I Wrestling Championships on Saturday night in the Caprock Activity Center. |
In the team race, it was a question of who would finish second rather than who would finish first.
Tascosa had built more than enough of a lead after the semifinals and easily won the first-ever Region I Wrestling Championships in the Caprock Activity Center late Saturday.
With the award ceremony taking place after 11 p.m. and the last match finishing at midnight, it made a long night for wrestlers, but the team race was decided early.
"I can't tell you how pleased I was for the guys to come back through and win the matches that we did," said Tascosa coach Johnny Cobb. "We are thrilled to be the first Region I champions of the UIL."
The first-ever Region I tournament joined schools from Amarillo, Lubbock, Vernon and El Paso as the sport became a part of the University Interscholastic League. The top four wrestlers in each class earned a berth into the State Wrestling Tournament in Austin Feb. 26-27.
Hereford tied with Vernon for the second-most number of finalists with three. Both trailed Tascosa, which placed five in finals and won four individual titles.
The Rebels trailed Randall after the championship quarterfinals Friday night, but Tascosa took the lead after two rounds of consolations late Friday and early Saturday. After the semifinals, Tascosa had 129 points to El Paso Hanks' 78.5.
Randall fell to third place in the team standings after losing seven of eight semifinal matches but battled back in the consolation bracket and finished second with 119 points.
Hanks junior Frank Soto dropped a tough 8-7 decision to Tascosa's Adolf Ortega. Soto held a 6-3 lead before Ortega got an escape and a takedown to tie the match. Soto, a fourth-place finisher at the state tournament last year, scored an escape for a 7-6 lead with less than a minute remaining. But Ortega was able to get a takedown.
Brett Robinson at 135, 160-pounder Aaron Baker and heavyweight Buck McLamb won region titles for Tascosa, with McLamb winning the outstanding wrestler award for the upper weights.
Dumas' Garrett Eslick decisioned Randall's Ryan Johnson 10-5 in the 130-pound semifinals, and Josh Buchanan won a tough 3-1 match against El Paso Irvin's Gerado Moreno at 171. Both also won region titles in the finals.
Buchanan was taken to sudden death overtime before beating Ty Sessoms.
"Garrett hung in there and got the victory," said Dumas coach Kurt Baxter. "Josh had a good plan (against Moreno) and wrestled tough. I'm proud of both of them wrestling hard this weekend."
Hereford was tied for eighth entering the finals and had three wrestlers in the finals. But all fell in the finals.
In the semis, Javier Alonzo held on for an 11-10 decision against El Paso Irvin's Cesar Mireles at 135. Bobby Barba won his second overtime match of the tournament at 215 with a 4-2 overtime win against El Paso Ysleta's Adolf Ochoa, and heavyweight Kris Hammerback, who is 24-5 this season, topped Caprock's Rocky Morin 7-2.
"He's wrestled tough all year," Hereford coach Mike Dominguez said of Hammerback. "When he's lost, he lost to quality kids."
In the most-anticipated matchup of the tournament, the heavyweight semifinal between nationally-ranked heavyweights - McLamb and Randall's Matt McCormick - turned out to be a mismatch.
McLamb, the top-ranked heavyweight in the country, took a 7-0 lead going into the final period before finally pinning McCormick, considered the sixth-best heavyweight in the country, in 5:11.
Sixteen area wrestlers made the finals. Dumas, Palo Duro and Borger had two each.
Palo Duro's Jonathon Jackson overwhelmed Lubbock Estacado's Anthony Lopez 9-3 to advance to the 103 final, and Chris Cantrell got a reversal during the final seconds for a 5-4 win against Boys Ranch's Jason Kontopedes at 140.
Borger's Florencio and Juan Sanchez won semifinal matches. Florencio beat El Paso Montwood's Isidro Vega 16-9 at 119, and Juan was taken to overtime by Randall's Adam Wilson before scoring a takedown in the extra period for a 5-3 decision.
Florencio Sanchez topped Randall's Gulliermo Sanchez to win the 119-pound title.
In the girls' division, Caprock won five of the 10 individual titles and captured the team title.