Ridge makes run at district meet; Northwest, Central qualify 10 for regional

By Randy Sachs

Special to The Keller Citizen

Southlake Carroll ran away with the District 4-5A wrestling tournament last weekend, but Northwest and Central each qualified 10 wrestlers for the Region I tournament this weekend.

Northwest finished second in the meet, but it was Fossil Ridge that had one of the better performances as the program qualified seven wrestlers and three alternates for the regional meet at Arlington Martin on Friday and Saturday.

Ridge also had the honors of both the boys and girls Most Outstanding Wrestlers of the meet, with Dammion Heard and Paige Garcia receiving the award as voted on by the coaches.

Joe Hathaway, head coach of Carroll, received his third District Coach of the Year honor.

Ridge finished a half-point ahead of Central in the team standings, 163-162.5, taking third and fourth, respectively.

Keller was sixth while sending seven wrestlers on to the regional with Timber Creek in seventh and qualifying four.

Central was straddled with four first-round byes, preventing the Chargers from picking up any advancement points which could have been the difference in the team standings, head coach Bill Wilson said.

Heard, the returning state runner-up, boosted his record to 38-0 for the Panthers at 113 pounds as the only undefeated wrestler coming out of the district tournament. Garcia is the only undefeated girl advancing out of the district meet and is also the returning state runner-up.

Heard will be joined at the tough 5A regional with teammate Hakim Simms, who took the title at 106 and now stands at 27-3.

“We wrestled maybe better than I thought we would,” Fossil Ridge head coach Tony Lopez said.

An injury default at 132 kept another Panthers wrestler from finishing in the top four and advancing on to the regional.

Central was paced by senior Dylan Tolliver, who picked up the championship at 145 after a decisive win in the finals over Carroll’s Jack Ohlahaber. Tolliver will likely have a high seed at the regional, taking a 37-3 record with him to the meet.

Central’s other champion was Kareem Simms at 120.

Keller also landed a champion at 126, with sophomore Matthew Kearney.

Timber Creek’s top finishers were second-place finishes by Franklin Stillwell at 126 and Tyrece Boone at heavyweight.

Northwest had a very strong showing with 10 qualifying wrestlers and took championships at three weights: Gilbert Guerrero, 132, Adam Morales, 170, and Lane Allen at 182.

Central picked up the girls team title, with Wilson being named as the district’s Coach of the Year.

The Lady Chargers qualified five wrestlers, but second-place Northwest will advance six on to the regional.

Timber Creek and Fossil Ridge will have four wrestlers moving on, joining Keller’s three girls.

Behind Garcia’s unblemished mark, Keller’s Bri Lowe has one of the better records going into the regional.

Lowe played it safe by taking an injury default in the first round, but finished third at 110 and will have a 20-2 record at the Region I meet.

Timber Creek’s three champions were Paige St. Pierre at 110, Jael Miller at 138 and Hope Rios at 185.

Central’s champs include Issa Rodriguez, Claudia Cheung, Myla Casey and Bryanna Perkins.

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