With a sixth-place team finish at the Region II 4A meet last weekend, along with three wrestlers and two alternates qualifying for state, the Byron Nelson wrestling squad has a lot to be proud of.
The Bobcats, who have just three senior wrestlers on the squad, advanced Kody Collins at 152 and Jimmy London at 160 as each took second place at the region meet.Cassidy Collins, who originally finished fifth in the 106-pound weight class, won a wrestle back against Will Curtiss, defeating the Centennial wrestler in the challenge to join his teammates in Austin.Billy Green at 132 and Blake Bunce at 145 both finished fifth and are alternates for state.Coach Ron Gatlin said the showing at the regional tournament was great for his team and definitely met his expectations for the season.“All of our kids that competed scored points and contributed to the team’s point total,” Gatlin said. “The great thing is that we are only graduating three kids, and bringing all the other ones back.“Our guys wrestled good and I am very proud of them. My goal was to be in the top 10 in the region, and between second place and sixth, there was only a separation of like 12 points. We were out of fifth place by half a point and out of fourth place by three points.”Gatlin said he has two major objectives for the state tournament for his wrestlers.“I want get my kids to place,” Gatlin said. “All three of those boys have the opportunity to go and place, and I think we will get a real good draw in the bracket. I think our region is one of the toughest regions in the state.“The other thing that I am trying to do is to get the kids that qualified to get their families to take a day trip down there and support them, and hopefully see a state champion.”In terms of how the Collins boys and London stack up at the state tournament, Gatlin said he believes they will be just fine.“Kody Collins is going to be sitting in a real good spot, because I think the kid he wrestled in the regional finals, Isaac Salinas, will win state,” Gatlin said. “Kody wrestled him real tough. Kody is going to be opposite of Isaac in the brackets, which gives him a great opportunity.”Collins lost 8-4 in the regional finals match against Salinas.“I hope that Jimmy can place fifth or sixth, and he has to bring it,” Gatlin said. “When he's on his A-game, I'd back him at any point against anyone. He's a good kid who has wrestled his whole life. He's a competitor, and he hates losing. When you put those things together, anything can happen.”The state wrestling meet will take place at the Delco Center in Austin on Feb. 22 and 23.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
