Fort Worth-area wrestlers qualify for state as Martin, Trinity win regional team titles
For the last 10 years, the Arlington Martin boys wrestling program has dominated at the regional meet and has been one of the top teams in the state.
On Friday, it was no different.
Martin nearly scored 250 points as a team, better than 77 points over second-place Southlake Carroll, to win the Class 6A Region 1 wrestling meet at Thomas Coliseum.
The Warriors had nine wrestlers qualify for next week’s state meet at the Berry Center in Cypress, which will run Feb. 18-19. There are 14 weight classes.
Martin had seven in the Friday’s championship matches with four taking home regional crowns.
“This year is pretty special. We start nine underclassmen, freshmen and sophomores, five freshmen actually and so just to come into the regional tournament ... they really battled through,” Martin coach Pat Dunn said. “A lot of tough times, but they grew from it and more importantly they learned a lot from it which is more important than winning.”
River Perlungher (113), Shawn Ryncarz (120), Julius Alfaro (152) and Grayson Carpenter (160) won their weight classes. Isaak Arevalo (106), Zach Evans (126) and Ibraheem Ahmed (170) were runner-up.
Martin will look to win its first boys wrestling state title since 2004, Dunn’s first year with the program. The Warriors have come in second place for the past seven seasons to Allen.
Three in a row
The Euless Trinity girls wrestling team captured their third straight regional championship following a 134-point performance. Five girls qualified for state, led by Shenita Lawson, who won the 185-pound weight class.
Bella Cruz (95) and Azana King (148) were regional runner-up.
“It feels good. It’s the third year in a row. The girls showed up and captured the title,” Trinity coach Travis Clark said. “We’re going to try to make another run at this state title.
“It’s a talented bunch of girls and they trained hard all year long. We’re going to show up and do what we do best.”
The Trojans won the 6A state title in 2020.
Boswell’s first
Junior Alana Lee pinned Euless Trinity’s Isabella Cruz in the second period of the 95-pound championship. Lee became the first girls wrestler in program history to win a regional title and district title, which she did last week, in its 10-year run.
Lee improved her record to 24-0 this season.
Cruz, Brenna Trang (Southlake Carroll) and Lillian Zepata (Flower Mound) also qualified for state.
Lee earned a forfeit win during Thursday’s opening round and pinned her three opponents, which included Zepata and then Trang during the first match of Friday’s semifinal round.
What a comeback!
Southlake Carroll junior Dylan Vaughn did the unthinkable when he won five consolation matches to qualify for state in the 285-pound weight class.
Vaughn won his opening match on Thursday by pin fall over Eaton’s Brandon Millard and then got pinned in the quarterfinals against state champ Caleb Jinks from South Grand Prairie.
Vaughn would beat wrestlers from Byron Nelson, Euless Trinity, lose to Timber Creek’s Riah Ostrander and beat a wrestler from Hebron. Sitting in fifth place, Vaughn had the option to a challenge match against Frenship’s Isaiah Kema. A win and Vaughn would advance.
He won 9-3.
Birthday gift for pops
Haltom senior Hailey Tucker won a regional championship for the second straight season after pinning El Paso Eastlake’s Alexis Navarrette in the first period of the 138-pound final.
Tucker won the regional in the 128-pound weight class last season.
It was nice birthday present for her dad, Haltom’s head football coach Jason Tucker, who celebrated on Thursday.
Tucker (43-2) won all four matches via pin fall. She placed third in last year’s state tournament.
Two silvers
Among the girls and boys programs, overall, that was most impressive was Southlake Carroll, which took home the team runner-up trophy in both divisions.
Carroll will take 10 wrestlers, seven boys, to next week’s state meet in Cypress.
The boys scored 172 points while the girls posted 111.
Bayley Trang won the 106-pound class, Rebecca Natvig (128) came in second and Brenna Trang (95) came in third.
Carroll had three boys in the finals, led by Lou Petkus who won the 195-pound weight class with a 2-1 decision in extra time over Marcus’ Aidan Bednar. Petkus also picked up three pin falls in the tournament.
Byron Nelson Bobcats
The Bobcats finished fourth overall in the boys standings and fifth in girls while qualifying eight (five boys, three girls) for the state meet. Hasnat Raza (170) and Logan Mantezolo (182) won regional championships in back-to-back matches.
Alyssa Ruiz (119) won a regional championship for the girls.
Arlington Bowie
Julian Garnica will represent the Volunteers boys wrestling team at state after taking home the regional championship in the 138-pound weight class.
Garnica beat out Southlake Carroll’s Cole Bennett by decision, 6-3.
Garnica (37-2) averaged a score of 35-5 through his first three wins, including 15-3 during the semifinals.
Morgan Senior (185) will go for the girls team after coming in second place.
Girls State Qualifiers
95
Alana Lee, Boswell
Bella Cruz, Trinity
Brenna Trang, SLC
Lillian Zepata, Flower Mound
Sabella Guzman, Haltom (ALTERNATE)
102
Arianna Rodriguez, SGP
Jasmine Cortez, Coronado
Bryanna Narvaez, Americas
Rebecca Vann, Frenship
Valerie Gonzalez, SLC (ALTERNATE)
110
Bayley Trang, SLC
Vanessa Sanchez, Montwood
Meadow Hernandez, Trinity
Lyliah Maldonado, Timber Creek
Alivia Oliver, Fossil Ridge (ALTERNATE)
119
Alyssa Ruiz, Byron
Neelie Parker, Eaton
Bella Martinez, Pebble Hills
Ileah Brown, Lewisville
Danyl Pippin, Socorro (ALTERNATE)
128
Alyxandria Bennett, Frenship
Rebecca Natvig, SLC
Kaylynn Lairson, Lamar
Aubree Kuhns, Bell
Jania Dunigan, Martin (ALTERNATE)
138
Hailey Tucker, Haltom
Alexis Navarrette, Eastlake
Angelina Tavares, Eastwood
Maddison Marlow, Lewisville
Emilee Zeringue, Eaton (ALTERNATE)
148
Aremie Steele, Montwood
Azana King, Trinity
Pooma Babu, Flower Mound
Hannah Vos, Byron
Jadine Mata, Eastwood (ALTERNATE)
165
Audrey Lockhart, Frenship
Faith Macharia, Central
Trinity Soria, Byron
Nya Woods, Lamar
Niyah Alexander, Trinity (ALTERNATE)
185
Shenita Lawson, Trinity
Morgan Senior, Bowie
Jayanne Lopez, Pebble Hills
Alina Fragoso, Eastwood
Mekaila Hodges, SGP (ALTERNATE)
215
Erica Cobos, Americas
Dayla Brown, SGP
Perla Rodriguez, Weatherford
Elisiva Mohetau, Trinity
Lourdes Duran, Chisholm Trail (ALTERNATE)
Boys State Qualifiers
106
Ivan Lopez, SGP
Isaak Arevalo, Martin
Kody Tanimoto, Central
Miguel Solis, Eastwood
Titus Howell, Timber Creek (ALTERNATE)
113
River Perlungher, Martin
Orlando Rojas, SGP
Nikolas Govea, Central
Grant Hollaway, SLC
Chris Rouse, Marcus (ALTERNATE)
120
Shawn Ryncarz, Martin
Nehemiah Ventura, Irving
Ian Abdallah, Franklin
Josh Garcia, Central
Dominique Cervantes, Eastlake (ALTERNATE)
126
Esteban Duran, SGP
Zach Evans, Martin
Justin Maricle, Byron
Ryder Clark, Haltom
Ethan Franklin, Eastwood (ALTERNATE)
132
Trebor Moreno, Eastwood
Kyle Lairson, Lamar
Jack McDonald, Byron
Ezequiel Valadez, Martin
Raymond Korhone, Fossil Ridge (ALTERNATE)
138
Julian Garnica, Bowie
Cole Bennett, SLC
Finn Shepard, Martin
Elijah Molinar, Eastwood
Jacob De Santos, Americas (ALTERNATE)
145
Gavin Ramos, Montwood
Julian Solis, Pebble Hills
Julian Montelongo, SGP
Stephen Henderson, Franklin
Tobi Akenroye, SLC (ALTERNATE)
152
Julius Alfaro, Martin
Jesse Jennings, SGP
Garrett Harwood, Byron
Boede Gibson, SLC
Andres Solis, Eastwood (ALTERNATE)
160
Grayson Carpenter, Martin
Braden Manners, Central
Benjamin Dyer, Paschal
Charlie Hutson, Eaton
Ismael Serrano, Montwood (ALTERNATE)
170
Hasnat Raza, Byron
Ibraheem Ahmed, Martin
Hector Hinojos, Eastlake
Josh Battaglia, SLC
Tate Roberts, Flower Mound (ALTERNATE)
182
Logan Mantezolo, Byron
Jacob Armstrong, Coronado
Andrew Jurasek, Keller
Sean Payne, Marcus
Jacob Smith, Eaton (ALTERNATE)
195
Lou Petkus, SLC
Aidan Bednar, Marcus
Gustavo Renteria, Pebble Hills
Toby Davis, Weatherford
Ryan Rainey, Martin (ALTERNATE)
220
Tristan Winters, Timber Creek
Peter Etheredge, SLC
Derrold Watkins, Trinity
Jose Angel Rosales, Montwood
Jaiden Christopher, Martin (ALTERNATE)
285
Caleb Jinks, SGP
Kadence Murry, Marcus
Riah Ostrander, Timber Creek
Dylan Vaughn, SLC
Isaiah Kema, Frenship (ALTERNATE)
