Bryan/ 2nd half preview
The Houston Report
Russell Pate
(Be sure to scroll to the bottom to catch Houston State duals discussion)
The first half of the season wound down for Houston as it always does, with the Doc Hess tournament at Bryan High School. However, this year’s tournament was anything but routine.
The top of the Tournament was no surprise to anyone, as a very deep Arlington Bowie team used a balanced lineup to finish ahead of their many challengers. Bowie was led by the individual performance of Brent Rodgers (145), Luke Brigmon (152), Chris Corry (171), and Derek Moore (180) who all won their superfinals matchup. Corry was the most impressive, as his combination of strength and athleticism proved a brutal matchup for finals opponent Joey Depew. Depew was beaten 10-0 in a match that exposed all of the weaknesses that remain in a wrestler who has worked his way into one of the state’s best. Depew was coming off of a weekend when he lost a pair of 1 point decisions to top ranked Spencer Covey of Coppell, but he looked lost against Corry. Depew cranked the pace as he always does, but appeared to be just late in finishing in every scramble opportunity, meaning he got beat in his own kind of match. Although it seems logical he will come out on top of at least one scramble position next time, Depew fans better hope it is Corry is on the other side of the bracket come state time, because he appears to be the Taylor stars Kryptonite.
Bryan took advantage of the home cooking to finish 2nd with an impressive 227 points. They actually led going into the Superfinals, where Bowie claimed 4 wins (each bout was counted as 10 team points, an invented scoring system that definitely hurt the home team). Bryan turned in a well-balanced performance that showcased their team’s great depth. Returning state qualifier Louis Aguilar led the team with a Superfinals win at 130 by forfeit over Cory Miller of Martin who had departed for home already.
After the top 2 is where things got confusing. Mayde Creek finished 3rd with 183.5 despite only having 1 finalist. This points out the oddities of team score in a 2 bracket system. Their Heavyweight Zac Benson did look good in winning his weight. Mayde Creek was followed by St. Thomas with 161 who rode the strength of 3 finalists, champion Thompson (140) and runners-up Mancha (189) and Rossi (275). They were the opposite of the deeper teams ahead of them as they received most of their points from a few wrestlers.
These 4 teams were followed in the top 10 by some of the state’s top teams in The Woodlands, Klein Oak, Klein, Cinco Ranch, Arlington Martin, and San Antonio Madison.
2nd Half Preview
The 2nd half features some great dual action from the start. Cinco Ranch, Strake Jesuit and Westside will head to The Grapevine Duals this first weekend, while Katy, The Woodlands, and Friendswood all head to Lonestar Duals. Expect mixed results as some of these teams will battle for championships, while some are simply looking for a step up in competition and a chance to build their programs. We have much respect for anyone willing to wrestle these kinds of schedules.
The following weekend will see all of Houston’s best in one regular season tournament for perhaps the first time ever. The Houston City Duals will be the biggest event of its kind in the state. Most importantly it will crown who the best in the area really is, but it will also decide the area’s 4 representatives for the state dual tournament. It has always been a sad joke that we invite/appoint teams to the “STATE” Dual tournament, rather than having some kind of qualifier, and the teams who call themselves “State” champions are really not. This is not to take away from them, they are worthy champions, they are just not state champions if everyone in the state is not somehow involved.
Congratulations to Houston for taking a step in fixing this problem, and allowing the best to truly earn their state championships. We in Houston urge and challenge Dallas and the rest of the state to do the same. How can we ever hope for the UIL to treat it as a state title if we do not.
(a special thanks to Houston City Duals host Travis Ribordy of Klein Oak and anyone else who helped make this idea happen)
Mayde Creek finished the Bryan tournament with 183.5 points. St Thomas had 161.5 (See the correction that Coach Z added to his post.)
I’m a little confused as to why you would find the Mayde Creek finish confusing, while writing “Bryan turned in a well-balanced performance that showcased their team’s great depth” and “a very deep Arlington Bowie team used a balanced lineup to finish ahead of their many challengers.” Mayde Creek had a very balanced showing throughout the tournament placing 8 wrestlers in the top four of their brackets: First in 275; Second in 125,130 & 145; Third in 103 & 112; Fourth in 171 & 215. Granted, only Benson made it to the superfinals, but the TEAM did an excellent job throughout the day.
Mom — this is what you have to know about Mr Pate. When he started with ITW last year as a volunteer he was so green you could barely read his stuff. Through hard work and more hard work he has turned into a damn fine reporter. That said, he occasionally he gets carried away and that’s what happened with the MaydeCreek thing. He is probably flabbergatsed that they did so well! I was surprised on their great finish. Something is brewing there.
I’m sure the St. Thomas High School wrestling team appreciates being mentioned in the above article. They have worked hard to get where they are. However I must take issue with one thing. Sam Thompson, Evan Rossi and Thomas Mancha are integral parts of the team but they are just that parts of the team. The 171 points scored by the team was scored by the team not just three wrestlers. Team points are scored by winning bouts in a tournament. Sam and Thomas had no losses in the tournament, Evan lost his superchampionship, his first loss of the season. St. Thomas had three other boys with only one loss in the tournament and two other boys with two wins and two losses as well as other boys with a single win. My point is that it is impossible for three boys to score 171 team points and every boy who won a bout contributed to the team’s 4th place finish. This team has a core of seniors who have been varsity wrestlers since they were freshmen when the team had 1 senior, 2 juniors and no sophomores. They have taken their lumps for four years and now they are reaping the rewards. The whole team is proud of that fourth place finish at such a prestigious tournament as well they should be. This was a team effort and should be viewed as such.
Nothing bad was said about St. Thomas. They had 3 wrestlers score over half of the team’s points. This is a great job by those 3 wrestlers. They led their team to a high finish. Where does this become a problem for a fan of the team? If you are a parent of one of the other wrestlers on the team than I congratulate you on the team’s finish and hope you can be happy for the good things said about Thompson, Mancha, and Rossi.
Just so you know, Brent Rogers (Arlington Bowie) did not wrestle a super-final at 145. He didn’t wrestle because the winner from the other 145 bracket, Warren Brown (Austin Crockett), could not wrestle on account of a transportation issue. I was actually looking forward to the match, but it never happened… too bad. Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work!