The Dallas Report: A Look Back and a Preview of 2007-08

By Peter Dewey
Dallas Reporter and
ITW Senior Writer

A Look Back

It was a good year for Houston wrestling. Congratulations to the 2007 UIL State Champs Cinco Ranch. It was a gutsy team effort lead by outstanding performances by 2X State Champs Jamie Sheets and Matt Harris. I was impressed and I appreciate the great strides being made by Houston wrestling.

But let’s not delude ourselves. There is no parity between Houston and Dallas wrestling. That is still years away if it arrives at all. In what is rightfully regarded as an “up” year for Houston (in fact their best ever) and a “down” year for Dallas, five (5) State Champs hail from Houston compared to nine (9) State Champs from Dallas (the other was San Antonio’s Jimmy Petersen). Only one Houston State Champ, Erik Spjut, returns. Eric Simons, Danny Luttrell, Jeremy Sandoval, and Austin Cordova from Dallas all return for the 2007-08 campaign.

And let’s not forget a couple of small private school programs in Dallas that are not allowed to compete for UIL Honors – Bishop Lynch and St. Mark’s. Had they competed BL would have won the State team title and Luke Silver, Luke Ashmore, Johnny Koepp, Ben Grisz and perhaps a few others would have been prohibitive favorites for individual titles.

But that was then and this is now. A review of the Czar’s preseason rankings has 12 Dallas wrestlers ranked #1 to only two from Houston. JR’s top ten dual teams include eight Dallas teams and only one from Houston. Still last year was a watershed year for Houston and we in Dallas welcome the competition. The great thing about this sport is respect is earned on the mat not from a website.

Preview of 2007-08

Dallas Power Ratings
1. Bishop Lynch
2. Lake Highlands
3. Rockwall
4. St. Mark’s
5. Highland Park
6. Arlington Bowie
7. (tie) Coppell, Plano West and Euless Trinity

Bishop Lynch
I believe this will be BL’s strongest line-up top to bottom ever. The program has had superstars for the past 5 years but never depth making BL a tough as nails tournament team but a weakling in dual meets. All that changes this year. JR has already done the definitive preview on BL.

Lake Highlands
This pick might appear to be a stretch to some. But I say watch out for LH this year. They are an experienced senior-laden team led by State Champ Austin Cordova and 5th place finisher Josh Marx. Last year was shaping up to be very successful when LH was crippled by season ending injuries to four top wrestlers. All four are back and healthy. In addition to Cordova and Marx, look for strong performance and possible state births for Greg Mitchell (112/119), Luis Granados (119/125), Isaac Kinsella (125/130), Isaac Grieder (140/145), Zac Atkins (160), Charles Sheperd (171), Eric Guzman (180) and Nick White (285). If they stay healthy they should be able to compete with anyone.

Rockwall
This team is loaded at the lighter weights but there is a lot of inexperience at the upper weights. I suspect some of the upper weights will be tough kids and good wrestlers but in looking at the roster they are unknowns. But The Rock will have its version of murders’ row in the lower weights. From 112-125 Rockwall will run out some combination of Stephen Wurster (4th in State), Alex Cihak (State Qualifier) and Roderick Gaines (State Runner-up). Following at 130 and 135 are district champs Chris Carter and Erick Beitez and State Qualifier Austin Barnes.

St. Mark’s
This could be St. Mark’s best team in the last few years. And that is saying something since last year’s version was tough enough to take down any number of good UIL schools. All-world Ben Grisz is back for his senior season at 189/215. A Texan defeating Grisz would be on par with Appalachian State over Michigan. Also back are stand-outs David Henry (152) and Scott Hage (171). The rest of the line-up is full of returning starters including Eric Frick (125/130), Avi Chavda (135), Bill Sessions (140), Conner Youngblood (145), Jorge Estrada (180/189) and Ike Crews (215/285).

Highland Park
Coach Warren has some big shoes to fill. He takes over the most successful program in UIL wrestling history. Inexplicably after winning yet another Dual State Championship few predicted HP to contend for a UIL title. Yet they vanquished everybody save Cinco Ranch in the most exciting team race in UIL history that ended in a tie (with the Championship later awarded outright to CR for an eligibility violation). There is little reason to doubt HP won’t compete again at the highest level in 2007-2008. Unlike years past there is no sure-fire State Champ (ala Hobar, Rowsey or Anderson) to lead the team. But these returning starters give HP a solid nucleus: Tobin Fulton, Colin Montgomery, Tommy Schober, Briggs Montgomery, Chad Gallatin, Derek Burdick, Tom Klessing, Dan Sampson and Will Shellenberger.

Arlington Bowie
Bowie will be led by State placers Chris Brooks 5th at 171 and Marcus McGraw 4th at 189. Other experienced starters include Eric Martinez (103/112), Kris Demont (112/119), Ryan Hill (119/125), Amir Jalali (125/130), State qualifier Mark Goolsbay (140/145) and Mohammed Usman (215/285). In addition, Coach Mudgett says this team has by far the most depth of any he has had. Sounds to me like Bowie is reloading . They will challenge for a Regional championship and will be a force at Dual State and a top 5 contender at State.

Coppell
The new coaching staff will be building around State placers Dillon Horn 5th at 135 and Ben Robinson 2nd at 160.

Plano West
Sleeper pick. I don’t know much about this team but I do know this: they return four State qualifiers – Evan Burns (119), Daniel Stenstrom (125), Matt Hurwitz (130) and Peter Lindahl (State runner-up at 135).

Euless Trinity
Another team that looks to be on the rise is Trinity. They return State qualifiers Joey Vogelsberg (112), Cody Bye (125) and Deandra Carter (135).

And finally, after all the prognosticating, I’d like to leave you with something of real value. When asked what the goals for his wrestling program were, St. Mark’s Coach Ortega said: “My goals as a coach are to teach our wrestlers how to handle defeat with courage and victory with humility, how to have respect for their opponents and develop long lasting life lessons through the discipline wrestling presents, and perhaps win a few matches and tournaments along the way.”