by Peter Dewey

Coming into the State Duals a couple teams thought they had a good chance to dethrone Highland Park as Dual State Champion. One was Arlington Bowie who had wrestled HP close two weeks ago succumbing 38-29 in a dual that went down to the final match. The other was Azle who had won just about everything on their schedule this season. They would both get their chance.

In Pool competition, four teams emerged undefeated: HP defeated Arlington Martin (54-22), El Paso Hanks (66-23) and The Colony (65-15); Arlington Bowie defeated Klein Oaks (50-27), Canyon Randall (40-38) and Grapevine (61-16); St. Mark’s defeated Flower Mound (67-9), Cinco Ranch (39-27) and Allen (32-27); Azle defeated Amarillo Caprock (44-28), Klein (52-26) and Lake Highlands 44-28.

In the Championship semi’s Highland Park took on Azle and Bowie had St. Mark’s. The HP-Azle showdown quickly turned into a mismatch. The match started at 135 and Chase Gallatin got HP rolling with a pin. But Shay Lauderdale countered at 140 with a pin. What happened next was stunning. First a hard fought 9-6 decision by AJ Forsythe over Marty Dick and then a 16-1 TF by Kyle Anderson and pins by Drew Newman and Teddy Gambordella. Score 27-6. Azle got a fall at 180 but forfietd to Fred Rowsey at 189 and then David Baker and Will Shellenberger recorded falls. Score HP 44 Azle 12. Game, set and match. HP chose to wrestle only 2 of the 5 remaining matches making the final 50-36 but it wasn’t that close.

On the adjacent mat Bowie was trying to avenge a dual loss to St. Mark’s earlier in the year at the Original Lone Star Duals. Freshman David Henry won for St. Mark’s at 140 as did sophomore Ben Grisz at 189 and sophomore Ike Crews at 275. Notice the grades; St. Mark’s is a young team with only 3 seniors. But all the other matches through 103 went to Bowie and the score stood at 36-18. Vincent Tenorio (SM) won at 112 to keep the match alive but Matt Goolsbay (Bow) ended it with a 5-0 decision at 119. Bowie forfieted the remaining 2 bouts and the final score was 38-33.

So Bowie would have its rematch with HP in the finals. The Bowie and HP fans divided the stands on center mat like a Texas-OU football game in the Cotton Bowl. Lots of excitement and anticipation. HP and Bowie have outstanding wrestlers throughout their lineup but 4 weight classes in particular have classic matchups of ranked wrestlers: 145 Forsythe-Rogers, 152 Anderson-Brigmon, 171 Gambordella-Corry and 180 Rowsey-Moore.
In the last dual these weight classes had split with Bowie winning 171 and 180 and HP winning 145 and 152 (the last two matches). As fate would have it the dual started at 145.

Two weeks ago AJ Forsythe had beaten Brent Rogers 11-4. This time, Forsythe took control early with a takedown, Rogers got a reversal and it was 2-2 end of the first. Forsythe reversed and Rogers escaped 4-3. Then Rogers hit the 5 point move that won the match a nice takedown to a cradle and a 3-pt near fall. Forsythe escaped and after 2 periods it was 8-5 Rogers. Forsythe took top and tried for a cradle and three-quarter nelson, but he could not turn Rogers who got a late escape to win 9-5. Great match.

A bit of strategy from Coach Mance gave a forfeit to Kyle Anderson at 152 and Luke Brigmon went up to wrestle Drew Newman at 160. Newman made Bowie pay by proving too much for Brigmon – 2 clean takedowns, an escape and a lot of tough riding resulted in a 5-0 decision for Newman. Score nowHP 9 Bowie 3.

Two weeks ago Chris Corry from Bowie had majored Teddy Gambordella 12-3. Would there another payback? Yes. Gambordella jumped on Corry early with a takedown, 3 point near fall and a 5-0 lead after 2 minutes. Then he made it stand up for a 9-3 victory.

Coach Marzoula made the next strategic decision by bumping Fred Rowsey to 189 and sending Adam Stark to face Derick Moore. Maybe the right team move but a tough spot for Stark. Moore earned a 17-2 technical fall. But then Marcus Mcgraw drew the unenviable task of wrestling Fred Rowsey who dispatched him in 1:23. Team score now HP 18 Bowie 8.

HP has good depth and if you have any weak spots in your lineup they will make you pay. The next 3 matches nearly sealed the victory. David Baker, Will Shellenberger and Tobin Fulton all won by fall and the score ballooned to HP 36 Bowie 8.

At 112, Stephen Sharpe returned to the HP lineup and was in control of the match with Shawn Klemm 11-5 when Klemm caught him in a banana split and pinned him. But the next matchTommy Schober returned the favor, trailing 5-2 to Matt Goolsbay, he caught and pinned him and turned out the lights on Bowie. Score HP42 Bowie 14 with 4 matches remaining.

With the outcome determined, Matt Buckbinder (Bow) who had lost to Zach Vick (HP) 2-1 two weeks ago turned the tables and won 14-9. HP forfeited at 130. Chase Gallatin (HP) decisioned Brad Atkinson (Bow) 9-2. Adam Roberts (Bow) won by fall over Preston Fant (HP). Final HP45 Bowie 29.

Congratulations to Highland Park for winning another State Duals title. This was probably the best field ever assembled. I believe the top 5 teams at this tournament are the 5 best dual teams in Texas and they were each willing to lay it on the line. There were no losers this weekend. All teams that participated benefited simply by the having the experience of top level competition.

Thanks to Grapevine and all who put on the tournament. Excellent job yet again. Finally lets pray that any injuries suffered are healed before districts.