Russell Pate

Quarter Report Continued — Klein District

The Klein District has turned into one of the toughest in the state. Not many districts boast 3 teams the caliber of Bryan, Klein, and Klein Oak. This season has seen Klein distinguish themselves as one of the area’s top 2 dual teams along with the Woodlands. This weekend Klein and Klein Oak are in Dallas and will be tested. Bryan is my pick to win the Katy ISD tournament.

Klein Oak… The team has yet to put together their best day. They were a solid 5th at the Metro behind Houston teams The Woodlands and Cy Fair. They dropped a tough dual to Cinco Ranch over Thanksgiving, but Shane Doughman has just returned to action, and the team is looking up… Austin Davis (103) placed 2nd in a strong showing at the Houston Metro. He looks like the next in what is now a long line of tough Klein Oak light weights… Shane Doughman is back from a bout with Mono. He dropped a tough 1-0 match in a state finals rematch with Josh Sandoval at the Oklahoma Open. As his conditioning returns, he will be in line to challenge for another state crown… Blake Allen has looked very good in a pair of tournament wins at 125… Kody Williams (135) has 3 wins that are as impressive as anybody in the state can boast this year. He has defeated highly regarded Colin McElroy of the Woodlands twice already, and weighed in up one weight class and then bumped another to defeat former state champion Jamie Sheets at 145. He has his sights firmly set on joining Doughman as a champion… Josh Wisnoski (145) has the look of a state qualifier. His Greco abilities have always made him a tough matchup, but under Coach Ribordy’s guidance, he looks much more well rounded this year. Jay Fortner (152) has had early success as a freshman that hints he has more than a bit of big brother and former state finalist Tom in him… John Elijah had a very impressive tournament championship at the Metro with 1 point wins over Benson of MC and Hinton of TWHS. His only loss came in a dual this week when he dropped the rematch to Hinton………… Klein…Klein has looked extremely tough early on this season. They won the Klein Collins tournament to start the season, defeating The Woodlands along the way. They are extremely tough as a dual team, and score well in a tournament because there team has no real holes. The difference this year is that they appear to have a genuine stud individual in Brandon Castro. There team makeup makes them serious contenders for District and Regional Titles, but there best time to shine may be the Houston City Duals, and the following state dual tournament… Nguyen (112) is a returning State qualifier and has only lost to Spjut… Castro (119) is very tough from all positions. He has a wealth of wrestling experience and should contend for a state medal if he can stay focused… Traver (125), Renfro (130), and Hsu (135) are all tough and Make Klein one of the toughest in the state from 112 to 135. The action in the room between all these wrestlers must be fantastic… Couch (152) was a state alternate last year, and it appears he will not be denied a trip to Austin this time around ………… Klein Forest… Alex Rawson was 2-2 and looked tough at 119… Salvador Quiroz won 5 matches to place 5th at 145…………Klein Collins… Taylor Moses is just a sophomore at 189 but looked good in a 6th place finish at Klein Oak… Kyle Jones (215) placed first after a quick pin in the finals. He should have little problem returning to state this year… David Brown (275) finished a surprising 3rd ………… Bryan… There team is similar to Klein in that they do not have many holes. They had a big 39-37 dual win over Cinco this Thursday night, and then easily beat Kinkaid. They are the favorite for this weekend’s Katy ISD tournament… Landon Meekma has been strong at 125 and placed 2nd at Klein Collins… Louis Aguilar (130) is a returning state qualifier and is very aggressive… Jose Elizondo (152) made the finals and lost a close match to Couch (KL) at the Collins tournament… Dockery was a champion at Klein Collins…