From Russell Pate

The season is past the quarter mark, and after early returns, we know much more about the area wrestling landscape. I will now start posting updates and notes over every Houston area team that I can find results or info for. If I miss someone, please let me know.

Today will start with the Katy District. The coming days will see similar reports on the Klein, Woodlands, HISD, and Cy Fair Districts, as well as area Private schools.

Katy District
Cinco Ranch… They have not put it all together as a team yet, but they will be dangerous when they do. They finished 7th at Klein Oak, but then had a dual win over Klein Oak the following Tuesday… Waltman (103) is a first year varsity starter as a junior, but looks much more experienced and is ranked 2nd in the Houston Rankings (as done by Houstoneye on this website’s forum) …Bartholomew, last year’s starter at 103 and a returning regional qualifier, is now at 125 and is handling the jump in weight well (ranked HM). He finished 4th at Klein Oak this past week… Jamie Sheets has jumped all the way to 145, and has already seen some tough competition so far, especially from a pair of Klein Oak wrestlers. He had a 4-2 win over Josh Wisnoski (#3) in the finals of the Klein Collins tournament, and then saw Kody Williams, the top ranked 135 and a returning state finalist, bump up to defeat Sheets 4-2 over Thanksgiving. It should be a great match when he faces Mike Murray of Cy Fair (the two are currently tied for the top spot at 145). Matt Harris(160) was a tough luck guy at 140 last year, finishing 3rd in district behind state placer Mike Brown, and top 8 Abel Garcia, this year he has built on that success, and was able to top former New Orleans Jesuit star and current Woodlands wrestler Moulder in the finals at Klein Oak… Will McNair finished a disappointing 4th at Klein Oak after a surprise early loss, but expect him to be tough………… Katy… Followed up a strong 3rd at Klein Collins with an 8th at Klein Oak… Matt Morgan is currently the top ranked 103 in the Houston Area. To this point he has looked both physically impressive for the weight, and technically sound. His one loss in the area was to Waltman of Cinco the opening weekend, but he avenged that with a major decision win over him for 3rd at Klein Oak… Thomas Glenn placed 4th at Klein Oak with losses to Nguyen of MC and Gruezke of New Orleans Jesuit… Kevin Holden (3rd at 140) placed 4th at Klein Oak and had an impressive win over Rivas from TWHS (Rivas had been 1st place at Klein Collins)… Rollie Williams (#4) finished 4th in a tough 152 weight class. He has the look of a potential state qualifier………… Mayde Creek… A surprising 6th at Klein Oak. Scored lots of consolation points… Alex Nguyen (112, #3) has been impressive in wins over everybody not named Eric Spjut. His best win was an OT win over Gruezke of NOJ… Daniel Pulliam (HM at 119) was and Damon Cole (#3 at 125) were both 3rd at Klein Oak… Jon Paul Bubb (#4) placed 3rd at 130 after a loss to James McCain of Cy Fair in the Semi-Finals… Zach Benson (#3 at 275) won the Klein Collins Tournament with a pin over Flores of Cy Ridge. He then was injured in a 3-2 semi-final loss to eventual Champion John Elijah of Klein Oak………… Taylor… Had much of the lineup missing at Klein Oak… Kyle Brown (HM) placed 4th at 119 at the Klein Oak tournament… Joey Depew (#1 at 171) is undefeated on the season and won the Klein Oak Tournament by pinning returning state qualifier Austin Spires of TWHS (#2)… Cody Koenig (#2 at 180) easily won the Klein Collins Tournament but missed the Klein Oak Tournament with an injury… Wayne Blackwell (HM at 275) has looked impressive for a 1st year wrestler………… Strake Jesuit… They are still missing wrestlers due to a surprising run by the football team. They ought to regain some of last year’s form when they get the whole team together… Justin Casino (HM at 130) dropped out of the Klein Oak tournament after a 4-3 loss to Rascon of TWHS… Courtland Smith (152) wrestled tough and was the only Strake wrestler still alive on the 2nd day of the Klein Oak Tournament………… Morton Ranch… They are a young team who has looked tough in the upper weights…Jeff Amoo placed 4th at 180 and looks tough… Juan Sorto at 215 looked good in the opening weekend ………… Seven Lakes… Very good team performance from a New team at a new school… Will Jones (130) wrestled for Cinco last year and won 3 matches at Klein Oak… Jordan Hauser (160) has wrestled tough in both tournaments and is one to watch for the future…

And as a bonus I will include here New Orleans Jesuit who will be tied to Strake until at least Christmas.

New Orleans Jesuit…103 Weiser is very impressive and will not be tested by any Houston area wrestler. I would love to see him wrestle some of Dallas’ toughest, or even test the waters at 112… 112 Gruezke is tall and very tough on the mat. He lost an OT match to Nguyen of MC at the Metro tournament and then proceeded to destroy the consolation bracket…135 Jones was good enough for 4th at Klein Oak, as he had a 1 point loss to Pikulski of Cy Fair for 3rd… 140 Gruezke dominated the bracket including a not very close finals match against an outmatched Thompson of St. Thomas. He could wrestle with just about any 140 in the state… 152 Rabitowas also extremely tough with wins over Returning state qualifier Trent Bash of Dallas Jesuit, and likely prep all-american Jonathon Powell of Kinkaid… 189 Bosetta is a returning state champion who just placed 3rd at the Oklahoma Open after an OT loss to champion Ben Grisz of St. Mark’s in the semis. At the Metro Tournament he wrestled a tough match to win 7-5 against last year’s Freestyle state Champion and Junior Duals participant Thomas Mancha of St. Thomas. Then in the Finals he was beaten 12-9 by James Bookout of Kinkaid who may be the best 189 anywhere in the state.