By Peter Dewey

To absolutely no one’s surprise the Bishop Lynch mob ran away with the team title at the the Lamar Invitational placing 7 in the finals and winning 6. And this without the services of Johnny Koepp. The only reason the team scores appeared close for much of the day is because finalist points are not added until after the semi-final round is completed. As soon as they were added, the champion was apparent. If these guys were in UIL, they would dominate the State tournament and likely win 5 to 7 individual state championships.

103
Riley Adamson BL won this weight class with a 4-2 decision in the finals – a match he controlled despite the score. But the story in this weight class was the emergence of Chris Wilcox of Hebron. He dominated #2 seed Danny Luttrell of Arlington 6-2 in the semi’s. While outmatched in the finals against nationally ranked Adamson, he kept the score very close. Luttrell rallied to take 3rd over Luis Granados of Lake Highlands 6-0.

112
For whatever reason, The Woodlands skipped the Houston City Duals and a chance to qualify for THSWCA State Duals. This gave super-frosh Erik Spjut the chance to dominate another tournament and dominate he did. A 20-5 tech fall of Vincent Tenorio of St. Mark’s in the semi’s and then an 11-2 dismantling of David Staines BL (who will be heading back to New Orleans after next week’s Final Four Duals). Staines only points were on cuts by Spjut. I see a potential State finals showdown with Randall’s Brandon McDonald (who beat Staines 5-0 in the Oklahoma Open finals). Kevin Schmidt of Arlington came through the wrestlebacks for 3rd.

119
Easily the best match of the tournament was the Ian Aguirre of Trimble Tech v Andre Taylor Plano East showdown in the finals. These two are simply outstanding on their feet. Constant attacks and slick counterattacks. Each takedown had to be earned but still there were plenty of them as neither wrestler could hold the other on the mat. First period ended 5-4 Aquirre; the second ended 8-6 Aquirre and then the action really heated up. When it was over Aguirre had beaten the defending 112# state champ 16-14. Ironically, the difference was a controversial 2 pt near fall awarded early in the match when Taylor rolled across his back on a granby. Great competitors, great match. Austin Barnes of Rockwall also looked very good losing in the semi’s 4-1 to Taylor but fighting back for 3rd.

125
Ben Ashmore is so dominant that he is rarely even scored upon. Jason Scovell of St. Mark’s did earn an escape in the finals match but it ended the same as all Ben’s other matches: by fall. Landon Wyatt of Fossil Ridge defeated Sam Stell of Lake Highlands 5-0 for 3rd.

130
The finals at 130 looked to be one of the best matches of the night. Dak Adamson BL and Sean Kitchen of Plano East had both been dominant. Kitchen opened strong with a takedown and back points and a 4-0 lead. It didn’t last long. It was all Adamson from that point on. Dak had gone up 7-4 by the end of the first period and got the fall at 3:03. Adamsom displyed both power and technique in overwhelming a very tough opponent. Matt Hunt of Lewisville looked tough in beating Josh Marx of Lake Highlands 10-4 for 3rd.

135
Although the result in the final was never in dobut there was a scary moment when Luke Silver injured his arm. Apparently it was not serious and Silver coasted to a 12-2 major over Austin Cordova of Lake Highlands. Matt Kovacs from The Woodlands had a 15-0 TF over Kyle Redmond of Lamar for 3rd.

140
Another weight class where it was a Bishop Lynch wrestler on a completely different level from everyone else. In this case nationally ranked junior Luke Ashmore. A fall in every match including over Chris Lybrand of Lake Highlands in the finals. Apparently Luke showed the coaches in attendance a little something extra as he also earned MOW. In the Consolation finals David Henry of St. Mark’s majored Carlos Fuentes of RL Turner 12-2.

145
No Johnny Koepp meant no BL stud to dominate this weight. But 145 was dominated anyway by Brent Rogers of Bowie. He won 14-0 over Brennan Ochoa of Fossil Ridge in the semi’s and pinned Drew Munson of Arlington in the finals. Brent was never really pushed and I’m sure he wants a rematch with AJ Forsythe of HP, a rematch that we could see next week at State Duals. 3rd place saw tough battle with Wade Stowe of The Colony edging Travis Pena of St. Mark’s 4-3.

152
BL rolled out the last of its studs – Ace Adamson. But many expected Wes White of Lamar to be a real test. Wes managed the first takedown but then it was all Adamson as he simply imposed his will, built up a lead and got the fall in the 2nd period. In the semi-finals Wes White and Luke Brigmon – although seniors in the same district – met for the first time ever. This day White was clearly better on his feet with 3 takedowns and won 7-3. Who else is at 152# in the Arlington district? Oh yea, defending State Champ Spencer Jernigan (currently not academically eligible). Since only two advance to regionals, one of these top wrestler’s season is going to end at districts.

160
A well balanced if not particularly strong weight. #1 seed Max White of Rockwall was upset 6-5 by Chris Brooks of Bowie in a controversial match where Rockwall felt they weren’t being rewarded for back points on a number of tilts. #2 Nick Capodagli of the Colony had no trouble rolling through the the bottom half of the bracket. Brooks and Capodagli then met in the finals. Brooks was aggressive but some of his strength moves didn’t work on an equally strong Capodagli who built up a nice lead. But in the end it was Brooks pouring it on. He began cutting Capodagli and scored 3 takedowns in the last minute of the match but it was not enough and Capodagli won 16-10. Max White took 3rd with a 3rd period pin of Chris Howard of Arlington.

171
#1 seed Bryce Marx of Lake Highlands and #2 seed Chris Corry of Bowie blew through the field to meet in the finals. A week ago at Grapevine these two quality wrestlers met and Marx won rather comfortably 10-2. That loss didn’t sit well with Corry and he wanted a rematch. He got it with a dominating performance and a 6-0 win. He totally controlled the match (much like Marx had done previously). Undoubtably these two will hook but again over the coming weeks and you will want to see it. Austin Spires of The Woodlands beat David Espinosa of Grand Prairie 8-0 for 3rd.

180
Derick Moore of Bowie dominated this weight class. After falls in the quarters and semis, he tech falled Scott Winkler of LH 16-1 in 4:00 in the finals. The last person to beat Moore back at the Warrior Invitational was Chris Capodagli of The Colony who was watching from the stands. He vowed to be back in action next week at State Duals. A wild one took place in the consolation finals with Josh Favara of Arlington outscoring Pat Cioffi of Plano East 21-13.

189
A lot of wieghts were dominated by a single wrestler in this tournament but none moreso than Ben Grisz of St. Mark’s. 3 matches and three falls, including going just 31 seconds in the finals match against Mike Moon of Arlington. And Grisz is only a sophmore. Marcus Mcgraw is one of several Bowie wrestlers making steady progress this season and it showed with a fall in the consolation finals against Kyle Kaster of Lamar.

215
A new wrestler emerged on the scene at 215#. Zach Skelton of Plano East beat #1 seed Jared Tadlock of Arlington 9-5 in the semi’s and then went into overtime to defeat Jake Hanley of Rockwall 6-4. Hanley had sent it into overtime with 2 points at the buzzer. Jared Tadlock did prevail in the wrestlebacks besting Richard Hunt of Arlington Heights for 3rd.

275
If there was a pool for quickest pin in the finals not many people would have wagered on Chad Bahr of Keller. First, the guy is a heavyweight. Second, there were all those BL studs and Ben Grisz – pinning machines all. But in fact it was Bahr who had the quickest fall in the finals in just 21 seconds. Bahr also had a pin in the semis against 3rd place finisher Kelvin Jackson of Samuel. Runner-up David Sanders of The Colony won his semi-final match against Nick White of Lake Highlands 5-3.

With this meet things are starting to sort out in many weight classes as the better wrestlers are beginning to assert themselves. But next week the focus will shift back to team as the top area squads, as well as teams from around the state, will be heading to Dual State at Grapevine.