The Houston Report: “Season Preview” and Houston Area Individual Rankings
By Russell Pate
ITW Staff Writer

Each new part will be added daily 11/13 – 11/17

Part I: Monday, November 13
A look at 10 burning questions that loom large in Houston heading into the season, followed by the return of the Houston area Rankings from HoustonEye.

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by Panhandle Al
ITW Staff Writer

Another season is upon us and West Texas a/k/a “The Panhandle” is pumped and ready for a great season of wrestling. Canyon Randall should be the area team to beat this year with Amarillo Caprock right on their heels.

Here is a brief look at the top teams and a ranking of the area:

1. Canyon Randall – This team is poised to have a very good year. Leading the team are seniors, Brandon McDonald (119) a two-time state placer and All-American, Kalvin King (125) three-time state qualifier, Cameron Padilla (160) returning state placer is coming off an injury but is ready to return to state form, and Chance Cupp (215) was unable to wrestle last year due to a football injury but is ready to focus only on wrestling this season. In addition, will be state qualifiers junior Joey Sykes (171), sophomore Joseph Flores (189), and Josh Martinez (112). Rounding off the team of returning wrestlers will be Cody Dudding (180) a state alternate from last year. Joining the team this year will be two very solid freshmen wrestlers Victor Dodson (103) and Jace Bennett (130). This should be a very solid team and could make a run for the state championship for the first time in school history.

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By Peter Dewey
ITW Senior Writer

The 2006-2007 wrestling season is right around the corner. There is excitement across the state as wrestling continues to grow and improve. We love to see such progress across the Lone Star State but the hot bed of wrestling continues to be the Big D. At the State tournament last year, six of the top 10 teams were from the Dallas area. I don’t expect that to change come February 2007.

In corresponding with the coaches of the teams profiled below, each coach firmly believed that this year’s team will be stronger than last year’s version. Some expect dramatic improvement. Many teams have enough depth to produce real competition for starting spots. A word of caution. Coaches warned that the lineups are very tentative. In many cases weight certification and wrestle-offs had not occurred as these potential lineups were being developed. In addition the way weight certification looks to play out this year, any number of wrestlers may be showing up in districts and Regionals at lower weights than they wrestled most of the year.

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By Brendon Lowe
ITW Strength and Conditioning Columnist

Warning: Wrestlers mentioned will remain nameless for confidentiality purposes.

Two months ago I told all the opponents of the weight certifications to wait it out and give them a try before they started complaining about the rule changes. Now that the official weight certifications are complete, let the criticisms roll, because I’m right there with you on a few points.

Who is to blame for the catastrophe known as the ’06 wrestling certifications? I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the University Interscholastic League (UIL). How can the governing body of Texas high school athletics wait till the last minute to throw something together when so much is at stake? Isn’t the whole point of the weight certifications to protect the health of our wrestlers? The lack of planning on the part of the UIL lead to some of the most heinous weight cutting that I’ve seen in a long time.

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by Willy Coyote
Copyright 2006
InsideTexasWrestling.com

TEXANS WRESTLING IN COLLEGE

KEVIN SCHMITT-125-ADAMS STATE-DII-FR.
JOSH MARTZ-165-AIR FORCE-DI-SO.
JONATHAN POWELL-157-AMERICAN UNIV.-DI-FR.
DANNY CARRASCO-165-APPALACHIAN STATE-DI-SO.
ANGEL ALEGRE-125-ARIZONA STATE-DI-FR.
ZACH NICHOLS-165-AUGSBURG COLLEGE-DIII-FR.
GEORGE GOGONAS-125-AUGUSTANA COLLEGE-DII-FR.

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by John Rizzuti

Tournament Preview – How will Texas wrestlers do?

The Super32 Challenge is one of the most intriguing preseason tournaments anywhere in America. It’s only a few years old, but has already grown by leaps and bounds to handle 1250 high school-age wrestlers. The meet is set for this Saturday, October 28 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The one and only “Nature Boy” Ric Flair did most of the famous wrestling in this arena in the past decade! Scores of wrestlers from all over the Eastern seaboard with a great percentage coming from the southeast will be competing.

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By John Rizzuti
©2006 InsideTexasWrestling.com
All rights reserved

(Warning: This article contains lots of satire which is unusual in the sport)

In a little over a month from now, the grand and gracious city of Dallas will host the 41st Annual National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic, November 20, at the Dallas Convention Center. When an event has been going on for 41 years, it’s probably time for some changes; some hot new ideas, different angles, dynamic storylines and characters, painting the scenery, shifts in the sand, swerves, good guys and bad girls. You know; not the same old, same old. Something borrowed, some blue, something different, something new.

But, then again you’re working with wrestling, the oldest and perhaps the single most tradition-rich sport there is. Changes? They’re few and far between. In wrestling, unfortunately, convention rules. (Where is J Robinson when we need him?) Other than the professional variety of our sport, where one Vincent Kennedy McMahon has amassed (at last count) some $1.6 billion dollars – a veritable mini-fortune!

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by Brendon Lowe
ITW Strength & Conditioning Columnist

Traditional weight training has become the staple of many successful wrestlers’ training habits for many years. Hours upon hours of time has been spent in the weight room pressing, pushing and tugging at hundreds of pounds of metal plates attached to an Olympic bar.

Everyone knows how to bench-press and how to squat. But how beneficial are these lifts for true athletic progress? If a wrestler is on his back and pressing a weight straight up, then he is pinning himself. How often do you have your opponent strewn across your shoulders behind your head as you stand from a squat position?

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by The Ranking Czar

Here they are. The first preseason statewide all class (public and private schools) rankings. We have a tie at 189 and although I think it’s just a little crazy, we’re going to roll with it. Once we have more info on the exact weight classes everyone will be we’ll do a revised ranking. At the end is the all inclusive top-ten statewide tournament rankings.

103
1 Sean McCarthy (11) Azle
2 Aaron Keener (11) Leander
3 Victor Dotson (9) Canyon Randall
4 Austin Davis (10) Klein Oak
5 Chris Mears (9) Northwest
6 Ryon Hill (10) Arl. Bowie
7 Joey Voglesburg (9) Trinity
8 Tyler Lukes (9) Cy-Ridge
9 Bryan Osorio (10) Vista-Ridge

112
1 Danny Luttrell (11) Arlington
2 Chris Wilcox (11) Hebron
3 Greg Gogonas (10) Austin Bowie
4 Adam Purcell (12) Trinity
5 Nick Waltman (12) Cinco Ranch
6 Vincent Tenorio (11) St. Marks
7 Stephen Wurster (11) Rockwall
8 Eric Simmons (11) Allen

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Highland Park leads the pack in ITW UIL Preseason Poll. Cinco Ranch, Canyon Randall breathing down their backs, with Coppell & Azle closely behind. Don’t count out Arlington either!

By John Rizzuti

Rank (Based on Tournament Performance)
1 HP
2 Cinco Ranch
3 Canyon Randall
4 Coppell
5 Azle
6 Arlington
7 Coll Heritage
8 Keller
9 Lake Highlands
10 Arl Bowie

Editor’s note: Overall statewide rankings would have Bishop Lynch ranked first with the other teams above down one notch if we were to include private schools in the preseason rankings.

Comments? Feedback? john@rizzuti.com