The Observer’s Rankings Version 1.0
by: Shaun Shaikh, “The Observer”
The Only Rankings Worth Reading in Texas

Ah, another year of rankings. I’m almost looking forward to reading a whole new year of posts and emails and trying to decide what order to put people in, just so that they can all prove me wrong when the time is right.

It’s been a good, tough year at A&M for me. Junior year of Mechanical Engineering is notoriously hard, and I’m pretty sure that any one of my classes is the equivalent of a business major’s entire course load. For you aspiring engineers, make sure that you come to college prepared to work and make sacrifices. I’ve seen way too many engineering dropouts who just didn’t know what they were getting themselves into. It takes more than being smart.

Alas, we must get back to the wrestling. Last year’s state was very pleasing to me. Most of my friends who have graduated complained that it was a horrible state tournament filled with mediocre talent. They exclaimed, “I don’t know any of these guys!” I admit that I myself had no knowledge of Jesse Marines, finalist at 171 from Weslaco, and I do the rankings.

However, I don’t believe the problem was the mediocre talent, as much as non-Dallas talent succeeding. It’s no secret that Dallas historically dominates the State tournament. As a matter of fact, in most minds, Dallas IS Texas wrestling (check txusawrestling.com rankings).

State 2005 showed us a different side of Texas. Kevin Jury broke into the amazingly hard 125 weight class finals against all odds (and favored Dallas wrestlers). Jesse Marines got into the finals at 171 with almost nobody knowing about him in the Dallas area. The 103 pound weight class was stormed by 103 Region 1 wrestlers Harvey Suarez, Brandon McDonald, and Kalvin King. I think the rest of Texas is catching up fast. Canyon Randall has got one TOUGH team. Amarillo Tascosa and El Paso Hanks are always tough, and they continue to produce State-caliber wrestlers.

These rankings cannot be good until we have good information from all areas and until teams break out of their areas and travel a few times a year. If you have information about the rankings, please add a comment (you will need an account). If you want to be more discreet about your information, email what you’ve got to shaunshaikh@hotmail.com. I get a lot of emails, so I apologize in advance for not embellishing my responses.

Bishop Lynch provided me with some issues doing the rankings. They have wrestlers who will drop down to certain weight classes for “big meets”, but wrestle at another during normal meets. “Big meets” do not normally involve anything in Texas, so it’s a little unfair for me to put someone at the top of their lower weight class when nobody from that weight class will have a chance to beat them. Alas, succumbing to pressure, I have decided to put the Bishop Lynch kids at their lower weight classes, in case newspapers decide to quote our rankings or something.

103:
1. Riley Adamson (Bishop Lynch)
2. Adam Purcell (Euless Trinity)
3. Greg Gogonas (Austin Bowie)
4. Sean McCarthy (Azle))
5. Danny Luttrell (Arlington)
6. Chris Wilcox (Hebron)
7. James Ahlswede (San Antonio Lee)

Honorable Mention:
Josh Martinez (Canyon Randall)
Landon Christly (South Grand Prarie)
Eric Simmons (Allen)
Tyler Lee (Marcus)

Notes: Riley Adamson is the early number 1 here because of his performance at the Oklahoma Open, including a win over Adam Purcell, and the challenging Beast tournament.

Adam Purcell was #1 all year long until he lost to Darren Delacruz and then had his season ending injury. This year he’s back at 103 and should factor into the State finals equation.

Chris Wilcox, returning State Placer lost at the St. Marks Invitational and has consequently been bumped down in the rankings. Had he not lost, he would have been third.

James Aswalde is a transfer from Florida and has won a lot of tournaments so far this year.

If you know whether Tyler Lee is going 103 or 112, please let me know. I have heard both.

112:
1. Jeremy Sandoval (Colleyville Heritage)
2. Brandon McDonald (Canyon Randall)
3. Erik Spjut (The Woodlands)
4. Ian Aguirre (Fort Worth Trimble Tech)
5. George Gogonas (Austin Bowie)
6. Paz Acosta (Amarillo Palo Duro)
7. Michael Hortman (Azle)

Honorable Mention:
Chris Nguyen (Klein)
Schmitt (Arlington)
David Staines (Bishop Lynch)
Thomas Harris (Amarillo Caprock)
Stephen Sharp (Highland Park)

Notes: WOWOWOW True freshman Jeremy Sandoval breaks onto the scene with an early #1 ranking. He has defeated defending State Champion Andre Taylor from Plano East twice this year at 119. He wrestles at 112 now. If Andre Taylor were wrestling 112, he would have been the pre-season #1, and by defeating him, Jeremy Sandoval has earned his #1 spot.

However, Brandon McDonald cannot be taken lightly. It’s quite possible that McDonald will be going 103 as he did at the Oklahoma Open, however I am going to wait until he has some results come in at 103 until I do that. He has been wrestling 112 at tournaments without a 3 pound allowance this year. He gets his ranking from his last year State Finals appearance, and this year’s Oklahoma Open victory.

Erik Spjut seems to be all that and a bag of chips this year, finishing third at 112 at the Oklahoma and beating his best adversaries so far. Coach Bautista is cooking something dangerous up there in the Woodlands.

Ian Aguirre apparently was injured at the St. Marks Invitational, but he will keep his ranking during his recovery process.

119:
1. Ben Ashmore (Bishop Lynch)
2. Shane Doughman (Klein Oak)
3. Andre Taylor (Plano East)
4. Mickey Sharp (Vernon)
5. Harvey Suarez (Amarillo Caprock)
6. Kalvin King (Canyon Randall)
7. Paul Cabasa (San Antonio Churchill)

Honorable Mention:
Kenneth McNeil (San Antonio Madison)
Ben Cappella (The Woodlands)
Matt Castro (Klien)
Darren Delacruz (South Grand Prarie)

Notes: So far we’ve already seen two beasts of a weight class… and this takes the cake! TRY 4 STATE CHAMPIONS HERE!!!

Ben Ashmore just won his second Beast. What a beast. He’s a State Champion (and Prep National Champion).

Shane Doughman is quite good (has early season losses to Josh Sandoval and Patrick Blakely). He also won State. If you remember, last year he lost to Josh Sandoval at the Oklahoma Open and then beat him in the State Finals.

Andre Taylor is pretty exceptional as well. He lost to Jeremy Sandoval already this year, but from what I hear that’s not as bad of a deal as it sounds. He was the State Champion at 112 last year.

Harvey Suarez was the State Champ at 103 last year and was extremely impressive. The reason he is not higher is because I’m waiting to see how he adjusts to the weight gain. The jump from 103 to higher weight classes can be tough for some wrestlers. Jamie Sheets, 2004 103 State Champion, failed to place last year in the tough 125 weight class. Tough or not, it just shows the difficulty of the adjustment.

Mickey Sharp may not be the most popular wrestler around Texas. He burst onto the scene finishing second place in State his freshman year, wildly upsetting Danny Ruiz in the semi-finals (you remember the match, the one where Danny passed out and then was pinned before anybody realized it.) He constantly underperforms during the regular season, and then shows up to wrestle at State. Last year, he stirred up quite a bit of controversy with some words that he exchanged with Mr. 125. Like him or not, he’s a game time wrestler and knows how to win the big matches.

Apparently Kalvin King transferred to Canyon Randall. Who knew?

I think Cappella has moved back to New Orleans Jesuit, where he came from. Anybody?

125
1. Josh Sandoval (Colleyville Heritage)
2. Dak Adamson (Bishop Lynch)
3. Vince Hawkins (Arlington Lamar)
4. Jonathan Khan (San Antonio MacArthur)
5. Danny Caraveo (El Paso Franklin)
6. Ryan Larson (San Antonio Roosevelt)
7. Matt Campos (Oak Ridge)

Honorable Mention
Blake Allen (Klein Oak)
JJ Hobbs (Allen)
Austin McCain (Cy-Fair)
Zach Vick (Highland Park)
Sam Stell (Lake Highlands)
Brandon Larrington (Cy-Fair)

Notes: This may not be the same State Champion riddled weight class as 119, but it is quite deep.

Josh Sandoval is the most exciting wrestler to watch in Texas. His love for Greco and balls-to-the-wall mentality gives spectators plenty of throws and lots of intensity to enjoy in his matches.

Dak Adamson is another addition to Texas wrestling, coming from New Mexico to the Bishop Lynch stable of Champions. He should be quite good, and I hope we get to see him wrestle Sandoval SOON.

Danny Caraveo may be the wrestler to watch from this weight class. He is getting MOWs left and right, and winning tournaments like A&M wins non-conference basketball games. Unfortunately, he recently was injured and will miss six weeks. However, with a smart and safe recovery, he should figure into the State Championship equation.

130:
1. Luke Silver (Bishop Lynch)
2. Joe Quinto (Amarillo Tascosa)
3. Kevin Jury (El Paso Americas)
4. Corey Miller (Arlington Martin)
5. Dakota Frizzel (Azle)
6. Sean Kitchen (Plano East)
7. Patrick Blakely (Houston Westside)

Honorable Mention:
Dillon Horn (Coppell)
Luis Aguilar (Bryan)
Chase Gallatin (Highland Park)
Jon Paul Bubb (Mayde Creek)
Bob Renfro (Klein)
Trey Aguirre (Beeville)

Notes: What is going on? How could Texas possibly have so many good weight classes? I REALLY love the talent and depth in this one.

We start off with Luke Silver, whose talent doesn’t need to be repeated by me.

Joe Quinto may be the best wrestler from the Amarillo region this year. Last year he got to the State finals and ran into a brick wall named Matt Hobar. It sounds like he’s been training and wrestling like a champion up in the panhandle. He was named wrestler of the week by his local newspaper.

Kevin Jury… what a guy. Did you watch this guy wrestle at State? If I remember correctly, he was wrestling from behind in TWO of his matches at State, against Aeron Hill and Corey Miller, and won both matches with throws in the third period for the pin. Unbelievable. He truly had a Cinderella performance at State last year.

Corey Miller was on the losing end of that Kevin Jury story, losing in the semi-finals of State last year. However, if I remember right, he was wrestling from behind against Mickey Sharp and managed to beat him in the waning minutes. Corey Miller is a good wrestler who is very slick. He might sneak to the top of the podium this year.

Dakota Frizzel is making a name for himself this year with a lot of big wins, most namely his recent win over Sean Kitchen. He also won Tri-State over Patrick Blakely, who I will mention shortly.

If you look at my Top 10 Texas Recruits list, you will find Sean Kitchen. I think he is the best wrestler from Texas without at State championship (or a State finals appearance for that matter). For the last two years, he’s been right with the best in the State, but just short of the finals. Could this be his year to breakout? Can he finish what his brother Jack started? Stay tuned in for more on this outstanding wrestler.

Patrick Blakely is another wrestler living under the legacy of his older brother. Trey Blakely is a state medalist who is a letterman and starts for the University of Oklahoma. Patrick has a history of underperforming in the pre-season, and his talents have never truly been showcased. A 10-3 win over Shane Doughman this year shows that he is ready to take a charge for the State Title.

135:
1. Kody Williams (Klein Oak)
2. Jimmy Peterson (San Antonio Madison)
3. Colin McElroy (The Woodlands)
4. Peter Lindahl (Plano West)
5. Nick Sojourner (McKinney)
6. Kamerawn Smedley (Allen)

Honorable Mention:

Notes: I’ll be honest, I couldn’t find enough wrestlers for this weight class that I feel justified to be ranked just yet. With another week of results, I’m sure we can fill this ranking out just like the others.

Kody Williams is a returner from that trio of Klein Oak wrestlers who made it to the finals. He’s an extremely high-scoring wrestler who’s already poised to take the title.

Jimmy Peterson is a very dangerous wrestler. Two years ago, he nearly beat the State Champion Parker Ryan at the State Championships with a Peterson. Anybody who watched the match knows that Parker Ryan was actually pinned for a while. Luckily for Ryan, he escaped, won, and then won the rest. Peterson is still the pride of San Antonio Madison and in a great position to win the title.

140:
1. Luke Ashmore (Bishop Lynch)
2. Michael Gerber (Canyon Randall)
3. Jamie Sheets (Cinco Ranch)
4. Shay Lauderdale (Azle)
5. Whitton White (Arlington Lamar)
6. Jarrod Rhodes (Rockwall)

Honorable Mention:
Jordan Couch (Keller)
Riviera (Centenniel)
Sam Thompson (St. Thomas)
Doug Rivas (Woodlands)

Notes: Yikes! Three State Champions to start off this weight class!

Michael Gerber placed 4th as a freshman, won State as a sophomore, and lost to 3-time State Champion Matt Sansone as a Junior. He is one of the most intense and hard-nosed wrestlers to watch, and he lead a surprisingly strong Canyon Randall team into State last year for a 3rd place performance.

Jamie Sheets won State as a freshman at 103 and then failed to place as a sophomore in the beastly 125 pound weight class. Another State finalist, Aeron Hill failed to place as well. It was a hard tournament and a hard weight class – every match was tough and if the ball didn’t always roll your way in close matches, you lost. I constantly hear stories of Jamie’s work ethic and talent from Cinco wrestlers at Texas A&M and I’m sure by the end of his career those stories will be Cinco legends (right up there with Matt Tiffin).

Shay Lauderdale placed in State while freshman Whitton White was still in the womb. Well, not really, but he did place his freshman year. As somebody who was old enough to be there, I can say he looked outstanding doing it. The last couple of years he’s been up and down, but so far this year he has been outstanding. His brother Shelby Lauderdale made it to the State finals his senior year, so maybe Shay can duplicate the product.

145:
1. Johnny Koepp (Bishop Lynch)
2. Jacob Valdez (El Paso Hanks)
3. Marty Dick (Azle)
4. Kaleb Luna (Borger)
5. Michael Murray (Cy-Fair)
6. John Luttrell (Arlington)
7. Chris Lomas (Creekview)

Honorable Mention:
Wade Stowe (The Colony)
Drew O’Brien (Arlington Martin)
AJ Forsythe (Highland Park)
Derek Bowen (Allen)
Brent Rogers (Arlington Bowie)
Josh Wisnowski (Klein Oak)
Warren Brown (Austin Crockett)

Notes: More State Champions. A few outstanding young wrestlers. 145 is going to be a fun weight class.

Johnny Koepp is a beast. I still have feelings of confusion and bewilderment when he took down 2-time State Champion Matt Hobar from Highland Park at the Southern Assault. He’s on another level.

Jacob Valdez won State last year in a pretty even weight class. He actually qualified with 4th place in Region 1 and then rallied to win State. However, it was no secret all year long that he was a great wrestler. He is the favorite for the UIL title.

Marty Dick was one crazy-good freshman who made waves last year, and is looking to take the first of his eventual multi-State Championships this year.

Kaleb Luna is another young guy. Kris Luna, his brother, was a State placer last year alongside Kaleb. Kris finished 5th at 135 and Kaleb finished 4th at 140. Kris now wrestles at Newman University.

152:
1. Taylor Torisk (Dumas)
2. Luke Brigmon (Arlington Bowie)
3. Ace Adamson (Bishop Lynch)
4. Kyle Anderson (Highland Park)
5. Trent Bash (Dallas Jesuit)
6. Wesley White (Arlington Lamar)
7. Jonathan Powell (Kinkaid)

Honorable Mention:
Taylor Couch (Klein)
Tommy Clark (Azle)

Notes: It’s going to be a good year. This is ANOTHER good weight class. I can safely say that this may be one of the best years for Texas wrestling.

Leading this weight class is returning State Finalist Taylor Torisk. He took 3rd at the Oklahoma Open this year, a very impressive feat. Spencer Jernigan went 3-2 in the same weight class. He will be a member of the Dynamic Dumas Duo (DDD) that will look to cruise to a pair of State Titles this year.

Luke Brigmon has had a strong early season to boost him to second in the rankings. He will be in a very tough weight class in Arlington, once Spencer Jernigan drops down for good – Brigmon, White, and Jernigan.

Ace Adamson is the final piece to the Adamson puzzle that has moved into Bishop Lynch. He will also make an impact on Texas wrestling this year, but probably at 160. He gives them a much needed upper weight presence.

Kyle Anderson has been wrestling very well this year and is 1-1 with Adamson.

Trent Bash was solid last year, but fell early this year to Anderson. He recently won the St. Marks Invitational, so we’ll see.

Wesley White is the older of the two White brothers currently wrestling. Plagued by grades two years ago, he had to stop wrestling after Friday at State and still managed to place. Last year his problem was the tough weight class he was faced with at districts. Wesley has the best older brother of all the previous examples, Will Rowe, Oklahoma Wrestling superstar. Shoes nobody should have to try to fill.

160:
1. Jason Logan (Dumas)
2. Aaron Pelletier (San Antonio Churchill)
3. Brent Pardinek (Austin Bowie)
4. Matt Harris (Cinco Ranch)
5. Zach Nichols (Houston Westside)
6. Spencer Jernigan (Arlington)
7. Drew Newman (Highland Park)

Honorable Mention:
Hugo Torres (Creekview)

Notes: Are you kidding me? This weight class is disgustingly good. What has happened to Texas?! These weight classes aren’t supposed to be deep!

Jason Logan, returning 160 State Champion, takes his place at the top of the ladder. He’s the man to beat. He got 3rd at the Oklahoma Open, beating the only guy who beat him. He’s part of the DDD.

Aaron Pelletier finished 6th last year at State. However, the bigger story is what he did before the All-State rounds. He staged two huge upsets just to get to the State semi-finals, one against eventual bronze medalist Christian Coffey. His dad is the famous Armed Forced World Greco Champion.

Brent Pardinek is apparently on a mission this year. Last year was good, but this year he has steam rolled people. At Tri-State, he pinned his way through to the finals, where he would pin Zach Nichols, someone who I’ll mention later.

Matt Harris is a dark horse for this year who already has a couple big wins over Zach Nichols. I hear about him all the time from my fellow Cinco wrestlers at Texas A&M and they tell me he is an extremely hard worker. I spoke to Zach and he said that his conditioning was one of the best he’s faced and his momentum late in the match was hard to stop.

Zach Nichols is another guy from my old high school who underperforms at State. After wrestling JV his freshman year, he has gone to State the last two years. He has beaten people he wasn’t supposed to beat and lost to people he wasn’t supposed to lose to. This year he’s on a mission. Two summers ago he went to Fargo and was 1 match away from becoming an All American at Cadet 152. This fall he made it all the way to the semi-finals at 160 in the Oklahoma Open. He’s already beaten Spencer Jernigan this year 3-1 at the St. Marks Invitational. He defeated Wesley White twice at Westside.

Drew Newman is a strong wrestler from Highland Park who placed in State two years ago. He’s extremely solid and makes few mistakes. He’s also a standout guy and extremely friendly. It’s hard to dislike those Highland Park kids.

Hugo Torres is one of the stronger Creekview kids, and last year he was one match away from placing in State. Watch out for him.

171:
1. Jeff Martz (Argyle)
2. Spencer Covey (Coppell)
3. Chris Corry (Arlington Bowie)
4. Teddy Gambordella (Highland Park)
5. Joey Depew (Katy Taylor)
6. Bryce Marx (Lake Highlands)
7. Robert Price (Creekview)

Honorable Mention
Hayden Gore (Houston Westside)
Austin Spires (The Woodlands)

Notes: Since Jeff Martz is the highest returning wrestler, he will take his place at #1, despite missing the early season because of football. He’s an extremely strong and tough wrestler, and he will follow his brother Josh’s footsteps. Josh was on the brink of winning the State Championship, and hopefully for the Martz family, Jeff takes it to the next level.

I’ve been told that Spencer Covey is a complete animal this year. It surely has shown, the way he’s been beating everybody good this year. He will make it hard for Jeff to win State… real hard.

Chris Corry earned his spot defeating Teddy Gambordella.

Gambordella finished 3rd in the State last year with W.T. White in Dallas. Transferring to Highland Park was a good move for him, where he’ll be surrounded by great partners (Rowsey, Newman) and a great coach (Marzuola). Watch out for him in the post-season.

Joey Depew is the Katy Taylor stud this year who has impressed many people in the Houston Area. One person even said that they think he is the best wrestler in this weight class and could win State. We’ll see!

180:
1. Fred Rowsey (Highland Park)
2. Chris Capodagli (The Colony)
3. Bennett Hortman (Azle)
4. Derrick Moore (Arlington Bowie)
5. Robert Prigmore (Southlake Carroll)
6. Alex Rinaldi (Dallas Jesuit)

Honorable Mention:
Jesse Christoph (Rockwall)
Will McNair (Cinco Ranch)

Notes: Nobody knows for sure what weight class Fred Rowsey will be going this year. If you ask anybody from Highland Park what weight they will be going, they all know that it is Coach Marzuola’s decision. He may start off at 189, 180, or 215, depending on what Coach Marzuola feels like is best for the team. For now, 180 makes sense because he won there last year and he won’t be stepping on teammates toes. We’ll wait and see what Coach Marzuola decides once Rowsey is fully back from football.

189:
1. Austin Johlke (Austin Bowie)
2. James Bookout (Kinkaid)
3. Ben Grisz (St. Marks)
4. Josh Mayo (Coppell)
5. Thomas Mancha (St. Thomas)
6. Matt Cook (Frisco Centennial)
7. Danny Neuhoff (Dallas Jesuit)

Honorable Mention:
Scott Winkler (Lake Highlands)
Speyer (Houston Bellaire)

Notes: This is the best weight class in the state… for preps! Ah, prep wrestlers everywhere can be proud that 4 of the top 7 wrestlers in the State in one weight class belong to tuition-paying private schoolers.

Austin Johlke leads this group off, following his State Runner-Up performance. He impressed everybody on his run to the State Finals and is the clear favorite to win UIL this year.

James Bookout has been the Kinkaid standout since he was in middle school, and I’m expecting a top 3 finish at Prep Nationals for him.

Ben Grisz might have something to say about that. Named “Wrestler of the Week” by the Dallas Morning News, he is making the race for Prep State more interesting. He’s quite a talented sophomore and should strongly consider going to Fargo Nationals, where he could easily place in the Cadet division.

215:
1. Matt Lupardus (Keller)
2. Kyle Jones (Klein Collins)
3. Jared Tadlock (Arlington)
4. Brice Hohenberger (Flower Mound Marcus)
5. Scott Sanderson (Amarillo)
6. George Lessner (Coppell)
7. David Baker (Highland Park)

Honorable Mention:
Jon Elijah (Klein Oak)

Notes: I am just being honest when I say that the heavy weight classes this year are filled with wrestlers that still have to prove themselves and sort themselves out.

This year, Hohenberger jumped out to the early lead, by winning the Oklahoma Open. However, he followed that up with a 6-1 loss to Jared Tadlock, who has lost to Jones.

Jones qualified to State last year at 180 and has come up to the 215 pound weight class. He should be a tough wrestler.

Lupardus won Region 2 last year at 189, but then underperformed at State.

Sanderson is the only wrestler who is a returning state qualifier from 215, and he did it by winning Region 1 at 215.

275:
1. Riley Johnson (Amarillo Tascosa)
2. Travis Johlke (Austin Bowie)
3. Brett Payne (Canyon Randall)
4. Chad Bahr (Keller)
5. Evan Benjamin (Coppell)
6. Zac Benson (Mayde Creek)
7. Evan Rossi (St. Thomas)

Honorable Mention:
Hinton (The Woodlands)
Blackwell (Katy Taylor)
David Brown (Klein Collins)

Notes: And finally, the heavyweights.

Every year for the last 5 years, the State champion at heavyweight has been very predictable. Dan Shofner Zach Tramel, Nathan Fox, Jorge Herrera, yawn. This year the big guy’s State Championship will be up for grabs!

Riley is the highest returner, finishing 3rd at last year’s State Championship. However, going heads up with #2 Travis Johlke, he was wrestling from behind when he caught Johlke in a slip throw and pinned him. That is certainly the way of the heavy weights.

Could the Johlke family win two State Championships, along with the Sandovals (I guess the Adamson family will win 3 prep state championships, oh if they were only UIL)? Travis caught my eye when he took it to eventual State Champion Courtney Sanders in his 215 days. He’s an experienced, skilled wrestler.

Finally, I’d just like to address all of the current wrestlers who are reading this. I may have not ranked you. I may have not ranked you as high as you think you should be ranked. Remember this – this ranking thing is a game. This is not actually what order you are in State. Do not feel limited by how I ranked you. I more than likely don’t know anything about you. If you must read these rankings, use them as a tool. Find out who are the other good wrestlers in your weight classes. Make sure that you are on your “A” game when you wrestle them. Think of these rankings as a ladder – the ladder you can climb to win the State Championship. Too many kids have limited their wrestling ability by being psyched out by higher-ranked kids. These rankings mean nothing. Anybody can beat anybody. The winning wrestler is not always the best wrestler, just the one who gets the pin or has more points at the end of a match. A Westside JV wrestler could pin Ben Ashmore on a REALLY REALLY REALLY good day with a REALLY REALLY REALLY lucky throw. The thing is… it could happen. You have to give yourself a chance and wrestle the match with the right mental state – I can beat anybody as long as I do what I need to do.