On Saturday afternoon, February 15th, 56 Boys in the 6A and 5A Divisions paraded out on to the competition floor to determine who was the best in their Division weight class. This recap article will focus on the 6A championās matches.
Even before the Parade of Champions began, the Texas High School Wrestling Coaches Association recognized and honored Bo Nickall, a 3X UIL champion for Allen HS, and a 3X NCAA champion for Penn State University, by admitting him into the THSWCA Hall of Honor.
There were seven finals that took place where the WrestlingTexas #1 ranked wrestler went against the #2 ranked wrestler. There should have been eight matches, but one of the finalists forfeited his finalsā match.
Photo Gallery: Brian S. Doyle
There were questions about the UILās interpretation of the NFHS rules regarding the wrestlerās disqualification from the tournament, and if all of the wrestlerās points should be taken away from the teamās total, in this case, Allen HS, which won the 1st place team honor. Even if just his two points for advancement were taken away, and not the entire point total for the tournament, Arlington Martin would have been the repeat champion, and Allen would not be back on top.
A.J. Martinez, the UIL Assistant Athletic Director responsible for wrestling, explained that Allenās 132 lb. wrestler was given two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties by the officials, which resulted in 3 team points being taken away, and his second place points (12.0) also being subtracted from the team total, but since the match had ended, the team received the 2 points for winning the match, which makes total sense if you read the NFHS Rules Manual,
Now to the action:
106 lbs:
#1 Dylan Ota (45-3) of Southlake Carroll stepped onto the mat looking for his second state title, and his fourth win over ##2 Hector Ortiz (40-7) of El Paso Eastwood this season. The wrestlers finished 1st and 2nd at the Region 1 championship.
Ota made the first shot and it was a good double as he took Ortiz down in the first thirty seconds. Ota kept following and countering everything that Ortiz did on bottom, and rode Ortiz out as the period ended. Ota chose bottom for the second and escaped in the first 0:10. Ota and Ortiz took another 1:42 before Ota took a simple tie-up into a go-around takedown. Down by 7, Ortiz chose neutral for the third, and despite the fact that Ortiz was close to getting the takedown he needed, Ota kept countering and defending the entire period, and they finished in the same neutral position for a 7-1 Ota decision.
With his title, Ota brings his career record up to 128-17, and he still has his senior year to add to his trophy case.
113 lbs:
#1 Cayden Campbell (37-1) of Allen faced off with #2 Jackson Shipley (32-2) of Dripping Springs.
Campbell, sophomore ,was the UIL champion at 113 last season. Shipley, a junior, was the UIL silver medal winner last year to Dylan Ota at 106 lbs. Campbell defeated Shipley in the finals of the Texas Outlaw tournament in triple overtime, 3-1.
