4A Preview: THSWCA State Duals

01/14/2026 9:01 AM

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The Texas High School Wrestling Coaches Association will host the State Duals this upcoming weekend in Wichita Falls.

This is the third year that the Kay Yeager Coliseum has hosted teams from all parts of the Lone Star State.

There will be competition for schools in Class 4A, 5A and 6A. That is a little bit different than the UIL finals, which will be only Class 5A and 6A next month at the Berry Center of Northwest Houston.

Jayson Conger, the head coach of Azle and President of the THSWCA, said the idea of adding 4A is to get some newer programs a chance to compete and have success against schools of a similar size.

This year, there are some new teams in the field in the Class 4A boys and girls competition, such as La Vernia, Brock and New Braunfels Long Creek.

“It is a good opportunity to build programs and allow towns and newer programs to achieve things at a state level,” Conger said. “Then, schools in that district may be more apt to start wrestling programs and grow the sport that way.”

While the UIL hasn’t added a classification since the 2012-13 season, when a one-class system went into 4A and 5A. The following year, it was adjusted to 5A and 6A and has stayed that way for a decade.

Meanwhile, football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball have all added two divisions per class that lead to multiple state championships.

What to know

This is the ultimate test of a true state champion, showing which teams are the deepest across the weight classes from top to bottom. There are times at the UIL state meet, a couple of good wrestlers will be enough to secure a trophy and a handful can win a title.

All rounds will be girls followed by boys, with the boys starting 5 minutes after the completion of the girls’ dual.

In 5A & 6A, 9th to 12th place and 13th to 16th place brackets will be re-seeded to avoid regional match-ups in that round.

There are no pre-sale tickets to the event and they can be bought at the gate, with the cost being $15 a day for adults or $10 per day for students, while non-school-age children are free. Kay Yeager Coliseum is cashless for tickets.

The 6A finals will be held on Friday and then the 4A and 5A schools will compete on Saturday. Next year, that order will flip.

The top six teams will receive team trophies. The THSWCA All-State Duals Team and Most Outstanding Wrestler will also be awarded.

Class 4A boys breakdown

There will be a new state champion in this division as Canyon Randall chose to move up to 5A to wrestle against teams its will see in the UIL postseason.

Last year, the Raiders won the Class 4A boys title with a 49-25 win over Canyon in the championship match.

In the first year of 4A, Canyon Randall took second after falling to Dumas in 2024.

Canyon will have a chance to follow a similar ascension from runner-up to champion.

Other teams that placed in the top six last year are Canyon West Plains, Fort Worth Benbrook and Springtown.

There are two of the top wrestlers in the state in this division.

At 175 pounds, Dallas Justin F. Kimball’s Quintraylon Johnson is ranked No. 1. New Braunfels Long Creek’s Cruz Morales is No. 2 at 150 pounds.

Class 4A girls breakdown

Like with the boys, there will be a new champion as Dumas isn’t returning.

The Demonettes won the title last year with a 58-12 over Canyon in an all-West Texas showdown. The same two teams were in the first 4A finals, with Dumas winning 51-18 in 2024.

Canyon will be the favorite in the field based on past results. Canyon Randall was third, with Canyon West Plains taking fourth last year, also back.

Borger, La Vernia and Long Creek are newcomers to the field. Henrietta is ranked No. 7 in the Class 5A rankings and could make noise as well.

There are several highly-ranked wrestlers in this field.

There are seven wrestlers ranked in the top 3 of our Class 5A rankings in this division.

#1 Ranked