Cody Thorn
After looking at the top three team finishers in the first 6A recap from the state meet, we now venture down the list to look at the other state champions from the UIL finals held last Friday and Saturday at the Berry Center in Cypress.
6A 100
Cassandra Medrano from Edinburg was the first undefeated champion of the day when she won the 100-pound title with a win over Lillian Zapata of Lewisville Flower Mound, 7-3.
Medrano (38-0) got the first points on a takedown in the first period and never trailed against the No. 3-ranked Zapata.
“It feels amazing; I have worked my butt off (for this),” Medrano said. “If it wasn’t for my coach, especially Moises Vega, I wouldn’t be the wrestler I am today.”
While the finals was big, perhaps the win in the semifinals was the critical match for Medrano. The No. 2-ranked wrestler beat defending state champion Jubilee Rendon of El Paso Franklin by a pin.
In the semifinals last year, Rendon beat Medrano.
6A 114
Riley Rayome repeated as a state champion and capped off a perfect season with a 54-0 mark after a 1-0 win over Vanessa De La Cruz of Woodlands College Park.
Rayome won the 107-pound bracket last year with a 49-1 record.
Ranked No. 3 in the country, she was a heavy favorite to win the title and she did with a tech fall, two pins and then a 1-0 win in the finals.
“This year, I did notice it was more me versus myself; last year it was me vs. the opponent,” said Rayome, who secured her 150th career win in the tournament. “This year was more challenging mentally than physically.”
She will go for a three-peat next year and will likely be a four-time all-stater. She took fifth as a freshman at Kingwood.
6A 132
Neelie Parker became V.R. Eaton’s first state champion since Mattison Parker won in 2018.
In the Class 6A 132-pound bracket, Parker beat Elizabeth Dyer of Fort Worth Paschal, 4-3.
An escape and takedown in the third made the difference — and flipped an earlier outcome when Dyer beat Parker in the 2-6A District meet on Feb. 3.
Parker was the No. 5-ranked wrestler headed ingot state and was in the top half of the bracket where the quarterfinals featured the No. 5, No. 13, No. 14 and No. 15-ranked wrestler — the latter when Conroe Caney Creek’s Kathryn Kaminski knocked off No. 1-ranked
