A quick recap of Day 1 highlights, and some vision towards the Finals.
106 lbs.
Heading into the semifinals in the top of the bracket will be Hector Ortiz of El Paso Eastwood and Felix Morales of Clear Lake. They are the only Region champs left alive. In the bottom of the bracket is Sebastian Garcia of Bridgeland and Andy Vila of Katy Paetow. These two wrestlers finished 2nd and third behind Morales in Region 3.
It seems as if the winner of the Morales – Ortiz match would be the odds-on favorite for the title.
113 lbs.
At this weight class, the top two seeds Dylan Ota of Southlake Carroll and Kingston Stephens of Dallas Jesuit will be wrestling second place regional finishers. Ota will wrestle Kenneth Nichols of Klein, the runner-up to Stephens in Region 2. Stephens will be paired with Ayden Galarza of El Paso who finished behind Ota in Region1.
In Ota’s first two matches, he made quick work of his opponents with pins of 1:18 and 0:51. On the strength of those wins, he has to be the favorite on Saturday.
120 lbs.
Three of the four Regional champs survived Friday’s matches to continue on to the semifinals on Saturday. Two of those survivors, Jackson Shipley of Dripping Springs and Oliver Pulliam of College Park will meet for the second time this year. In their previous meeting, the freshman Pulliam pulled off an 8-2 victory in the finals of the Texas Outlaw.
The third remaining regional champ, Adrian Fierros of Katy is paired with James Murray of Lake Travis, the runner-up to Shipley in Region 4. Murray defeated the 3rd seed Drew Brinkmeier in the quarterfinals. Fierros has not yet faced Shipley or Pulliam. So, if he pulls through to the finals, that match should be an outstanding one.
126 lbs.
Another two Region 2 wrestlers made it to Saturday. Champ Izayiah Chavez of Allen and runner-up Brandon Pattillo of College Park. Chavez will face Dominic Salazar of Keller Central and Pattillo will match up with undefeated Collin Tingley, who was given a decent challenge by Eddier Baez in the quarters.
Chavez would have to be the favorite at this point.
132 lbs.
In the top of this bracket there are two underclassmen meeting in the semifinals: Mason Milsaps of College Park and Chance Berry of Cy Fair. This should be a lively match, but Milsaps should prevail.
On the other side of the bracket, 2nd seed Santiago Garcia Contreras of Katy is paired with Cael Brubaker of McKinney Boyd. Both wrestlers looked strong on Friday, so this could be a toss-up.
138 lbs.
All four of the Region 2 placers have made it to the semifinal round. Top seed and last year’s 144 lb. champ Cayden Rios of Allen will take on the thirteenth seed Vincent Allen of Conroe Grand Oaks. Allen scored upset wins over 4th seed Ali Salem of Katy Taylor and 5th seed Nico Venturi of Arlington. Rios scored a first period pin over Allen in the Region 2 semifinals.
Region 2 runner-up Luca Rios of College Park will wrestle Nathan Burchfiel of Rockwall Heath. These two also paired up in the Regional semifinals, with Rios winning a TB-1 8-1 victory.
Cayden Rios is the heavy favorite in this bracket, especially looking at his first period pin of Luca Rios in the Regional final.
144 lbs.
This is our second bracket with all of the semifinalists coming from Region 2. Leading the way is last year’s 150 lb. gold medal winner, Logan Milsaps of College Park who will face 13th seed, Ayden Guzman of Rockwall Heath. Milsaps defeated Guzman in the regional semifinals, 5-1.
Hunter Gordon of Rockwall advanced to the semifinals by handing the Region 4 champ, Pablo Aguilar his first loss of the season, 10-2. Gordon finished 2nd at Region 2. He will face Jair Jackson Bey of Allen, who he defeated at regionals by a score of 7-2.
A Gordon-Milsaps final could be predicted, but at this stage, who knows what might happen. All except Guaman have placed in the State before.
150 lbs.
Facing off in the top side of the bracket in the semis will be the #1 ranked and top seed Keagan Sieracki of Southlake Carroll and #4 ranked fourth seed Micah McCaskill of San Antonio Churchill.
On the bottom side will be #2 ranked/second seed Shiloh Jackson Bey of Allen and #5 ranked/sixth seed Landon Collins of Arlington Martin.
This will be a great round as all have a good chance of making it to the finals.
157 lbs.
The top two wrestlers in Region 1 and Region 2 have made it to the semis. Top seed and #1 ranked Dominic Wilson of Rockwall will face #3 ranked Alex Barros of Lewisville Hebron. On the other half is #2 ranked and second seed Luke Burgar of Southlake Carroll who will square off against #6 Jayden Cardona of Klein Oak.
It looks good for a #1 vs #2 in the finals.
165 lbs.
The stars are aligning for a potentially big showdown here, with #1 Steel Meyers and #2 Keith Remington only having #10 Aiden Winters and #6 Shawn Harden standing in their way.
175 lbs.
The elder Remington, Jared, ranked #1, is also looking like he may meet #2 ranked Carter Nekvapil of Allen in the finals if the two of them defeat #4 Nico Maurici and #6 Lashon Tolbert. All four are their respective Region champions.
That will be another highlight of the tournament.
190 lbs.
This weight class is the only one to have the top four ranked Region Champs in the semifinals. #1 Cody Savage of Rockwall Heath will butt heads with #3 Pasquale Maurici of Austin Westlake, while #2 Sean Perez will take on #4 Wyatt Davis. All looked great yesterday with all victories coming by a major decision or Tech Fall.
This is one of those matches where it doesn’t pay to pick a winner, just sit back and enjoy them.
215 lbs.
While #1 ranked Aiden Cooley of Allen has looked unstoppable, the other three remaining wrestlers haven’t looked bad either. All won by twice by fall except for #4 ranked Aidan Mayne of Little Elm, who was pushed into overtime in the quarters.
#2 ranked Zayde Facchetti of Humble Kingwood will take on Mayne, while Cooley will be tested by #12 Ethan Hamlin of San Antonio Reagan.
I can’t see how anyone but Cooley can be the winner. He is just on another level.
285 lbs.
At heavyweight #1 ranked Ke’Shawn Jones of League City Clear Creek meets #3 ranked Liam Campbell of Flower Mound, and #5 ranked Jacob Ramirez will challenge #4 ranked Marquis Reiss. All have a shot at the title if they can win the takedown war, which is a tough job in itself.
That’s it. Sit back and enjoy. It will be one heck of a day.
