Brian S. Doyle
On Thursday night the Cy-Fair Bobcats hosted a triangular meet with the Bryan HS Vikings and the Langham Creek Lobos.
Cy-Fair also honored their senior wrestlers, and there were quite a few of them.
One of the aspects that stood out was the high number of students who also earned high academic standards the first semester and throughout their years in school.
As a matter of fact, outside the gym, the athletic department has created a display board of all student athletes from every sport with their Honor Roll achievement.
When asked about this, Coach Reese, a former Cy-Fair state placer stated that it is just as important to bust tail in the classroom as it is on the mat, and twenty-two of the Bobcat wrestlers have earned their way onto the board after this latest grading period.
You’ve got to love that attitude. Great work!
Speaking of coaches, both Coach Reese and Coach Murray of Langham Creek are not only graduates of Cy-Fair, but they also started their wrestling careers at a youth program founded by Coach Murray’s parents twenty-two years ago at a Cypress church. Unfortunately for Murray, Cy Fair HS did not have its own wrestling team while he was in school, and the boys were bused to Cy Ridge for practice with Coach Tim Ray. This was the beginning of the wrestling program in the Cy Fair ISD, and now twenty years later, CFISD has twelve 6A high schools with boys and girls wrestling programs and hosts the largest, annual high school tournament in the country.
Now, on to the wrestling matches: first up was Bryan vs. Langham Creek. Bryan would be wrestling shorthanded as there were only five Viking wrestlers matched up against Langham Creek. Especially conspicuous by his absence was last year’s 6A 126 lb. state champ, and this year’s #1, 132 lb. ranked, Nick Gorman.
At 113, Drew Stewart of LANGHAM CREEK took on Cody Welch. The two wrestlers sparred for takedown position for a minute and Welch shot a double-leg takedown for two points. Stewart got his escape before the end of the period to go into the second, down 2-1. Stewart chose down, and Welch rode him hard for two minutes, going into the third with the same one-point lead. Welch started on bottom and used a switch to score a reversal for two points. Stewart escaped, but was taken down again by Welch who used a power half to get the pin before the final buzzer for a pin at 5:53.
