Brian S. Doyle
Last Friday, all twelve of the Cypress Fairbanks ISD high schools met at the Berry Center to decide who would lay claim to the District wrestling title, and all the bragging rights that go along with those Boys and Girls’ crowns. 192 girls would vie for forty-eight spots for next weekend’s Region 3 championships at the Katy Merrell Center.
As of the time they stepped foot on the mat at Districts, there were 27 girls who were ranked in the top 20 in their weight. Of those 27, 15 wrestlers were in the top ten.
The Cypress Ranch Girls would end the District tournament with their second title in a row, with four individual champions and two runners-up. Jersey Village would have two champions. Seven of the other schools would all have one champion each. Four of the schools would not have a wrestler make it to the top step of the podium this year.
Team Standings:
Place School Points Region 3 Qualifiers
- 1st Cypress Ranch 181.0 7
- 2nd Cypress Springs 156.0 3
- 3rd Jersey Village 155.0 5
- 4th Cypress Woods 131.5 4
- 5th Cypress Lakes 129.0 4
- 6th Cypress Fairbanks 118.0 5
- 7th Langham Creek 115.0 5
- 8th Bridgeland 107.0 3
- 8th Cypress Ridge 107.0 5
- 10th Cypress Creek 97.0 3
- 11th Cypress Park 83.0 2
- 11th Cypress Falls 83.0 1
Let’s break down the action.
100 lbs: Since December of 2022 #4 Christine Tran of Jersey Village has wrestled #3 Hailey Bello of Langham Creek six times. Leading up to this year’s District championship match, they were tied at three wins apiece, with Bello winning the last two. To say they might know each other’s tendencies and moves would be an understatement. This match would probably be their best ever.
Both wrestlers had pinned their previous two opponents as they entered the finals. Whether the pair of 100 pounders were being overly cautious, only they and their coach would know, but neither of them scored a point in the first period. Bello chose down and took half of the period before she was able to escape. She was able to score a takedown before the end of the period, but was not able to hold Tran, as she escaped as the whistle blew. Now it was Tran’s turn on the bottom. She was also able to escape and score a takedown of her own, going up 4-3. That lead only lasted a while, as Bello escaped to tie it up again before the whistle sounded to end regulation.
No points would be scored in the first period of overtime. Bello chose down for the second. This time there was no escape and Tran would turn her for a 3-point nearfall at the end of the period. Up three points, and having just finished a successful period on top, Tran chose to stay on top, but Bello reversed, cutting the lead to one with 0:22 seconds left. Try as she might, she could not turn Tran, and the match ended with Tran winning a TB-1 7-6 decision.
Aubrie Williams Cy Falls pinned Kayla Miller of Cy Ranch in 1:45 for third place.
- 1st Christine Tran 39-5 Jersey Village
- 2nd Hailey Bello 35-5 Langham Creek
- 3rd Aubrie Williams 17-9 Cy Falls
- 4th Kayla Miller 23-18 Cy Ranch
107 lbs: Top seed and #4 ranked Arianna Beltran used two first period pins to reach the finals to meet second seed and #9 ranked Aliyana Holmes of Cy Creek, who had two pins as well. If you were distracted, you might have missed this Finals match, as Beltran, last year’s Region 3 100 lb. champ, had no wasted time in taking Holmes down with an impressive single while on her knee, that lifted Holmes off the ground. She then turned Holmes over with a strong underarm hook/head hook, and finished her off with a pin at 0:29.
Third place went to Yvette Zepeda of Langham, who won via a fall of Carolina Vargas of Bridgeland with a 7-3 decision.
- 1st Arianna Beltran 44-2 Cy Ranch
- 2nd Alyanah Holmes 23-5 Jersey Village
- 3rd Yvette Zepeda 45-9 Langham Creek
- 4th Carolina Vargas 27-12 Bridgeland
114 lbs: Top seed and #4 Chamille Bryson of Cy Creek took on third seed Ke’myah Rodgers of Cy Fair in the Finals. Bryson’s previous two matches lasted only 0:15 and 0:16. In another one-sided match, Bryson took Rogers down in twenty seconds, and pinned her half-way through the period (1:05).
Fourth seed, Isabella Maya Lawson of Cy Woods, picked up the Bronze medal with a 3:41 fall of Camila Ortiz of Cy Ridge. Both wrestlers were the earlier victims of Bryson’s pins.
- 1st Chamille Bryson 36-5 Cy Creek
- 2nd Ke’myah Rogers 29-19 Cy Fair
- 3rd Isabella May-Lawson 24-15 Cy Woods
- 4th Camila Ortiz 17-14 Cy Ridge
120 lbs: Top seeded Mariah Smith of Cy Ranch, currently holds the #2 ranking in the weight. She is also the 2023 Region 3 champ, and 6th place winner at State. Smith met second seed and #4 Layla Miranda of Bridgeland in the Finals. Miranda spent 0:57 on the mat getting her two pins to get to challenge Smith. With twenty-four seconds left in the first, Smith defended a Miranda shot into her own takedown with a simple spin behind. In the second, Miranda deferred and Smith chose bottom. After being ridden for almost a minute, Smith was able to stand and break free for an escape. Again, Smith was able to defend a Miranda shot and turn it into two points. Miranda chose bottom to start the third, and needed almost half of the period to get her escape. Smith got her third takedown of the match, but was unable to do anything else besides her escape with one second remaining. Mariah Smith wins by a 7-2 decision.
- 1st Mariah Smith 33-4 Cy Ranch
- 2nd Layla Miranda 36-11 Bridgeland
- 3rd Kayla Dunn 28-10 Cy Park
- 4th Jacey Price 29-16 Cy Fair
126 lbs: Elliotte Strange of Cy Fair is no ordinary ninth grader; she happens to hold the #7 ranking and top seed of this weight class. She is a great example…
