TexasWrestling
UIL 6A Girls Team Battle Is Too Close to Call
Macayla Potter
Two years ago, Cypress Ranch girls won a state championship. I remember hearing my dad, Head Coach Chris Potter, on the phone all night with Coach Bill Durning, calculating and recalculating the points we could earn. They must have gone through every possible scenario three or four times that night, before truly realizing how close that title was. It was a close race, with Cypress Ranch in the lead by nine points at the end of the first day. With five girls in the tournament, we would need everyone to wrestle tough, and score as many points as possible. The “Fab Five”, wrestled tougher than ever before, and Olivia Mottley pinned her way through the majority of the tournament. Cypress Ranch ended up winning by 31 points, beating Morton Ranch for the title. It was a special moment for my dad. This was the first time one of his teams won a state title, not to mention our 95 pound girl, Kaitlyn Banas, won an individual state title that weekend. I’ll never forget how excited my dad and Coach Durning were that day, and it makes me smile to think another coach from the Houston area may get to experience the same thing this weekend. This morning, my dad and Coach Ankney were trading stories of sleepless nights and crazy nerves. With three girls in the semi-finals, Katy Tompkins has a very realistic chance of winning it all.
Coach Ankney of Katy Tompkins is currently in the same exact position my dad was two years ago. Clinging to a one point lead, Tompkins has three wrestlers in the semifinals and two in the consolation bracket, the exact same count as Euless Trinity. With no head to head matchups in the front side, it is, quite literally, a team championship that won’t be determined until the final match. None of the Trinity or Tompkins wrestlers have an easy road…
102 lb – Trinity has #3 Carlie Allred in the semifinals with tough opponent in #4 Mia Arceneaux of Rockwall – with undefeated defending state champion #1 Amanda McAleavey looming as a potential finals adversary.
110lb – Twin sister #2 Carmen Allred has to get past #3 Crystal Venegas of San Antonio Lee to earn a spot against a juggernaut in National #1 and defending state champion Samara Chavez, ouch.
119lb – Tompkins #5 Lilly Broadrick faces former state champion and 3 time state placer Jessica Crane of Arlington Martin, with the winner earning the right to challenge two-time state champion Camille Fournier.
128lb – Trinity’s #4 Sydney Harper is matched up against undefeated #2 Devin Patton of Plano West. Undefeated #1 Gianna Moreno of San Marcos is the favorite to reach the finals as well.
165lb – Tompkins has top ranked undefeated Kaitlyn Bryant in the semis against #4 Marisol Lopez of Killeen Ellison. Kaitlyn represents Coach Ankney’s best shot at picking up a team title, and a title here would be critical to holding off a surge by Plano West and Trinity.
185 – Tompkin’s Nicole Blinn is ranked #5 is facing off in the semis against #3 Lessly Sandoval of Conroe. The winner is likely to run into undefeated #1 Brittyn Corbishly of College Park.
While Trinity is well positioned to overtake Tompkins in the standings, Plano West may actually be the team that rises to the top of the heap if their top wrestlers take gold. Right now it is a tight three team race that is literally too close to call. I wish everyone luck, and I’m excited to see another team share the same exciting moment my dad got to have!
