TexasWrestling
How the regional predictions went plus State team preview
By: Ray Shoaf
With the girls team prediction in the regional tournaments I went 5/8. Starting with the 6A teams Euless Trinity took care of business like expected in region 1-6 with Haltom City making the scene coming in 2nd. In 2-6 I predicted Oak Ridge but Klein Collins rose up here, with College Park taking 2nd. 3-6 I picked Morton Ranch but they fell to 2nd place with Katy Tompkins taking the team crown here. Cibolo Steele in 4-6 won easily here.
In the 5A girls team race it was tighter then the 6A with region 4 winner winning by 1/2 point. Starting with region 1 I gave the edge to Caprock women but El Paso Eastwood proved me wrong and showed that they are for real. El Paso Hanks came in 2nd place. The region 2 girls was Frisco Independence taking care of business as expected. Region 3 things start getting tight. Carrollton RL Turner won as expected but only by 4 points over Waller. In region 4 its tighter yet with Leander Glenn who I picked to win only won by 1/2 of a point over NOT Corpus Christi King but Corpus Christi Ray who came in 2nd.
The girls state team race is always closer then the boys its seems as it is possible for teams with only 3-4 placers to win the team title over teams that bring alot of wrestlers. That will be the case this year as no girls team is bringing the whole team. In fact its only El Paso Eastwood and Hanks bringing the most girls at 6. Alot of teams have 5 and every top team has its champion which puts the wrestler #3, 4, & 5 results as the determining factor normally.
Starting with the 6A girls there are at least 4 teams bringing 5 wrestlers. Euless Trinity, Klein Collins, Cibolo Steele, and Katy Tompkins. Going by the rankings and the point value based on top 5 ranked wrestlers per weight class it has Euless Trinity as the top team followed by College Park then Katy Tompkins and Coppell comes in 4th. However how does the teams actually match up? Trinity definitely has top ranked girls but no #1’s, but a 3,2,8,4, & 2. College Park only has 4 girls but 2 of them are ranked #1. Is 2 potential state champs enough to get a team title? It was last year for Keller Timber Creek and crew who ha 2 state finalist, one champ, and another placer. Tompkins has a #1 ranked wrestler to go with their other 4 top 10 ranked wrestlers. Am going to go with Euless Trinity as capturing their first women state title. I don’t think they will have any champions but I don think they can place all 5 girls which should be enough points to override the 2 champs College Park will have. Looking at the brackets its very feasible for Trinity to make the semi finals in all weights. College Park, Tompkins, and Coppell could all very well have 2 champs for a battle for 2nd.
The 5A girls teams could very well be a 2 team race with El Paso Eastwood and El Paso Hanks. Having said that, Frisco Independence and Frisco Liberty both bring 6 wrestlers each just like the El Paso teams. So is it a 4 team race? What about Justin Northwest, RL Turner, Leander Glenn, and Waller who are bringing 5 wrestlers to the dance.
It would be easy to pick Hanks to win their 7th consecutive state title because that’s what they do but regionals proved that it won’t be a easy road. For Hanks to win #7 they will need help from the rest of the state to knock down their rivals. Eastwood matches up well with Hanks and it will take Hanks reversing some losses in the lower weights to take a points lead. Can Independence with their 2 regional champs make some noise, they do have a state runner up but she is in the same bracket with Eastwood and Hanks. Also Caprock wasn’t mentioned, does everyone else beat one another to allow them onto the podium. Burleson Centennial could have a champ as well to put them into the running. Overall it will be a battle and we will all know by Saturday night who takes it,
Best of luck to all the girls and safe travels
