Tanya Russell
The third of five Texas National Youth tournaments took place this past weekend in Bryan, Texas. Houston Nationals hosted approximately 1000 wrestlers from 76 teams in a 2-day all-out brawl. Twelve mats saw thousands of matches from novice, girls and open wrestlers in individual competition while club and elite teams took to the remaining six mats to battle for team titles.
There were 12 club dual teams. Congratulations to 3F who came out on top, outscoring everyone in their pool 315-119 and winning their championship dual 54-36.
Houston Nationals also hosted Elite team duals which allowed coaches to recruit the best of the best. There were 5 elite teams. A team from Oklahoma took the first place spot and Firebird Elite took second, beating out the other Texas teams with combined 208-64 points. Day 2 of the tournament hosted four K-12 girls teams. Sisters On The Mat (SOTM) was the first place girls team, outscoring the other teams 166-104. Gracie Barra Westchase came in a very close second, only losing by 1 point to SOTM.
For the individual competition the top three teams were:
- Firebird Trained Wrestling Club with 258.5 points
- North DeSoto Wrestling Academy with 255.5 points
- Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club with 240 points
Champion club spotlight:
The top team, Firebird Trained Wrestling Club (FTWC) out of Spring, TX, was the top scoring team and tied for most pins. They had 5 open champions, 1 girl champion and 1 novice champion. Seven of their wrestlers placed second in open and 2 placed second in novice. Two FTWC wrestlers were named “most outstanding wrestler”. This is a huge accomplishment for this new club who just opened their doors in September of 2022 with head coach Mike Krause leading their youth program.
As a national tournament there were champions from states other than Texas. The following are the Texas champions:
TOT – 41-Payton Johnson of Spring Klein Wrestling Club
TOT – 48-52- Huck Bass of Vici Wrestling Club
D1 – 38- Daniel Choo of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
D1 – 42- Dallas Bartlett of 3F Wrestling
D1 – 46- Asher Wilbur of Predator Wrestling
D1 – 50- James Michel of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club
D1 – 55- Christian Benitez of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
D1 – 65- Jaxson Medel of Vici Wrestling Club
D1 – 72-80- Liam Cooney of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club – OW
D1 – HWT- Evan Savage of Ranger 47 Wrestling Club
D2 – 49-52- Louden Moon of North DeSoto Wrestling Academy
D2 – 58- Nicholas Griffith of North DeSoto Wrestling Academy
D2 – 61- Paxton Fellows of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club
D2 – 70- Camden Danielson of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
D2 – 75- Monroe Floreani of Ranger 47 Wrestling Club
D2 – 83- Brayden Turdo of Texas Elite Wrestling Club – OW
D2 – 100-HWT- Silas Mosier of High Ground Wrestling
D3 – 60 – Samuel Martin of Waco Wrestling Academy
D3 – 65- Alexander Douglas of Predator Wrestling
D3 – 70- Jaegar RomanNose of Prodigy Elite Wrestling
D3 – 75- Charlie Flanery of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club
D3 – 80- Fernando Jimeno of Katy Area Wrestling Club
D3 – 85- Ben Gruner of Scots Wrestling Club
D3 – 90- Drew Barnes of Cardinal Wrestling Club – OW
D3 – 95- Anson Lastinger of Cardinal Wrestling Club
D3 – 100- Justin Carson Thibodeaux of Predator Wrestling
D3 – 110- Grady Kelts of NB Elite Wrestling Club
D3 – 120- Isaiah Joe Foster of Best Trained Wrestling
D3 – 135- Hassan Shamkhi of Warrior Trained Wrestling
D3 – HWT- Stephen Carroll of NXT Level Wrestling Academy
D4 – 80- Nick Payne of Boneyard Wrestling Academy
D4 – 86- Zane Blanchard of Rebel Wrestling Club
D4 – 92- Oliver Pulliam of Best Trained Wrestling
D4 – 98- Tyler Yancey of High Ground Wrestling
D4 – 120- Jonas Rebstock of Rebel Wrestling Club
D4 – 126- Hunter Gordon of Ranger 47 Wrestling Club
D4 – 132- Valo Paz of NXT Level Wrestling Academy
D4 – 140- Hayden Bell of North DeSoto Wrestling Academy
D4 – 162- Jett Mentel of Austin Texas Wrestling Club
D4 – 175- Sean Perez of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club
D5 – 100-106 – Maddux Tindal of Best Trained Wrestling
D5 – 113 – Luca Rios of Boneyard Wrestling Club
D5 – 120 – Rogelio Perez of Uvalde Wrestling Club
D5 – 126 – Mason Knight (unattached)
D5 – 132-138 – Bam Paz of Nxt Level Wrestling Academy
D5 – 144 – Daniel Morriss of Austin Texas Wrestling Club – OW
D5 – 150-157 – Carter Macha of Rebel Wrestling Club
D5 – 165-175 – Roman Fraser of High Ground Wrestling
D5 – 200-245 – Gavin Mckeane of Hill Country Wildcats Wrestling Club
G1 – 38-42- Serenity Esparza of Mission Wrestling Club
G1 – 46- Lucia Noelle Escalona of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
G1 – 50- Kyleigh Danielson of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
G1 – 55- Julianna Escobar of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
G1 – 60- Avery Payne of Winnsboro Wrestling Club
G1 – 65-72- Kamryn Clark of El Paso Supers Wrestling Club – OW
G2 – 49- MaKynlie Welch of Legacy Wrestling Club
G2 – 58-Annabel Choo of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
G2 – 61- Laila Nash of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
G2 – 65-70- Daisy Rosales of Amped Wrestling Club – OW
G2 – 75-83- Karai Smith of Firebird Trained Wrestling Club
G2 – HWT- Nina Shelger of Paradigm Wrestling
G3 – 60- Leah Valdez of Mission Wrestling Club
G3 – 75- Audrey Cunningham of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
G3 – 80- Kenzie Sutton of Amped Wrestling Club
G3 – 85- Mackenzie Harris of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
G3 – 95-102- Zaylyn Woods of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
G3 – 110- Asiya Parada of Gracie Barra Westchase Wrestling Club
G3 – HWT- Charlotte Rogers of Katy Area Wrestling Club – OW
G4 – 85- Brynlee Mooney of Cypress Wrestling Club
G4 – 92- Katelynn Dockery of Legacy Wrestling Club – OW
G4 – 98- Nayeli Ortiz of NXT Level Wrestling Academy
G4 – 105- Zaylyn Woods of Texas Elite Wrestling Club
G4 – 110- Alyssa Escareno of Austin Texas Wrestling Club
G4 – 119- Kailin Sebert of Best Trained Wrestling
G4 – 127-136-145- Landri VonGonten of Legacy Wrestling Club
G4 – 185- Jaida Kuntz of Cypress Wrestling Club
G5 – 132-138 Remington Laflamme of Cypress Wrestling Club – OW
Next up on the Texas National schedule is Heart of Texas in Round Rock.
