Cody Thorn
Lubbock Cooper officially won the state title on Feb. 17 at the Berry Center in Cypress.
But, the argument could be made a trip to Euless the month prior was the start of the state championship march for the Pirates.
Cooper rolled up 99 1/2 points and won the title by 29 1/2 points over Axle in the 5A finals.
Back on Jan. 13, Cooper made the first trip to Dallas to take part in the Euless Trinity Lady Trojan Classic and the Pirates made plenty of noise.
In fact, they won the team title and beat Allen, the Class 6A three-time defending state champion at the time. On Feb. 17, those were the top two girls teams in the state’s two classifications.
Coach Joseph Rios said he went to Euless expecting to lose some matches but his team did well but gave the Pirates some things to fix.
Flash forward a month and that work and the dominance it had in January carried over.
Five of the nine wrestlers in Cypress brought home all-state medals. Lubbock Cooper held nearly a 30-point lead over day one and maintained that margin on day two.
Taylin Silco was the lone champion for the Pirates, winning the 138-pound bracket.
The junior was ranked No. 1 headed into state and posted a tech fall, major decision and then two decisions to win the title. She beat second-ranked Alicen Dillard of Azle in the finals.
She lost in the 145-pound finals last year to another wrestler from Azle.
“I’m excited to win and accomplish what I didn’t last year,” said Silco, who was a perfect 40-0 and has only wrestled three years. She initially played football in high school.
Silco is the first wrestler in Lubbock Cooper history to be a state champion.
Cooper was part of another 1 vs. 2 ranked finals at 235 pounds. Kayla McLearen placed second for the Pirates after a 3-1 loss to No. 1-ranked Ariana Chavez of Borger, who was an undefeated champion.
McLearen, a junior, was 38-9 this season and made the finals with a 2-0 overtime…
