The top team in the Class 5A boys ranking showed they are among the top teams, no matter what classification.

Melissa sent four to the finals and had nine in the top three at the Reece’s Warrior Invitational, which was held Friday and Saturday at Arlington ISD Athletic Complex.

The Cardinals finished with 221 points, beating a pair of Class 6A powerhouses. Arlington James W. Martin was second with 195 1/2 points, while The Woodlands College Park took third with 191 1/2 points.

College Park is No. 2 and Martin is No. 10 in the Class 6A team rankings.

There were more than 40 teams at the event from all parts of Texas, like Amarillo, Austin-area, Houston-area and Whitehouse, representing East Texas. Cache, Oklahoma, took fourth place and North DeSoto, Louisiana, placed sixth in the field.

This year’s field, in terms of championships, was spread out. Last year, Melissa, Martin and College Park combined for 12 of the 14 individual titles. This year, seven different teams won at least one individual title. 

Third No More 

Last year, the Cardinals took third — behind the two teams they beat this year.

That is something that sticks with Gunner Lund.

The senior won the 165-pound bracket this year, one of three champions for the Cardinals. He went 4-0 on the weekend and ended with a pin in the third period against Landon Cullins from Cache. All four wins for Lund were by pins.

Maddox Fields and Vinny Ferrari, both freshmen, also took home first-place medals for Melissa.

Fields beat Martin’s Liam Bentley by a pin in 44 seconds in the 126-pound finals. Two of Fields’ four wins were by tech falls, 15-0 and 18-3. 

Ferrari, a cousin of former Melissa standout Angelo Ferrari, won the 132-pound bracket. He improved to 9-0 with a 4-0 run at the event. He beat Taiivouglnn Walsh from Cache, 11-1, in the finals and knocked off a former all-stater in Brandon Pattillo of College Park in the semifinals. 

Gage Herrin (175/2nd), Jaxon Johnson (138/3rd), Connor Surrette (144/3rd), Kiron Neves (150/3rd), Ray Ndanzia (157/3rd) and Johny Lasting (190/3rd) all were top-three finishers for the Cardinals. 

Three champs 

Back in DFW for the second weekend in a row, College Park had a trio of champions.

Nick Payne, a runner-up last year at this event, won the 106-pound bracket this year. He went 4-0 on the weekend — now 11-0 overall — but had a forfeit win in the finals. His three previous matches last 1:14 or less on tech falls or pins. 

Freshman Mason Milsaps picked up a 17-10 win over Nic Venturi in the 138-pound finals. However, the biggest win for Milsaps was a 19-3 tech fall against Melissa’s Jaxon Johnson. 

Johnson won a title here last year and was ranked No. 32 in the P4P rankings. 

Senior Ethan Sanchez took first for the Cavs in the 190-pound bracket. Not feeling his best, he pushed through and went 4-0 with three pins on the way to the title. 

2×2

Martin had two champions during the event.

Kyntrell “KT” Ellis repeated as a champion for Martin, while Lashon Tolbert took home first as well for the host Warriors. 

Ellis opened with a pin against Maxwell Marino of College Park, a state qualifier from Katy Cinco Ranch last year, in 33 seconds. 

Ellis pinned his next two foes to win the 113-pound bracket.

Tolbert, fourth at state last year, won the 175-pound finals, 10-3, against Melissa’s Gage Herrin. Out of his 5 matches, it was his only non-tech fall win for the Warriors. 

Staying perfect

Midlothian’s Charles “Scrappy” Alvarez III and Grand Prairie’s Jacob Ramirez both improved to 9-0.

Alvarez, a defending state champion, went 4-0 with three tech falls and an 18-5 major decision against Ean Castanon of Haltom City in the 120 finals.

After taking first last week at the Talon Tournament at V.R. Eaton, Ramirez went 3-0 for the Gophers this week.

He won the 285-pound title with three pins. 

Top 20 Showdown

The 150-pound finals might’ve been the best matchup in Arlington.

Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal School’s Hunter Avalos posted a 7-2 win over Logan Milsaps from College Park in a battle of state champions.

Avalos, ranked No. 16 in the P4P rankings, has won a pair of TAPPS championships in his first two years of high school. 

The junior was one of only a few Saints wrestling. Standout Brodie Bedford, ranked No. 4 in the state, did not compete in this tournament. 

The win was an upset in terms of ranking as Milsaps, a Class 6A champion last year, was No. 5. 

In those rankings, both were at different weights — Avalos at 138 and Milsaps at 157.

Out-of-state champs

Three of the 14 champions were teams that traveled to the tournament.

Jake Kershaw from North DeSoto beat Lucas Rios, 7-4, in overtime in the 144-pound finals.

Kershaw, now 10-0, was a runner-up in the Louisiana in the 132-pound bracket last year. 

Cache had a pair of champions. Located near Lawton, the Bulldogs had more than 4 4-hour trip to the facility that is dwarfed by nearby AT&T Stadium.

Junior Ardie Amour knocked off Dallas Highland Park’s Holden Jacobs by a 9-7 decision in the 157-pound finals. At 215, senior Case Hardzog pinned Wyatt Davis of Irving MacArthur in 4:37.

Hardzog was a state qualifier last year at 175 pounds in Class 4A.