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Russ Pederson Recap

By · 2 min read

Twenty-eight total teams were in attendance for the 41st annual Russ Pederson Invitational. This was a two-day tournament that took place at San Antonio Johnson High School. Most teams came from the Austin and San Antonio area with a few schools traveling from the valley, Katy, and Ft. Worth. Sixteen of these teams come from region 4-6A, giving them an early look at each other. Almost 300 wrestlers were in attendance, with thirty-five of them being ranked. Austin Lake Travis walks away as team champions. They boasted seven semifinalists producing five champions, with only ten wrestlers total competing. They put points on the board, scoring more than any other team, and got finishes on the mat when it counted. Tournament standouts are Will Deutschlander (150), Cole Starr (157), Laird Borbón (175), and Tyler Gililland (285) who all ran through their brackets with only pins and techs. 

Team Results:

Champions – Austin Lake Travis – 181 points

Runner-Up – San Antonio Johnson – 170 points

3rd Place – Katy Paetow – 136 points

4th Place – Austin Bowie – 115 points

5th Place – Round Rock – 111 points

Below is a breakdown and results for each weight class.

106

Fourteen wrestlers in this bracket, the smallest of the tournament. Freshman Braiden Bartlett of Lake Travis comes out on top with two pins and two decisions, defeating #18 Geronimo Hernandez in the process who ended up claiming a bronze medal via pin. Bartlett wins by major decision 12-2 in the finals.

1st Place – Braiden Bartlett of Austin Lake Travis

  • 2nd Place – Esteban Vela of Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial
  • 3rd Place – #18 Geronimo Hernandez of San Antonio Churchill
  • 4th Place – David Hughes of Killeen Harker Heights

113

The one seed, #6 Garrett Patterson of San Antonio Johnson, claims victory at this weight with a 7-2 decision in the finals, improving to 15-1 on the season. There were a good amount of upsets here as the other three ranked wrestlers in this weight did not place.

  • 1st Place – #6 Garrett Patterson of San Antonio Johnson
  • 2nd Place – Luis Vela of Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial
  • 3rd Place – Pedro Gutierrez of Pflugerville Weiss
  • 4th Place – Nelson Torres of Katy Paetow

120

#4 Curtis White of San Antonio Churchill takes out #10 Bryan Duran first round and goes on to accumulate two pins and a 6-5 decision in the finals over Victor Reyna….