The Class 6A girls wrestling championship was a mix of who we expected to win and a few, ‘oh, wow’ moments along the way.
The title stayed in West Texas for the second year in a row as El Paso Eastwood.
The Lady Troopers had 82 1/2 points and now Eastwood moves into a tie for 3rd for most state titles with Allen. Each has four, trailing El Paso Hanks (6) and Amarillo Caprock (11).
The competition was close. Flower Mound was second with 71 points, claiming the first trophy for that school. Allen got back on the podium after a one-year hiatus by taking third with 70 points.
Allen has taken home a trophy in five of the past six years.
Katy, third last year, just missed another trophy. The Tigers had 69 1/2 points.
Now, we will go back to look at how we did in our predictions before the state meet. We looked smart in some and dumb in others, but here’s a recap of how each of the weight classes broke down in Cypress.
100
Our Favorite: Jubilee Rendon, sr., El Paso Franklin
Our Contenders: Katelynn Dockery, so., Bryan and Natalie Roberson, jr., Katy,
Our sleeper: Kaelani Palmer, sr., Richmond Foster
How did we do?
Rendon pinned her way to the title, getting a fall 1:03 minutes into the second period against Dockery. Rendon won state titles in 2023 and 2026, was second in 2025 and third in 2024. With the 55-1 mark, she bested her previous UIL record for wins in a season of 53, set in 2024. She broke the UIL mark for most pins in a tournament, with 3 shared by Hailey Delgado of Eastwood last year and Cassandra Medrano from Edinburg in 2024.
Celeste Gonzalez from Katy Paetow took third, beating Kaelani Palmer of Foster — our sleeper. Palmer reached the semifinals and lost to Rendon. In the fifth-place match, our co-favorite Roberson won 19-12 over Xariah Sandoval from Wolfforth Frenship.
105
Our Favorite: Emily Beltran, sr., Katy
Our Contender: Allesandra Toscano, so., El Paso Eastwood
Our sleeper: Brynlee Mooney, fr., The Woodlands
How did we do? Beltran won a second straight title and finished with a perfect 49-0 mark. She beat Brynlee Mooney from The Woodlands in the finals by a 12-4 major decision. Our sleeper beat Toscano in the semifinals, 13-4.
Toscano, third last year at 107, bounced back and took third with a pin against Cordelia Martinez from San Antonio James Madison. Minha Castillo, a senior from League City Clear Falls, lost in the opening round to Martinez and ended up taking 5th. She beat San Antonio Theodore Roosevelt’s Kiana Riggenbach, who lost in the semifinals to Beltran by a pin in 16 seconds. In the round before, Riggenbach pinned Keller’s Audrey Moore, who was 4th last year at 100 pounds.
In her own words
“It was definitely harder; they tell you it’s harder the second time around, and it’s true,” Beltran said. “There is definitely pressure on you being the returning state champion. When you win the first one, you got nothing to lose. This one, it feels all eyes are on you.”
110
Our Favorite: Hailey Delgado, so., El Paso Eastwood
Our Contenders: Alia Baker, jr., Klein Cain and Ryan Rose Salazar, fr., Keller Central
Our sleeper: Eva Horton, sr., Richmond George Ranch
How did we do? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pick Delgado to win. She’s 97-0 now after steamrolling to a second straight title. She had two pins, a tech fall and an 11-0 major decision over Baker in the finals. Delgado didn’t give up a point in any of the four matches. Gianna Zavala from Houston Langham Creektook third with a 4-0 win over Valeria Medrano of Edinburg, a pair of semifinalists who lost. Cibolo Byron P. Steele’s Cameron Hodge took fifth with a pin over Maria Fernandez of Austin Vandegrift. Hodge drew Delgado in the opening round and won three in a row to medal. Rose Salazar lost to Hodge in the blood round. As for our sleeper? Horton lost to Hodge after falling in the quarterfinals.
115
Our Favorite: Nevada Daniels, sr., Katy Cinco Ranch
Our Contenders: Naime Abdallah, so., El Paso Franklin and Aviana Caceres, sr., Houston Langham Creek
Our sleeper: Shobhana Spielman, sr., San Antonio Ronald Reagan
How did we do?
