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No Minor achievement: Alex wins weight class at district wrestling tourney
By Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Allen dominated the competition Saturday at McKinney Boyd for the District 8-5A Wrestling Tournament as the three-time defending UIL State Champion Eagles won 13-of-14 weight divisions en route to another district title.
But Allen was denied any chance of a clean sweep in the first final of the day.
The Eagles can thank McKinney Boyd's Alex Minor for that as the McKinney Christian Academy transfer won the 106-pound bracket.
Minor defeated Allen's Howard Smith in the finals, 8-5.
"It was a tough match," said Minor, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weight classes, "but I knew it would be a battle the whole way."
Boyd won that battle, but Allen won the war as it finished first in the team standings (292 points), followed by Plano Senior in second (142.5). Plano West placed fifth (85), Boyd sixth (77), Plano East seventh (74) and McKinney eighth (8).
"I'd say we did pretty well; we had some tough matches and really stepped up during them," said Jay Pryor, first-year Plano head coach. "And finishing second really says a lot about this senior class."
The Eagles and Wildcats butted heads in three finals with the most contentious being the 182 bout between Allen's Matt Meyer and Plano's Michael Kubik. Kubik held leads of 1-0 and 3-2 off a respective escape and reversal, but Meyer eventually went back in front, 6-3. Controversy arose at that point as Eagles head coach Jerry Best yelled that Kubik was applying an illegal leg lock on a seemingly fatigued Meyer. The ensuing argument with the referee, which forced the official rule book to be brought out and cost Allen a team point, delayed the match for five minutes and had Plano fans calling foul.
"I'm not sure if this was his intent, but coach Best's challenge definitely allowed his wrestler to get his air back," Pryor said. "And it killed our momentum in process."
Austin Krieger (132) also came close to winning his bracket for the Wildcats.
Krieger and John McCabe went to overtime after Krieger managed to tie the score, 1-1, with an escape. Plano's grappler narrowly avoided a takedown early in the extra frame, but McCabe completed his takedown moments later for the 3-1 win.
Kubik, Krieger and Plano's other finalist, Shahin Abdi (138), led a group of 10 Wildcats that advanced to Friday and Saturday's regional tournament in Allen.
"To advance 10 out to regionals is huge," Pryor said, "especially since this is probably the toughest district in the state."
One of the reasons Plano upped its qualifier count was due to the UIL changing its rules this year to allow the top four to advance as opposed to the top two in previous years.
"I love the new rule," said Shawn Smith, West head coach. "It allows more kids to get out and get involved, which is especially important in a tough district like this."
The Wolves advanced six to regionals, including finalists Jacob Sandlin (126) and Dean Roudi (145).
"The goal is to always advance as many as possible," Smith said, "so I'm pleased."
Roudi fell victim to the standing granby in his finals bout against A.J. Hinkle and was eventually pinned. Allen also scored pinfalls in the next two finals as East's Anthony Javornik (152) and Anthony Do (160) lost to the two most dominant grapplers on the mat Saturday. Oliver Pierce (152) won his bracket with three straight pins in a total of 2:13 while Bo Nickal (160) did the same in 2:14 en route to being named MOP of the upper weight classes.
The Panthers advanced five to regionals, including Konrad Wahle (195) whose brother Brandon (160) made the cut for Plano. Both wrestlers will return to the mats Friday and Saturday as the Region II Championships commence at Allen.
"We've been in that gym before," Smith said, "and we've seen a lot of these wrestlers before as opposed to them all being from Houston or wherever, so I think that familiarity will help."
Grappling begins at 9 a.m. Friday with the finals set for 4 p.m. Saturday. The top four from each weight advance to state, which is Feb. 21-23 at the Delco Center in Austin.
"It's the postseason now, so I think a lot of people have a new mentality," Minor said. "I want to make it to state and I think that's an achievable goal, so now is the time to work as hard as I can."
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