The 2008 Texas State Duals were held Saturday as 24 of the best teams from the Houston, Dallas, Austin, and El Paso areas competed for the title.

Of the six Houston-area teams representing, only two made it to the championship round. The girl’s teams of Cy Ridge and Waller faced off in a heated dual as Waller came out the champions.

The two teams ended the match tied at 27. After a long discussion between the coaches and officials, Waller coach Jason Thurston turned to his girls and gave them the good news that they won.

“It came down to most first points scored,” said Thurston. “We had twelve points scored first and they had three.” “We’ve been preaching for the last four years to be aggressive and always attack. Thankfully it paid off this time.”

This is the Bulldogs’ first time allowed outside of Houston to compete. The team took advantage and went to the Lone Star Dual in Dallas and then to Amarillo for the Lady Horn Classic, where the team placed fifth.

The Bulldogs were at the Texas State Duals and didn’t place in the top five. This year they were determined to come back and prove themselves.

“This year we were real excited about coming and having teams represented from all over the state,” said Thurston. “This trophy means a lot because we beat people from all over.”

On the boys’ side, Randall and St. Marks were dueling it out for the championship. Arlington Bowie and Allen were across the way fighting for 3rd. Final results were not available at press time.

Westlake defeated Lake Highlands, taking fifth place.

Klein was the highest-ranking team from Houston at seventh. The Bearkats lost to Lake Highlands, putting them in the Silver Level, and then defeated Rockwall.

“The kids really showed a lot of character, especially being in this match, because this isn’t the match we wanted to be in,” said Klein coach John Banus. “They beat a really tough Rockwall team and I’m really proud of their effort all day long.”

Houston Westside beat Highland Park for ninth. The Wolves defeated Cinco Ranch 37-27 to compete for 9th place.

“We wrestled pretty good for giving up 12 points every match,” said Westside coach Ron Baker. “I figure 9th place is pretty good, we beat three teams. The teams here are top-notch. These are the top 10-15 teams in the state.”

Cinco Ranch lost to Flower Mound, placing the Cougars at No. 12. Coppell defeated Eastwood for the 13 spot.
Katy Taylor rounded out the Houston teams at the meet as they beat El Dorado for 15.

“We won our first match and then we kind of went downhill,” said Taylor coach Todd Hart. “I don’t know what happened. But we wrestled two real good matches. Individually there are some pretty good match ups, and team wise, there are too.”

Rounding out the women’s bracket was Coppell and Centennial for 3rd. Arlington defeated Chapin, taking fifth and Hereford beat Hanks for seventh.  

Subscribe to this comment's feed