Killeen ISD is the home of state champions.
That’s right. Champions with an ‘s.’ As in multiple. More than one.
Chaparral’s Ava Milliner and Harker Heights’ Saniah Ebron battled through two days of intense competition, withstood the pressure and shined Friday and Saturday in the UIL State Wrestling Championships to emerge from the draw at the top of the podium as state champions.
The best of the best.
Number 1.
Milliner, a state champ as a sophomore in 2024 before missing her junior season with an injury, worked her way back to the golden plateau as a senior and secured her title with a third-period fall (pin) against Corpus Christi King’s Isabella Arevalos under the spotlight in the 115-pound Class 5A final inside the Berry Center in Cypress.
The No. 2 seed at 115 entering the weekend, Milliner’s tournament also included a first-round win via fall (pin) and tech fall victories (by 15 points or more) in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Milliner was ahead 6-0 in the third period of the final when she put the match to rest once and for all, wrapping up her senior campaign with a 31-1 record and another state gold medal to call her own.
"I'm really excited and very proud of myself for coming back off of injury and being able to wrestle into the finals," Milliner said. "(This year) I made sure I was proud of myself no matter the outcome of the match, and also made sure I worked hard."
Ebron, a junior and no stranger to the state stage after reaching the podium a year ago, was the No. 2 seed in the Class 6A 235-pound division and carved out her path to the title with two victories via fall and a 4-1 decision win in the semifinal.
Much like she had all season, Ebron left no doubt in the final and outlasted fourth seed Izis Kouokam from Richmond Foster in a convincing 13-6 decision that put an exclamation point on a 38-2 season now decorated in shiny gold.
"(Kouokam) wanted it but I wanted it more and felt I had earned it with the work we put in throughout the year," Ebron said.
The golden moments delivered by Milliner and Ebron capped another stellar state showing from Killeen ISD wrestlers. Of the 18 who qualified for state, six advanced to the second day of competition and four medaled.
Chaparral’s Kaelyn Reynolds (135), Harker Heights’ Ana Davis (170), and Ellison’s Sophia Cooley (100) and Jaycie Guthrie (140) joined Milliner and Ebron in Saturday’s medal hunt.
Reynolds, a senior, and Davis, a senior, dropped their semifinal matches but both bounced back on the consolation side of the bracket, reached the third-place match and made the podium in fourth
Cooley and Guthrie fell in the consolation third round and each finished with a 2-2 record, just shy of the podium (top-six finish).
Here is how all of KISD’s standout competitors fared. (Medalists are in bold.)
Chaparral
Ava Milliner (115), first, 4-0
Zy’Aziah Langley (130), 0-2
Kaelyn Reynolds (135), fourth, 3-2
Anthony Morales (150), 1-2
Ellison
Sophia Cooley (100), 2-2
Breyanah Leyva-Arciniega (105), 1-2
Italy Angevine (110), 0-2
Jaycie Guthrie (140), 2-2
Kaedin Peredo (126), 0-2
Harker Heights
Emily Malbrough (105), 0-2
Meribel Flores (135), 1-2
Ana Davis (170), fourth, 3-2
Saniah Ebron (235), first, 4-0
Anthony Pough (138), 1-2
Geoffrey Anderson (190), 1-2
Shoemaker
Aljohn Morales (126), 1-2
Sheldon Gunnells (215), 0-2
Logan O’Brien (285), 1-2