Killeen ISD wrestlers flexed their might and muscles Friday and Saturday at boys and girls regional meets spanning 330 miles along Interstate 35, and now nearly 20 have travel plans to the UIL State Championships next week.
The top four placers in each weight class advanced through regionals and on a podium-heavy weekend, 20 KISD competitors made the cut highlighted by six individual regional champions and one team title.
At the Class 6A Region IV meet at North East ISD’s Littleton Gymnasium in San Antonio, the Harker Heights Lady Knights had three champions crowned –– Xenia Gutierrez (126 pounds), Robbie Lock (145) and Saniah Ebron (235), and piled up 176 points to finish first in the 40-team field.
Cibolo Steele was second with 117.5 points and San Antonio Churchill third with 109.
It was the second straight year the Lady Knights backed up a district team championship with the regional gold.
And at Anna High School in the Class 5A Region III meet, Ellison’s Aodhan Jimenez (106) and Natalya Travis (152) and Chaparral’s Ava Milliner (126) reached the top of their divisions to earn individual golds.
The state championships are slated for Feb. 16-17 at Berry Center in Cypress.
Gutierrez (126) went a clean 4-0 during the two-day 6A-IV tournament, winning all four matches en route to the regional title by fall (pin).
In the championship match, Gutierrez, who moved her overall record this season to 38-5, pinned Edinburg’s Kenia Islas midway through the third and final round.
No opponent managed to figure out Lock, who won her first three matches by fall before knocking off Dripping Springs’ Harlan Jack with a 10-5 decision for the regional title. Lock is now 36-5 this season.
Ebron, who is 27-12 this season, needed just 53 seconds to notch a victory by fall over San Antonio Johnson’s Jaedyn McNeil in the final.
Harker Heights’ Daniela Martinez (114) outlasted Annika Lopez of San Antonio Johnson by a 10-4 decision to capture third. Also for the Lady Knights, Kimora Henry (107), Aniya McConico (138) and Karina Villa-Dickens (132) placed fourth to advance.
In the boys 6A-IV tournament, Heights’ David Hughes (106) overcame a loss in the championship quarterfinals by reeling off four straight victories, including a win by first-round fall in the third-place match to advance to the state meet. Brayden Viguers also advanced by placing fourth at 150.
Jimenez needed less than a minute in each of his first three regional matches to pick up fall victories, paving the way for a duel with Humble Kingwood Park’s Lucas Early in the final. Jimenez pointed his way to a 10-2 major decision victory for the regional championship and pushed his season record to 40-1.
Jimenez’s teammate, Ethyn Ramey (132) finished second, dropping a close 9-5 decision in the final to Gunner Morris of Melissa. Still, Ramey will be on the state stage next week.
Chaparral’s Adrien Wright will be in Cypress next week after going 3-1 and finishing second at 120 pounds. Wright is 39-9 this season.
Shoemaker’s Aljohn Morales (113)
booked his state trip by winning four consecutive matches after a loss in the quarterfinals. He defeated Andre Moyron of Carrollton Creekview by second-round fall to capture third.
Joining Morales at state for the Grey Wolves will be Christian Kent-Easter, who also rallied after a quarterfinal defeat and prevailed in the third-place match. Kent-Easter pinned Lamar Fulshear’s Chance Bryant 50 seconds into the first round of the third-place duel.
Killeen’s top placer was Geordan Bigalbal, who was sixth at 132 pounds. Ellison’s MasonAndrade (144) and Ryan Masters (190) each placed sixth.
Milliner, who is 30-2 this season, won her first-round bout by fall (pin) and cruised through the
next two matches by major decision (a win by eight to 14 points) and technical fall (a win by more than 15 points) to reach the final. There, Milliner closed out Lampasas’ Jordan Winfree by second-round fall.
Also for Chaparral, Makayla Davis (235) placed second after a hard-fought final against Princeton’s Addyson Smith.
Travis (152) made quick work of Gunter’s Blake Garcia with a victory by first-round fall to cap a 4-0 tournament and regional championship. Travis pushed her season record to 38-9.
The Lady Eagles’ Darlah Louis-Charles (100) produced a second-place showing to secure her state berth while teammate Giselle Solis-Leon rebounded from a loss in the third-place match with a win in the fourth-place duel for the final state spot at 138 pounds. Also advancing after a fourth-place finish was Chaparral’s Dulce Samaniego (100).
Shoemaker’s Jamiya Thompson (145) and Zana Connally (185) were fifth.
Click on the links below to view the tournament results:
