High School Wrestling

[OUFan22]

Anyone have a feel for how well Central or West Brook will be this year?

[KFDM COOP]

Heard WB will be decent, not sure on Central.

[OUFan22]

I know wrestling is not big in this part of the country yet, but it is somewhat disappointing that there aren't more schools that are incorporating wrestling into their athletic programs. I guess I got spoiled on it in Oklahoma since I started when I was 5 years old and nearly every fields a team. I think that more schools will get wrestling when the youth programs start to develop in areas where it is lacking. Beaumont has a youth program that is on the ground floor, and has the potential to really get going. My son is seven and will be starting to wrestle this year and I hope by the time he gets older that Lumberton will have a team.

[Zedd]

Westbrook has a good team this year. They're loaded with well trained, strong freshman. Coach Hemming's son, Tanner, Jacob Rice's younger brother Sammy, and Christian Diaz are the future of the team. The lineup as a whole is suffering this year due to some confusion about the new UIL rules. A lot of boys are stuck wrestling over their optimum weight and suffering for it. So far they've competed against 3 schools. They did well against St. Thomas and Cy-Spring but hit a wall against Klein. Klein is thought by most to be the toughest team in the Houston area and they showed it last night. Except for Flores and Manuel they would have swept Westbrook. Tuesday the 21st they go to Mayde Creek for a duals match. Cy-Fair, Morton Ranch, and Mayde Creek are all good teams so it should be exciting.

[OUFan22]

I know the rules weight is an issue in Oklahoma as well. My brother is the head coach at the #1 ranked class 4A team in Oklahoma and they will most likely be affected by the new rules. I am not really familiar with the new rules though.

[Zedd]

Westbrook went up against 3 teams at the Mayde Creek Duals match, Cy-Fair, St Thomas and Morton Ranch. They are still short of heavyweights because of the football playoffs and gave up a lot of forfeits. Cy-Fair dominated with some older athletes. Westbrook doesn't have enough boys to field a JV team so everyone wrestled varsity. Christian Diaz, a freshman, was pitted against an obviously older opponent and lasted 3 tough rounds to a 2-10 loss. A strong showing for the freshman. Jacob Rice was the only one who won all three of his matches with first round pins. Garret Schaefer and Matt Manual both went 2 out of 3. Garret got 2 pins and lost a 7-16 decision to Cy-Fair. Dec. 2nd will be a tournament at Cy-Ridge.

[Zedd]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeObd3rZ_-E

[Zedd]

I'm not exactly sure how the new rules work either. The boys had to go to Houston to weigh in. They first had to pass a UA for dehydration. If they passed they were weighed and pinched for body fat. They were then given a minimum weight for the year. It's there to protect the boys from losing weight at an unhealthy rate but it caught a lot of them offguard. Next year they'll know what to expect.

[Zedd]

Westbrook boys went to the Cy Ridge tournament on Dec 2nd. They were still missing their heavyweights but most of the other boys had won their appeals for weight class and had dropped down a step. Garret Schaefer and Joe Dark both took 2nd in their bracket. Garret ended up losing to Chris Renaud, Houston's top rated 152 wrestler. This is Joe Dark's first year wrestling varsity and he's doing well. His younger brother is also on the team. Jacob Rice took a 4th in his weight class and could have challenged for 3rd and was expected to win but he had wrestled 5 matches, the UIL limit for 1 day. This weekend the team travels to The Woodlands for a 2 day tournament. The returning heavyweights, Micheal Zoch, Josh Bonura and Gerald Moulton were all good wrestlers last year so the team should do well this weekend. Dec 16th will be a duals match at Westbrook. This is the only chance to see them wrestle at home this year so try and come out to support them.

[KFDM COOP]

Keep us updated.

[KFDM COOP]

How many High Schools in SE Texas have Wrestling?

[OUFan22]

Not many outside of the houston metro area. In Beaumont there is Central and Westbrook. It sure would be nice for other schools to add it to their athletic programs. I have to tell you, there is not a tougher sport than wrestling.

[Zedd]

Westbrook has had wrestling for 5 or 6 years. Central and Ozen both have programs but I don't think they have teams this year. Hardin Jefferson posted an opening for a coach on a wrestling website, but that was over the summer and I don't know if they're still pursuing it. The Houston area, West Texas and of course North Texas are all way ahead of us.

http://www.insidetexaswrestling.com/

http://www.txusawrestling.com/

[OUFan22]

Zedd,

Evidently you are in the know for wrestling in this area, and seemingly Texas in general. What is your wrestling background?

I know wrestling in the northern counties of Texas, especially Amarillo and border area to Oklahoma have had wrestling for years. It is just surprising to me that it has never filtered down to the rest of the state until recent years.

[Zedd]

I wrestled briefly in high school in western New York many years ago. My son has been involved in TX-USA wrestling since middle school and now wrestles 152 as a junior at Westbrook. I have gone to every match and tournament he's competed in. After a couple of camps (Oklahoma) and some summer Freestyle\Greko tournaments, we've gotten to know a lot of wrestlers and tried to keep up with their progress.This weekends tournament at The Woodlands will have some schools from the Dallas area, Louisiana and Alabama. If you want to see some great competition it's worth the 2 hour drive. On the 16th there will be a duals match at Westbrook. As far as my involvement, I just want to promote the sport and build some interest in this area.

[OUFan22]

I too would like to see much more interest in this area. I still keep up with wrestling back home in Oklahoma. My brother is the head coach at the #1 ranked team in Class 4A. Myself and two of my brothers wrestled and my oldest brother has a heavy interest watching and keeping up with my other brother's team. We wrestled ever since we were old enough to participate. My son is going to start wrestling this year in the youth club in Beaumont, but they haven't started practices yet. The will be working out at the West Brook wrestling room.

You may have heard of it being from Ney York, but my brother's team will be wrestling in the biggest high school tournament in the country called the "Beast of the East" at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE on December 16th anad 17th. Sixty four of the best teams in the country will be there. It oughta be a good thing to see.

[Zedd]

The Westbrook wrestling team went to The Woodlands for a 2 day tournament on Dec 8th and 9th. 34 schools were there from as far as El Paso and Alabama. Westbrook took 10th in overall team points. The heavyweight wrestlers, back from their extended football season did exceptionally well. Michael Zoch and Josh Bonura both brought home medals for 3rd. Gerald Moulton took first place in the 189 lb class. He's listed as the #1 189 pounder in the Houston area by more than one website. Westbrook will be at home Saturday the 16th at 9 AM for a duals match with 6 schools promising to atttend. This will be the only chance to watch them at home this year.

[KFDM COOP]

Congrats!

[OUFan22]

Hey Zedd,

It was good talking to you last week. I will try to make it to the matches on Saturday. I can't promise anything though since my wife wants to visit my sister this weekend in Friendswood.

[Guest Diva]

It was good to see a local TV news story on HS wrestling this week.

[Guest Kelly Football]

I would like to see Wrestling in more schools.

[KFDM COOP]

Zedd, Keep us updated on events and results.

[Zedd]

Westbrook travels to Seven Lakes High School in Katy for a duals match this Saturday. Due to another tournament the same weekend the best schools in Houston won't be there. Westbrook should do well there. I'll keep you posted.

[KFDM COOP]

Please do and good luck..

[Zedd]

As expected, Westbrook's wrestlers did well at the Seven Lakes meet. Westbrook took 1st place in team points out of 9 schools attending. Next Saturday they go to Brazoswood for a duals meet. The attending schools will all be in Westbrook's district so this will be a preview of the Individual district tournament on the 3rd. That will be the end of the regular season with top 2 wrestlers from each weight class going on to regionals.