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Top Five Allen Sports Stories of 2012: 5. A Flare for the Gold: Allen smashes records en route to another state title
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
There were many ways to quantify Allen's dominance over the weekend at the UIL State Wrestling Tournament.
One could go off qualifiers (Allen had the most at 10), off qualifier results (the Eagles went 34-8 overall with nine of their 10 wrestlers finishing in the top four) or even individual state titles (no school had more than one champ while Allen had four).
Or one could look strictly at margin of victory.
"We wanted to set that record," said Jerry Best, Allen head coach, "and knew we had a chance to do that if we wrestled up to our ability."
With the team triumph, Allen has won seven of the last eight state meets (four dual and three individual).
"That's just a tribute to our coaches, the administration, the athletic director, our fans," Best said, "and of course all the hard work these guys have put in."
The best work done by Allen over the weekend came from Jarrod Trotter (126 pounds), Bo Nickal (145), Matt Meyer (170) and Nick Cobb (195), each of which conquered their 16-person weight classes.
Trotter's victory, his second straight, was particularly notable as he became the first Allen wrestler to place at state four times. Trotter, the Eagles' only senior qualifier, finished his varsity run by defeating Randall's Jacob Rubio in the finals, 2-0.
"Jarrod didn't give up any offensive points in the tournament, so he definitely went out in style," Best said. "And he's one of those guys who has that attitude that when he walks into a building he knows no one is going to beat him. That's one of the things you need to be successful."
Cobb could feel the same way, partially because no one has ever beaten him at state.
Cobb, who has three titles in three seasons, had a tough go in the semis against Arlington Martin's Steven Candley before rolling past Rockwall-Heath's Troy Mercer, many prognosticators' pick, in the finals by an 8-2 margin.
"Nick had to battle against a lot this season with injuries and weight problems," Best said. "He kept fighting under a lot of pressure and just manhandled his opponent in the finals."
While Trotter and Cobb had both tasted individual gold before, Nickal and Meyer were pushed by their shortcomings a season prior as both had lost in the finals.
Nickal, who bumped up from 125 to 145 this season, picked up two pins in the first three rounds before dispatching of Klein Oak's Cougar Babin in the championship bout, 9-3.
"Bo just took it to him in the finals," Best said.
There was more drama to be had in the finals for Meyer, who cruised in his first three matches. Meyer and Austin Bowie's Brian Dorsey were knotted, 4-4, in overtime before the Allen grappler picked up a takedown in extra time for the win.
"Matt got taken down early in the match and was actually trailing most of the way," Best said. "But nothing was going to stop him this time."
The same could not be said for Jack Bass (138) and Oliver Pierce (152), who both dominated their first three matches but lost close finals.
Bass' road to the finals included wins of 16, nine and 15 points. But Bass would have to settle for silver after falling, 3-2, to South Grand Prairie's Dominic Yang in a match that went to triple overtime before Bass lost a point due to a third false start. Pierce won his first two bouts by a combined 32 points and pinned his semifinal opponent in 39 seconds before losing the championship match to Converse Judson's Aaron Walker, 4-3. Pierce was initially awarded a third-period takedown, but that was then reversed and seemed to rattle Pierce, who won state as a freshman.
"I don't know if nerves got to him a bit, but Oliver did not wrestle well," Best said. "But Oliver has got a lot of wrestling left ahead of him and I know this one loss will not define him."
Similar close calls were in store for Mason Smout (113), who lost in the semifinals, 5-3, and Stone Drulman (220), who dropped a 2-1 semifinal decision to the eventual champ. Both placed third.
Gabe Torres (106) and AJ Hinkle (132) lost their opening bouts with Torres eventually going 0-2 and Hinkle winning four straight from there to claim fourth place.
"It's a little bittersweet because we had 10 guys come here wanting to win an individual state title and six of them didn't reach their goal," Best said. "But all six of those guys are coming back, so we have already started to plan for how they can reach that goal."
Before state began, Best said this could be the best squad the Eagles have ever had. After Friday and Saturday's performances, he was ready to concede the point.
"Yes, this is the best Allen team we've put on the mat ... so far," he said. "But the goal is always to do better than you did the year before and we feel like we can do that next season."
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