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Hosts with the most: Allen dominates for another regional title
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Hosts are supposed to be kind, considerate and hospitable.
Allen was all of those things off the mat Friday and Saturday at the Region II-5A Championships, but much ruder on the mat with major decisions, tech falls and pins galore en route to another regional title.
"This is a huge accomplishment," said Nick Cobb, Allen senior. "We fell a little flat in the finals, but still had 12 guys in the finals and advanced 13 to state. We set out to dominate and we did."
Allen is used to dominating as it has won the last five dual state tourneys and three consecutive UIL Wrestling State Championships, but the team went just 6-6 in Saturday's finals.
"We should have had at least 11 regional champions, so there was a lot of disappointment in the finals," said Jerry Best, Allen head coach. "We gave away several matches because we were too cautious. People have a tendency to do that in the big tournaments, but the great wrestlers stay aggressive no matter the circumstances."
That being said, Best was still pleased with plenty from the day.
"Thirteen guys is a lot to qualify for state," he said. "And if you can place in this region, you can place at state."
Among Allen's 13 regional qualifiers were six champions: Daniel Cartagena (138 pounds), Oliver Pierce (152), Bo Nickal (160), Matt Meyer (182), Nick Cobb (195) and Garrett Esparza (heavyweight).
Esparza's victory may have been the most dramatic.
Esparza took a 1-0 lead in the first period after Skyline's Dominique Woods illegally slammed him off the mat. That slam opened a cut on the bridge on Esparza's nose, a cut that forced the bout to be stopped on multiple occasions. Esparza increased his advantage to 2-0 with a second-period escape and held on for the 2-1 win after shaking off a takedown as time expired.
The triumph had Esparza in tears heading to the medal stand.
"This was a big win for Garrett," Best said. "He wrestled at 220 pounds for most of the year, but moved up when we got our 220-pounder (Stone Drulman) back. He has continued to be successful though because he's got a great motor."
Allen's first individual title didn't come until 138 as the Eagles had lost their previous three finals. Cartagena broke that string with a 1-0 victory over Deandre Neroes of Lake Highlands. Cartagena made an escape in the second period and then avoided a potential takedown off an ankle pick.
Points didn't come into play for Pierce (152).
"Oliver dominated more than anyone else at this tournament," Best said.
Pierce pinned all four opponents during the two-day event in a combined 3:11. That included the finals where a quick takedown of Skyline's Furman Sims led to a pin in 32 seconds.
"I feel like I did pretty good," Pierce said. "I took what my opponents were giving me, but was also able to focus more on leg attacks."
Pierce moves on to the state tournament, where he won a championship as a freshman but fell short in two subsequent appearances.
"That dang state tournament," he said. "I don't know what it is about that tournament; I can win at all these other places, but for whatever reason I haven't gotten it done there. I'm sure that will be in the back of my mind, but I have to look at it like its another tournament and just go out there and try to dominate my opponent."
Nickal (160) needed just 2:48 to reach the finals.
The championship match against Flower Mound's Drake Dudley provided more of a challenge, but Nickal still picked up the 5-3 win thanks to takedowns in the first and second period as well a stalling penalty for Dudley in the third.
Allen's other back-to-back weight class wins came via Meyer (182) and Cobb (195).
Meyer took his bracket with a 5-0 finals win against Grapevine's Blake Andrews.
"It was the No. 2 wrestler in the state, so I didn't want to take him lightly," Meyer said. "I felt I was cautious, but in control."
Meyer got the first takedown 40 seconds in.
"I wanted to set the pace and I did so with that knee pick," he said.
Cobb also controlled his finals match from the outset, scoring a reversal in the first period on Rockwall's Daniel Roland and then a near fall in the second to go up, 5-0.
"From my angle, I thought I had the pin," Cobb said.
Cobb scored another near fall in the third to set the final at 10-0. The win further propelled Cobb on his quest for a fourth individual state title.
Also qualifying for state, which is Feb. 21-23 at the Delco Center in Austin, were runner-ups Howard Smith (106), Mason Smout(120), John McCabe (132), AJ Hinkle (145), Tracey Eitel (170), Drulman and third-place finisher Gabe Torres (113). The boys will be joined by Vanessa Smith (95), who won a regional title as well with a 13-second pin in the semifinals and a second-round pinfall in the finals.
With another regional title in hand, Allen now seeks its fourth consecutive UIL championship.
"There are a few small things to tweak that we'll address in practice," Best said. "But we'll wrestle better at state than we did today."
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