Wrestling revs up for three more days of competition
December 5, 2019
Weighting in at 102 lbs, sophomore Sarah Ramos shakes hands with her opponent. Boys and girls have their next duel Thursday against Frisco at the Nest.
Senior and captain Tristan Seals holds his opponent from Northwest High School down, and looks to score points or earn a pin. As a captain, Seals plays a big role on the team, in teaching new wrestlers the moves, and running workouts for returning wrestlers.
As a second year wrestler, junior Price Ugoh begins his match in the 220 lb weight class. In his first year of wrestling, Ugoh had an undefeated season, and is now looking to sustain his record this season.
Looking for guidance from her coaches, sophomore Maliyah Ross works to hold her opponent down. Weighing into the 128 lb weight class, Ross hopes to get the pin and score points for her team.
After winning his match, the referee holds up senior Armando Vasquez’s hand to signify the victory. Last year, Vasquez places sixth in state, and looks to place higher this season.
Locking down wins in districts, eight Redhawk wrestlers will advance to Regionals. With a state title on the line, the team looks to continue to work hard in practice.
Sophomore Seth Haynes pushes to hold his opponent, and score two points for a takedown. Seth and his brother senior Brent Haynes are both members of the varsity lineup, and have been important parts of the team’s success in the past few years.
Coaches Tim Brennan, Cody Bridwell, and Justin Koons talk to their athletes during the matches for guidance on what the best move would be. Brennan and Bridwell have both been life-long wrestlers, and can give the athletes an outside perspective of the best moves available.
Blasting through his opponent, senior Connor Leach looks to score back points, and hopefully earn a pin. To earn a pin, one wrestler must hold another on his back for two seconds, with both shoulders on the mat.
After the boys finish each duel, the coaches do a brief recap of the match with the whole team. In their duel with Northwest High School, the boys tied in points, with the Redhawks leading in pins, but ultimately lost the duel because Northwest filled more weight classes.
Running a power half, senior and state placer Princess Egbuchunam looks to pin her opponent. Egbuchunam and Northwest High School’s Leilani Hernandez are both ranked top three in the state, are are some of the fiercest competitors int heri weight class.
The wrestling season kicks into high gear as the team takes on Frisco High School in a dual Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at The Nest, followed by the girls’ team taking part in the Coppell Girls Classic Friday at 4:00 p.m. at Coppell High School, and the boys’ team hosting the Liberty Throwdown Saturday in both gyms starting at 8:00 a.m.
“At this point in the season, all wrestlers are just getting going. We will look pretty green, or new to things until we’ve had 5-10 matches,” head wrestling coach Cody Bridwell said. “Once that happens, we will settle into a groove and the good wrestling will appear more often.”
Even though the team is still finding their rhythm, Bridwell has high expectations for the matches.
“I am excited to see freshman Mitchell Borynack get on the mat,” Bridwell said. “Mitchell has wrestled most of his life and is very good at what he does. I’m also very excited to watch senior captains Tristan Seales, Karina Quiros, Emily Corona start the final campaign of their high school careers. Keep a close eye out for senior Princess Egbuchunam. She’s ranked in the top 3 in the state and will have a great season.”
After months of preseason practices and years of preparation, Borynack is looking forward to taking on a district opponent.
“This should be a fun dual especially to dual against someone else in Frisco,” Borynack said. “Hopefully we can win this dual.”
There are high expectations for the level of competition to come this weekend, and senior Megan Weidenbach is looking forward to the challenge.
“I expect that Coppell is going to be decently stacked,” Wiedenbach said. “The sport is really growing for girls especially in our district and region, so there’s a lot of really athletically talented girls getting on the mat.”
