The Redhawks 2024-25 wrestling season began with the Panther Invitational in Addison on Friday and Saturday with at least 11 wrestlers earning either JV or varsity podium finishes. 

“Friday morning we had the JV matches. We had 10 guys down there and they all wrestled well. Six out of the ten medaled,” boys’ head coach Justin Koons said. “Daniel Vega, who is our freshmen, won the tournament in his bracket so he’s our one lone champion.” 

Both the boys’ and girls’ teams competed with only half a team, which was not an obstacle according to Koons. 

“On the boys side we finished 7th. Once again we competed with half a team, which is fine,” Koon said. “We had 2 tournament champs. William Randolph is one of them who is currently ranked 5th in the state”

Although highly ranked in the state, improvement is still the goal for Randolph.

“Personally the tournament went well,” Randolph said. “I say a lot of other people need to improve, including me. We had a lot of placers and a lot of good matches. Its the beginning of the year for our season so there are a lot of things we need to clean up on and work on as a team and individually.”

Top Results:

Girls’ varsity: Esther Essien – 2nd place

                          Dani Banks – 2nd place

                          Natalie Chen – 3rd place

Boys’ varsity:  Nolan Koons – tournament champion

                          William Randolph – tournament champion 

                          Juan Mendoza – 3rd place

JV: Daniel Vega – tournament champion 

       Jack Stacks – 2nd place

       Lawrence Randolph – 2nd place

       Raghav Choudary – 3rd place

       Clark Kinner – 3rd place

       Max Williams – 3rd place