Randall boys win Class 5A state wrestling team title, Amarillo-area individuals claim gold

After some close calls at the last couple of big tournaments, the Randall boys made sure they left the UIL Class 5A state wrestling tournament in Cypress with the most prestigious hardware of all Saturday night.

A week after a narrow second-place finish at the Region I-5A tournament and a year after a close third-place finish at the state tournament, there was no doubt where Randall stood to end this year. Randall decisively won the team championship this weekend, scoring 109 points to take the title.

In last year’s state meet, Randall finished third in the team standings behind another Amarillo school, Tascosa, which had only 5 ½ more points than Randall. (Lovejoy finished in second) This year’s state title comes a week after Randall finished second to Dumas by a mere four points in the I-5A tournament.

Coming up short in one tournament has never deterred Randall coach David Quirino when it comes to the next one. That might explain why he’s won eight state titles as the school’s head coach.

“We tell everybody it’s by the round,” Quirino said. “If you’re not a region champ, maybe you can be a state champ. Everybody’s having bumps and bruises like us, so let’s just move on to the next round.”

On paper, it might be hard to see how Randall was so dominant in the team standings, finishing 15.50 points ahead of second place Melissa. Only one Randall boys wrestler won gold, as sophomore Mikey Ruiz pinned Grapevine’s Kevin Contreras at 5:44 to win the 113-pound class.

It was an appropriate end to the season for Ruiz, who won his second straight state title, and finished the year with a flawless 41-0 mark. For that, Ruiz was honored as the outstanding boys wrestler of the meet.

Randall also had a pair of runner-up finishes, with Nathanial Ruiz at 138 and Jayden Valdez at 144 both taking home silver medals.

“We definitely felt like we had quality kids, I don’t know that we knew we had enough,” Quirino said. “Mathematically we knew that if Mikey had the win it would be pretty much out of reach for everybody else if the guys did what they were supposed to do.”

In a reversal of last year, Tascosa finished third in the team standings behind Randall with 91.50 points.

However, Dumas was the only area school to boast multiple winners on either the boys or girls’ sides. Hunter Bogner (132) pinned Smithson Valley’s Tristan Luna in 1:52 and Bronson Baxter (157) did the same to another local wrestler, Macklin Houser of West Plains, in 2:34.

Bogner and Baxter were repeat state champions and both three-time state title winners, as Bogner finished the season 29-1 and Baxter was unbeaten at 42-0.

The only other local champion was Tascosa’s Thomas Pacheco. He won at 144 by beating Valdez 7-2.

It was a good meet for the lighter wrestlers from the Panhandle. Not only did Ruiz win outstanding boys wrestler at the second lightest weight, but Tascosa’s Zurri Zamora did at the lightest girls weight, as she beat Azle’s Noah Kovach 5-3 for the 100-pound championship.

Zamora, a senior, was the outstanding girls wrestler, finishing the season 38-0.

There were two other girls champions from the Panhandle. Borger’s Ariana Chavez, by contrast, finished the season unbeaten in the biggest weight class, beating Lubbock-Cooper’s Kayla McLearen 3-1 for the 235 championship to finish the season 44-0.

Randall’s Emma Heaton won the 165 title by beating Midlothian Heritage’s Eve Smith 6-4.