On Friday February 10, 2023, the Ranger wrestling team went to Houston for the TAPPS State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday February 11. The tournament was hosted by St. Thomas High School.
At the tournament, we had 5 wrestlers representing Texas School for the Deaf, with only one returning to state from the previous season.
Freshman LaDarius Crear (2-2) placed 4th in the 106 weight class and scored 11.0 team points.
Junior Max Ponton (1-2) placed 4th in the 120 weight class and scored 7.0 team points.
Senior Joshua Medrano (0-2) wrestled in the 132 weight class and got eliminated from the tournament after two straight losses. He did not score any team points.
Senior Lorenzo Urrutia (1-2) wrestled in the 138 weight class, he won his first match before losing the next two matches and got eliminated from the tournament. He scored 8.0 team points.
Junior Earl Freeze (0-2) wrestled in the 144 weight class and got eliminated from the tournament after two straight losses. He did not score any team points.
Texas School for the Deaf placed 11th out of 16 schools with 26 points. The state tournament was a tough one, many good schools competed. We hope to learn from this experience and fare better next season. I look forward to taking this team again to the next TAPPS State Tournament and to see how we do this time around with little experience under all of our belts.
Coach Charles Johnson