Varsity girl and JV boy wrestlers compete at Ellison Invitational
Special to the Leader-Press
The Lady Dawgs and the JV Bulldawgs travelled to Killeen for the annual Ellison Inviational. Every school in the district was represented except for Hutto. It would prove as a good testing ground to see where they both compare with the other schools, early in the year, before the district tournament comes in February.
The Lady Dawgs were able to travel the entire team of 16 girls. They were able to get 4 girls on the medal stand with multiple others finishing in the top 6 of their weight class. Mya Watson was once again dominate in the 215-pound weight class. She pinned her way to another gold medal, while only going to the second period in the championship match. Leeann Edmond (110) and Janel Golderos (119) also found themselves in the championship matches, but were unsuccessful in their quest for gold. Leeann lost to Temple, and Janel lost to #1-6A ranked Alexis Hanks from Ellison. Anastasia Cook (185) and Aaloni Cook (128) both lost their semi-finals matches against #4-6A ranked Faith Perez from Ellison and Alexis Edwards from Harker Heights, respectively. Anastasia was able to win via pinfall in her next match to capture bronze, while Aaloni had to settle for 4th place. Dalyncia Cook (119) and Vera Hathaway (165) were also able to finish top 6 in their brackets. Overall it was a great experience for the newer wrestlers, and a tough test for the varsity girls.
The JV boys came with less numbers (8) than most other teams, but they decided to choose quality over quantity on Friday. The Bulldawgs were able to get 3 wrestlers on the medal stand (2 Gold and 1 Silver), while 2 others finished in the top 6 of their bracket. Jamahl Lloyd (120) and Logan Bazin (132) both pinned their way to a gold medal. Paxton Stewart (170) also won 3 in a row before losing to Harker Heights in the championship match. Matthew Thomspon (138) and Caleb White (285) were able to finish top 6 before losing in the consolation semis.
The Varsity Bulldawgs will compete today (12/4) in the Ellison Duals Tournament, and then both the Bulldagws and Lady Dawgs will travel to Harker Heights on Wednesday night (12/8) for a dual.
Varsity boys take 2nd at Ellison Duals
The Bulldawgs traveled to Ellison High School to compete, along with other schools from the district, in the Ellison Duals. A dual tournament is set up to where teams compete against each other throughout the day instead of your traditional individual tournament. The teams were split into two pools. They then have a round robin to rank the teams and have a final championship and 3rd place match between the pools. Cove was in Pool B along with Shoemaker, Round Rock Westwood, Round Rock McNeil, and Killeen. Host Ellison was in Pool A with Harker Heights, Round Rock, Round Rock Cedar Ridge, and a compilation of JV wrestlers from Harker Heights and Cove.
The Bulldawgs took little time showing the district that they were a team to be reckoned with when they took on the Grey Wolves from Shoemaker in the first match. The Bulldawgs made quick work of Shoemaker, winning by a score of 60-15. All Bulldawg victories were via pinfall. Copperas Cove then took on Westwood in the second round. Once again, the Bulldawgs dominated with a final score of 60-18. Round Rock McNeil was next up in Pool B. The Bulldawgs started off slow, losing the first two matches via pinfall, but finished the match winning 10 of the last 11 to win 57-18. Even though 1st place in Pool B was already secured, Copperas Cove did not let the foot off the gas against Killeen High by winning the final round 63-12.
The Bulldawgs final match was against Ellison High, who won their pool against a tough Round Rock team. It was a rematch from Wednesday when Ellison escaped from Cove with a close contested victory. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. Ellison won the championship with a final score of 42-33. Jayden Copeland, Frankie Limon, Damian Martinez, Kadir Cox, and Ryan Bithorn all won via pinfall while Paxton Stewart won his match by points.
The Bulldawgs will travel with the Lady Dawgs to Harker Heights on Wednesday (12/8) to compete in a Quad against Harker Heights, Killeen, and Gatesville. They will then travel to Burleson Centennial on Saturday (12/11) for the Tournament of Champions.