As the Princeton wrestling team finished out the regular sea­son, the Panthers had the oppor­tunity to build momentum head­ing into the district meet, hosting a three-team tournament to close its schedule.

Princeton finished up the reg­ular season with two more wins at home Tuesday, March 30, de­feating Wylie East, 60-21, and Gunter, 78-0. With these victo­ries, the Panthers finished the season 20-2, including winning 15 of their first 16 games.

Heading into the district meet, Princeton is motivated to work through each match and contrib­ute in its individual battle, coach Ryan DeLavergne said.

“As far as varsity, we have a solid team; the focus now is one match at a time with the goal just to get to regionals,” DeLavergne said. “To advance, each wres­tler is going to have to win four matches against tough competi­tion.”

This year marks a very spe­cial group for coach DeLavergne and the Panthers, with the senior class marking the final group that helped form the program four years ago. Looking to make an impact on the state level, the team has the ability to advance a lot of wrestlers, said the coach.

“For our seniors this will be their last chance to compete,” DeLavergne said. “Brandon Lee has signed a scholarship to wres­tle for Mount Union in Ohio, but as of now he is the only one who has committed. Emma Lo­zada has several offers and just has not committed yet. Seniors Andres Ugalde, Cain Brent­nall, Sam Hillis, David Kline, Emma Lozada, Ashlee Flatt and Lee certainly have the ability to place at state, but they all must advance out of district first, and that has to be priority one.”

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By Jackson King • [email protected]