The Princeton wrestling team photos for pictures after the conclusion of last Friday’s District 6-6A wrestling tournament at Plano East. The Panthers advanced 12 wrestlers to this week’s Region III-6A Tournament in Allen. Submitted photo
By David Wolman
Despite being in its first season as a Class 6A school, the Princeton wrestling team has shown all season that it is amongst the best in the state.
The Panthers showed that to be true again at last Friday’s District 6-6A Tournament, held at Plano East’s Archie McAfee Gymnasium.
Princeton advanced 12 wrestlers to this week’s Region III-6A Tournament in Allen and crowned two district champions.
“I was pretty happy about how we wrestled,” said Ryan DeLaVergne, Princeton head coach. “I thought we could get a few more out, but the level of competition in our new 6A district is tough. Proud of the kids that made it to regionals.”
Paris Kelleher and Rebekah Sorrell began their quest to what they hope will end in another trip to the medal stand at the state tournament by wrestling to first place at 145 and 185 pounds, respectively.
Kelleher, who is Princeton’s all-time leader in wins, improved to 40-2 on the season after winning both matches via pin. She earned a fall of Allen’s Adalyn Robinson in the first period of the quarterfinals and needed less than two minutes to record a fall of Prosper Rock Hill’s Lillian Jukes in the 145-pound, first-place match.
Sorrell, meanwhile, dominated the field in the 185-pound weight class division at the district tournament. She went 3-0 and needed less than three minutes to pin each of her first three opponents. Sorrell pinned McKinney’s Layla Lopez at the 1:53 mark of the first-place match. Sorrell, a state runner-up last season, improved her record for this season to 39-1.
“Both young ladies continue to impress,” DeLaVergne said. “Paris’ finals match was against a highly-ranked opponent that she pinned pretty quickly, so that was a nice confidence boost for her.”
The Lady Panthers also got second-place finishes from Alyssa-Ann Irons (114 pounds), Erin Marquez (120), Brianna Tenpenny (165) and Addy Smith (235), and fourth-place finishes from Alexandria Ramos (126), Rosslyn Pratt (132) and Isobella Cook (152).
Irons went 1-1 with an 11-3 major decision of Prosper Rock Hill’s Alexandra Sedwick in the semifinals. Marquez won her first two matches by fall, including a second-period pin of Allen’s Sienna Lal that earned her an automatic berth into the regional tournament. Tenpenny went 1-1 on the day. Smith finished with a 2-1 record, including a first-period pin and a 5-0 decision of Rock Hill’s Zakhia Burke in the 235-pound semifinals.
Ramos, Pratt and Cook all won their respective fourth place match to qualify for regionals.
On the boys’ side, Jeremiah Soto continued his breakout sophomore season by capturing second place at 126 pounds at the district tournament. He punched his ticket into regionals after a 6-5 decision of Plano West’s Bruno Reyes Castro in the semifinals. Soto lost by a 13-4 major decision to Plano’s Pryce Rankin in the first place match.
“Jeremiah looked good,” DeLaVergne said. “It’s great to see him coming along as a sophomore, this next weekend will be a great experience for him that should push him forward quite a bit. I know he works hard and wants to be great, so this is a great confidence boost for him as well.”
Nolan Christian (138) and Mason Sbazo (285) will also represent Princeton at the regional tournament.
Christian bounced back from a loss in the quarterfinals to win four of his last five matches and qualify for regionals. Sbazo went 3-2 with two pins.
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