Princeton senior Erin Marquez earned fourth place at 120 pounds at the Texas Women’s Classic last Saturday at Lewisville. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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With time winding down in the third period, with Princeton’s Jeremiah Soto trailing Marcus’ Cameron Childress by three points, Soto needed a miracle.

It nearly didn’t happen, but Soto got the job done.

Soto got a takedown with one second remaining and then earned two points for a near-fall as time expired to earn an 8-6 decision in the first-place match at 126 pounds in the Raider Invitational, held last Saturday at Wylie East High School.

Soto was one of five placers for Princeton.

Carlo Guerra placed second at 144 pounds, Nolan Culverhouse wrestled to silver at 157, Jose Leija captured third place at 113, while Logan Wilczynski earned third place at 120.

Guerra went 3-1 on the day. He earned pins in each of his first three matches before losing by technical fall in the first-place match. Culverhouse won two of the three matches that he wrestled in. He needed just 33 seconds to pin his first opponent, then booked his spot in the final following a second-period pin in the semifinals, but lost 9-3 to Wylie East’s Jacob West in the championship match.

Austin Aparicio (165 pounds), Breylon Kelleher (175), Maddox Obera (215) and Kodjo Nomagnon (285) also wrestled for Princeton at the Raider Invitational.

Princeton tied with Frisco Panther Creek for fourth place in the standings, with each team scoring 99 points. Marcus, with 204.5, won the team title in runaway fashion.

Also last Saturday, the Lady Panthers were in action at the Texas Women’s Classic, held at Lewisville High School.

Leading the charge for Princeton was Erin Marquez, who went 5-2 to earn fourth place at 120 pounds. She pinned each of her first two opponents, lost by pin in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with a solid showing in the consolation bracket.

Marquez got back on track with a pin, then followed it up with two more pins before losing by an 11-5 decision to Langham Creek’s Aviana Caceres in the third-place match.

Alexandria Ramos (125), Isobella Cook (145) and Addy Smith (190) also competed for the Lady Panthers at the Texas Women’s Classic.