Day 1 Recap from the UIL Texas High School Wrestling State Championships

Allen boys have almost locked up 16th state championship; upsets plentiful in boys, girls bracket

Day 1 of the UIL Texas high school wrestling state championships was held Friday, Feb. 13 in Cypress. / Cody Thorn

Day 1 of the UIL Texas high school wrestling championships is in the book. The first round, quarterfinals and two rounds of consolation rounds were held at the Berry Center on Friday, Feb. 13.

Day 2 starts at 8:30 a.m., with the semifinals in Class 5A and 6A.

Here's a breakdown of what we say from Cypress so far.

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Class 6A boys title hunt 

Allen has 85 points and is well ahead of the field in Class 6A.

The next two teams in the standings have a combined 85 1/2 points.

The Woodlands College Park is second with 47 1/2 and El Paso Eastwood has 38. The Troopers are slotted in for the final trophy, but there will some tough competition to get on the podium.

Southlake Carroll, Rockwall-Heath and League City Clear Creek are all within 6 points of Eastwood. 

Allen took a UIL-best 11 to the state meet. 

Aiden Cooley (215), Carter Nekvapil 175), Steel Meyers (165), Shiloh Jackson-Bey (150), Jair Jackson-Bey (144), Cayden Rios (138), Izayiah Chavez (126) and Oliver Pulliam (120) are all in the semifinals.

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Class 5A boys title hunt

Oliver Pierce was part of three state titles at Allen as an assistant coach from 2019-2021. 

He took over at Melissa in 2022 and he guided them to a runner-up finish in 2024. Now, the Cardinals are leading after Day 1 with 66 points.

Mission Sharyland, from southern Texas, is in second with 41 1/2 points. 

Azle is third with 40 1/2 points, while Lubbock is fourth with 36 points. 

Melissa's Maddox Fields (126), Vinny Ferrari (132), Jaxon Johnson (138), Connor Surrette (144) and Kiron Neves (150) are all in the semifinals Saturday morning. They are all two wins away from history.

Current Iowa wrestler Angelo Ferrari is the only state champion from Melissa. That'd be good company to join.

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Class 5A girls title hunt

El Paso Eastwood’s hunt for a repeat championship is off to a good start with 44 1/2 points. 

The Lady Troopers, champions in 2022 and 2024, has a 4-point lead over Katy. The Tigers have 40 1/2 points and took third last year.

Allen is in third, while Flower Mound is in fourth with 35 points, 1 behind of Allen.

Rockwall and Prosper Rock Hill are fifth and sixth, respectively, with 29 1/2 and 28 points.

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Class 6A girls title hunt

Azle has the slimmest of leads going into Day 2 with 53 1/2 points. Fellow DFW school Melissa is in second with 53 points.

San Antonio Pieper is in third with 41 points, for what would be the final trophy. Anna and El Paso Bel Air are within striking distance of Pieper with 36 points. There have been 90 teams score at least 1 point in the tournament. 

The first-place Hornets had five wrestlers and all are into the semifinals: Noah Kovach (100 pounds), Mackenzie Harris (120), Sage Mosier (125), Zaylyn Woods (130) and Elizabeth Yelle (170). Kovach is looking to repeat.

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Notable girls matches 

Class 5A 

115 pounds — Addison Hunt from Anna was down 3-0 to Zaliyah Rodriguez from Lubbock Cooper after the first period. Hunt, the defending state, got a pin 13 seconds into the second period in the quarterfinals. 

130  — Returning state runner-up Daliah Coyle from Henrietta was pinned in the third period facing Elvia Davila from Mission Sharyland. 

135 — Gloria Vasquez from El Paso Burges had to medical forfeit out of her first match. She was 3rd at 132 pounds in 2025. 

Class 6A 

115 — Houston Langham Creek's Aviana Caceres defeated Shobhana Spielmann, San Antonio Ronald Reagan, via a pin in 2:49 in the quarterfinals. Spielmann is a two-time all-stater, 4th at 107 in 2024 and 6th at 100 in 2023.

115 — Stephanie Lopez, Katy Mayde Creek got revenge with a win over Naime Abdallah, El Paso Franklin, by pin in overtime. Abdallah beat Lopez for 5th place last year at 114 by a 9-0 major decision. 

125 — Defending state champion Lucy Clarno rallied to win her quarterfinal match, 7-5, against Jaelyn Kelley from Prosper. Skelley led 5-3 going into the final period, before the Dripping Springs standout rallied.

130 — Camille Rainey, coming off a knee injury that kept her out of the 2025 state tournament, is back in the quarterfinals. The Arlington James Martin star was a state champion in 2024. 

170 — Madeline Moore, Katy Cinco Ranch bested Erinn Sewell, Copperas Cover, with a pin at 5:34. Sewell was a runner-up at 165 in 2024. 

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Notable boys matches

Class 5A 

106 — Juan Velasquez, from Rio Grande City Grulla, handed Kingston Baker, North Mesquite, only his second loss of the year with a pin at 4:59. Baker was 20-1.

150 — Tristan Cox, San Antonio Pieper spoiled any chance of a Valentine winning a title on Valentine’s Day. He beat Dallas South Oak Cliff’s Gerrick Valentine, 14-10. Valentine was 55-1, entering as a district and regional champion 

150— Melissa’s Kiron Neves upset two-time all-stater Nicholas Torres, from Mission Sharyland, by a 10-1 major decision. Torres had been fourth the past two years. 

157 — In the quarterfinals, undefeated Bryce Palmer fell behind 3-0 against Frisco Wakeland’s Brice Brigance. Palmer, rallied to win 20-3. Palmer is 25-0.

190 — Rudy Velasquez, Midlothian Heritage knocked off defending state champion Mark Gallegos, from Canyon Randall with a 10-6 win. Gallegos was state champion at 175 last year.

190 — Anna’s Cash Williams got an escape with 24 seconds left and a takedown with 3 seconds left gave him a 5-4 win over Cesar Ramos from El Paso Bel Air. 

6A

113 — Kingston Stephens from Dallas Jesuit, stayed perfect with a win in the quarterfinals against Garrett Runhaar from Austin Vandegrift. Stephens, 42-0, won 2-1 in overtime with the tiebreaker factor used to determine the winner. 

120 — Ryu Calderon, Cypress Ridge prevailed by a 7-5 decision ver Alexander Tapia, El Paso Franklin, 7-5, in the first round. Tapia was 4th at 113 in 2024 and 2025 

132 — Cy-Fair’s Chance Berry upset two-time finalist Cayden Campbell from Allen, 7-3, in the first round. Campbell was 2nd at 113 in 2025 and a state champion at 113 in 2024

132 — Cael Brubaker needed a late charge to win. The McKinney Boyd junior was ranked No. 1 heading into state, scored the final six points and escaped with a 9-5 win over Braiden Bartlett of Austin Lake Travis. 

132 — Mason Milsaps, The Woodlands College Park won a close match, 4-0, against Austin Vandegrift’s Charlie Trujillo. Trujillo was 3rd at 126 in 2025 and 3rd at 113 in 2024.

144 — In a battle of returning medalists, Jair Jackson-Bey from Allen beat Anthony Simpson from Arlington Mirabeau B. Lamar, by a tech fall, 21-3. Simpson was in the finals last year. 

144 — A returning finalist versus an undefeated wrestler provided an intriguing matchup. Hunter Gordon from Rockwall posted a 10-2 win against Temple’s Pablo Aguilar, who fell to 38-1 with the setback in the quarterfinals. 

150 — Rockwall was involved in another undefeated match at 150. San Antonio’s Micah McCaskill improved to 53-0 with a 6-5 win over Rockwall’s Timmy Fitzgerald.