From Runners-Up to Champions: Redemption Defines UIL 5A Texas State Wrestling Boys Championship

Behind 5 finalists and 2 champions, the Melissa Cardinals secures 1st state team title

Midlothian's Charles Alvarez won his second straight Class 5A championship on Saturday. / Cody Thorn

The UIL Texas High School Wrestling Championships featured numerous storylines in the boys' Class 5A division.

There were three undefeated state champion wrestlers and a new team hoisted the trophy when competition ended Feb. 14 in Cypress.

Of the three undefeated state champions, one of them was a repeat champion: Bryce Palmer.

From Spring Branch Smithson Valley, Palmer finished 27-0 with a 4-1 win over Amarillo’s Drezdyn Ballard in the 157-pound finals.

Palmer was the state champ at 150 last year.

Frisco Rick Reedy’s Leo Ashurov and Corpus Christi’s Mary Carroll’s Roman Nino were the other two undefeated champions.

Ashurov won 5-3 against Dallas Justin F. Kimball’s Quintraylon Johnson in the 175-pound finals.

The Lions’ senior was 24-0 this year.

Nino, a runner-up last year, went 52-0 this year. The senior won by a 17-1 tech fall against Jaylyn Rogers-Salazar of Mesquite Poteet in the 215-pound finals.

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Repeat Champion

Joining Palmer as repeat titles were Nathan Reilly from Cedar Park and Charles Alvarez from Midlothian.

Reilly not only helped Cedar Park secure a team trophy by tying for third with his win, but he also won his third state title in three tries.

The junior won by a 9-1 major decision against Adam Uribe of Frisco Centennial in the 120-pound finals.

Reilly has won titles at 106, 113 and now 120.

He will have a chance to be the second 5A wrestler to win 4 state titles. Hunter Bogner from Dumas was the first last year.

Canyon Randall’s Mikey Ruiz had a chance this year, winning 2023-25, but graduated early to enroll at Oklahoma.

Only 6 wrestlers in Texas have ever won four state titles, regardless of classification.

Alvarez, known as Scrappy, finished the year 39-1 by winning the 113-pound. The Midlothian star got a 14-3 major decision against Argyle’s Tobias Gilman in the finals.

The sophomore won at 106 pounds last year.

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Better luck this time

Four wrestlers who were runners-up last year were back in the finals.

Three of the four won this year and the other one — had a matchup with another runner-up.

The winners were Tyler Yancey and Chase Yancey from Azle and Nino. The fourth was Jaxon Johnson from Melissa, who lost 6-1 to Tyler Yancey in the 138-pound finals.

Chase Yancey finished 56-1 after beating Melissa’s Connor Surrette in the 144-pound finals, with a 15-0 tech fall.

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1st for the Cardinals

In a battle for three team trophies, four teams claimed them.

Melissa won its first-ever title with 153 points, easily outdistancing the rest of the field. The Cardinals were runners-up in 2024.

Maddox Fields and Vinny Ferrari won a pair of titles for the Cardinals, who had five finalists.

Fields won the 126-pound title with a 4-3 win over Andre Moyron from Carrollton Creekview. Ferrari became the second with that last name in his school to win a title, following current Iowa wrestler Angelo Ferrari.

Vinny, a freshman, beat Christian Casarez of Amarillo Caprock in the 132-pound finals.

Melissa fans celebrate a semifinal win by Maddox Fields in the Class 5A UIL wrestling championships on Feb. 14. / Cody Thorn

Azle was a runner-up with 78 points, moving up from third heading into the final round. The Hornets were trailing Mission Sharyland by 3 points before the finals started.

Mission Sharyland stayed at 71 1/2 points without a win in the finals.

That opened the door for Cedar Park to get on the podium again. The Wolves were runners-up last year.

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Other individual state champions

106 pounds — Conner Smith, Dumas (46-1)

150 — Cruz Moralez, New Braunfels Long Creek (40-2)

165 — Mauricio Bryant, Leander (36-3)

190 — Reese Bradford, North Richland Hills Birdville (31-5)

285 — Elijah Luna, Canyon Randall (35-6)