The Wylie and Wylie East wrestling competed in the district championships on Feb. 2, with 13 wrestlers qualifying for regionals. 

Both teams finished fourth overall in their respective districts, with Wylie’s team earning 138 points in the 6-6A championships. They finished narrowly above Coppell (132 points) while falling behind Prosper (171 points), Plano East (175 points) and district champion Allen (356.5 points). 

The Pirates had six automatic qualifiers for the regional tournament, with the top four wrestlers qualifying for regionals and fifth and sixth place earning alternate spots. The qualifiers include Christopher Galvan, Hunter Shaw, Jonathan Celis, Bakr Alkhalidi, Dane Farley and Hussein-William Qattan. 

Galvan finished fourth in the 138-pound weight class, defeating Little Elm’s Shreyash Mittra in a no-contest decision in the fourth-place match. 

It was his second consecutive match win over Mittra as Galvan went 3-2 overall. 

Shaw came in second place in the 152-pound weight class, ultimately losing to Mario Danzi by a fall at 0:45 seconds in the championship round. He won his first two matches decisively with two pins, ending the day 2-1. 

Celis finished with the bronze in the 160-pound weight class, pinning Plano West’s D’Angelo Estrada 2:47 into the third-place match. Celis lost in the semifinals before battling through the consolation bracket to get third place. 

Alkhalidi also finished in third place in the 182-pound weight class, earning a 12-7 decision over McKinney Boyd’s Strother Thompson. Alkhalidi beat Thompson twice and went 3-1 on the day.

In the 220-pound weight class, Farley pinned Little Elm’s Isaiah Hernandez for third place at 1:33, capping off a 3-1 day for the Pirates. Farley is currently 22-9 on the season heading into regionals. 

Among the heavyweights, Qattan beat Prosper’s Matthew Lopez by a no contest in the fourth-place match. Qattan was 3-2 on the day. 

Owen Nunn, Trey O’Toole, Jonathan Ewton and Luke Gilley earned alternate nods for the Pirates. Wylie will compete in the regional championship at Allen this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12. 

For Wylie East, seven wrestlers qualified with one alternate during the meet. The team finished with 144 points to sit comfortably in fourth place, falling behind Princeton (161.5 points), Highland Park (215 points) and Lovejoy (257 points). Coach Tad Hazlewood called it a good performance, given that several Wylie East wrestlers were recovering from sickness and injury. 

“The guys wrestled well in the meet,” Hazlewood said. “They came through at certain weight classes and fought through a lot of adversity.” 

Isaac Flores, Ty Jarvis, Ryan Lobato, Robert Samano, Timothy Ouane, Colby Feece, and Xavier Cole were among the qualifiers. 

Feece was the 182-pound weight class winner, bringing his record to 18-2 on the season. He earned pins in all three of his matches for the day, including a pin of Princeton’s Elisha Wilson at 2:35. 

Ouane, Samano and Lobato finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes. Ouane finished second in the 152-pound class, losing to Highland Park’s Jarek Delgado by a 5-2 decision in the championship. 

Lobato upped his record to 29-8 for the season, getting three pins before losing to Mercer Ashley by a 4-2 decision in the 138-pound weight class. 

Jarvis finished third in the 132-pound weight class while Flores and Cole came in fourth place. Landon Nguyen was named an alternate in the 195-pound weight class.

Wylie East will wrestle at the regional championships in Anna this Friday and Saturday.

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By Kyle Grondin • kgrondin@csmediatexas.com