After a 20-year drought, the wrestling team has won the district tournament by a sizable margin. They finished with 394 points, with Grant in second place with 254 points.

“Winning districts was huge; that was a great accomplishment for all the kids. I’ve been coaching here for nine years, it’s been a work in progress,” head coach Cale Holt said.. “The whole time we’ve had our ups and downs, but to finally see it all come together is fantastic.”

McDaniel had 21 people place in districts, and three got first place in their weight class.

Starting in the 106-pound weight class, the team had two wrestlers who placed in districts, Michael Haragakiza got fifth and Sebastian Brooks got fourth. This helped build a lead for McDaniel.

In the 113-pound weight class, wrestler Ford Morris got second place against Cleveland in a hard-fought, three-period match. This second-place finish sent Morris to the state wrestling tournament.

Next, in the 120-pound weight class, Isaiah Snyder ran through most of the bracket, getting two pins against Grant and Ida B. Wells, which put him in the final against Roosevelt.

“I just wanted to pin him as quick as I can,” Synder said when talking about his match against Mateo Mazariegos.

This final was down to the wire, with both wrestlers getting chances to get a pin. The match went all the way until the end of the third period when Snyder was declared the winner by a minor decision because he had more points; the score was 8-5.

In the 126-pound weight class, Junior Hoang placed fourth. Hoang’s first match was against Roosevelt where he won, then he went on to wrestle against Grant Hoang lost. After Hoang wrestled Franklin wrestler Christian Bentacourt in where he got a quick pin in less than a minute, securing his team six points. 

Hoang’s next opponent was Franklin wrestler Isack Guerrero, in which his opponent forfeited the match. This put him against Ida B. Wells, where he faced a loss. Hoang’s final match—the third-place match—was against Cleveland, which he lost, finishing in fourth place.

After that, the 132-pound weight class wrestled, where Elijah Her finished third. Her’s final match to get third place was against Jefferson wrestler Robin Lawson where Jefferson ended up forfeiting the match, giving Her the third-place finish. 

Then came the 138-pound matches. The team had a second-place finisher, junior Ahmeil Keys, and a fourth-place finisher, senior Jake Brewer. 

Keys started in a match against Franklin. About three minutes in, Keys got the pin, sending him into the next round against Cleveland. The match went to decision, and Keys won 9-7. The win had him competing in the finals against Cleveland Wrestler Adrian Anaya. The match was very close and the crowd was roaring,  the match ended in a decision where the score was 7-6 in Cleveland’s favor, making it a loss for Keys. His second-place finish propelled the team even farther into the lead.

The next weight class was 144 pounds. Junior Ethan Holstein got first place in the district, and sophomore Lupine Reeves finished third. Holstein flew through his first three matches against Franklin, Cleveland, and Grant to put him in the final against Roosevelt. Holstein’s match was also very close and came down to a decision, but in the end, Holstein pulled through and won.

“I’m going for a second district win next year,” said Holstein. 

About halfway through the tournament, the 150-pound class competed, and junior Adrian Carrillo-Castro finished in sixth place.

The 157-pound class followed, where the team had Elio Parque finish in fourth place.

Toward the end of the tournament, junior Charles Vickers got second in the 190-pound weight class, earning him a spot in the state championship. Junior Nathaniel Chambers got fourth place in this class.

 The 215-pound weight class included Lucas McCall-Petke and Eduardo Pineda placed first and second in the tournament. McCall-Petke won both matches to get to the final match in less than a minute. The two McDaniel wrestlers met in the final, but Pineda forfeited due to a shoulder injury. 

The 285-pound weight class had two different McDaniel students, including senior Miguel Narrvaro, who got third place, and junior Skylar Phillips, who got fifth place.

McDaniel had one-fourth place at state who was Isiah Snyder. 

The wrestling team will work hard during the offseason to return to this position next season. 

“We are gonna practice the techniques that we already know and keep working on them over and over again in practice,” Holstein said.