Wrestling: Aledo’s Powell to be alternate at state

One of the best seasons in Aledo’s young wrestling history continued at the Class 5A Region I Tournament in Lubbock this past weekend. The highlight of the tournament was Brady Powell finishing fifth in his weight class and being an alternate for the state wrestling tournament Feb. 14-15 at the Berry Center in Houston.

Powell, competing in the 175-pound division, split his six matches.

For the Ladycats, Ari Mathias also reached the second day of competition. She was 2-2 in the 138 division.

“We are a young team, so the experience of making it to regionals and winning a match at that tournament will be valuable next season,” said coach Ben Shaw, who is wrapping up his first season at the helm of the Aledo program. “We competed hard and wrestled lots of close matches. I’m proud of the way our athletes continued to compete until the very end.”

Also winning matches and their respective weight classes for the Bearcats were Cameron Robbins, 106; Dylan Chandler, 120; and Cade Rangel, 215. Brice Bohn, 126; Oliver Tatro, 132; and Benjamin Hungerford, 144, also qualified for regionals.

Joy Stephens, competing in the 120 division, also posted a victory for the Ladycats. Other girls who qualified for regionals are Lillian Carruthers, 100; Avery Kernan, 107; and Grace Beasley, 114.

“This was a great year for all of our regional qualifiers and it gives us the motivation to keep working to achieve our goals for next season,” Shaw said.