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Azle wrestling coach Chris Allen said AHS athletes have shone at a couple of events.
While fourteen Hornets learned at a camp on the University of Oklahoma campus, a former Lady Hornet led Texas to a strong finish at a prestigious gathering.
Azle state champ Pamela Abshire served as a captain for Team Texas when the elite squad headed to Fargo, North Dakota for the national championship freestyle tournament. Abshire finished third, improving by one place on her 2009 finish and earning All-American status for the second year in a row. Actually, Allen noted, Abshire reached the finals where she fell to a California wrestler. Placement points put Abshire third. Only three Team Texas athletes reached the finals. The Lone Star team finished second overall, to California.
Allen said, “We are very proud of her and how she competed.” A slew of Hornets headed to Norman for a summer camp at a hotbed of collegiate wrestling, OU. Plenty of the Azle athletes were young; seven were freshmen and one was an eighth grader. Azle finished sixth out of 18 teams in dual competitions “which was a little different then usual because you only wrestle the matches where you have kids,” Allen said. Azle wrestlers tangled with teams from Washington, Blackwell, OK, Pratville, Alabama, and Allen’s “old stomping ground” Olathe, Kansas. “Our young kids did well,” the Azle coach said. “They got a chance to learn from several All-Americans, World Champion Sammy Henson, and even homegrown Will Rowe who was our OU team coach.” In individual competition, Azle took third in a format that “favored our mix of young and inexperienced [athletes],” Allen said. Dammien Heard won his 103-pound weight class, Aaron Ryals was golden at 119, and Noah Killip was the champ at 150. Two Hornets placed fourth – Chris Shepard (145) and Alex Rubio (189). Azle’s other athlete to place was Tristan Davis who finished sixth at 112. “We got some great mat time,” Allen said of the trip. “It was a good week for us as a team to compete, learn from highly-skilled coaches, and improve our technique.” |
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