By John Loop
Staff Writer

After the final takedown that capped his undefeated wrestling season, senior Sam Rice became a state champion.

Rice helped add another state championship for Coppell this year, defeating Clear Brook’s Justin Ackerman 5-4 to claim the 285-pound state title.

Rice, who has been wrestling since age 5, dominated all of this season’s opponents, maintaining a perfect 42-0 record.

The journey was not easy. Last year, Rice lost in the regional level of competition, but coach Chip Lowery would not let him hang his head.

“[Coach] used my loss at regionals to motivate me to do better this year,” Rice said. “Look how that worked out for me.”

Rice also played football as an offensive tackle for the Cowboys and signed a letter of intent in February to play at SMU. Because of his size, he thought wrestling would be a good sport to get into.

“I was big and strong so wrestling just seemed like a natural fit for me,” Rice said.

In the moment of his final match, Lowery had a feeling that Rice would win.

“In his finals, I was confident that Sam would win once he scored the first points,” Lowery said. “He is very difficult to score on, so I knew we had the advantage.”

After Rice’s last pin for the match point, much congratulation was in order.

“When Sam won, I said ‘there you go’ to Coach Kirk McBride,” Lowery said. “Then I went out and held out my hand and Sam slapped me five. It stung a little bit.”

Starting as a freshman, Rice impressed all of the coaches with his size and strength, including Lowery.

“That first day he walked in as a freshman, everyone was impressed by his size,” Lowery said. “We were all very anxious to see what he could do.”

The rest is truly history. The undefeated record stood all year, but there were some tense moments here and there that could have derailed it.

“There were definitely times were I was nervous that my streak was going to be broken,” Rice said. “But I pulled through all of that adversity and finished unbeaten. I completed all of my goals. I was undefeated, I am a state champion, but it is also kind of sad because I won’t be wrestling again.”