By Joseph Krum
Staff Writer
@joseph_krum
The key to wrestling is becoming dominant over your opponent and pinning them to the ground or outperforming them throughout the match. That is exactly what the Coppell Cowboys wrestling teams did overall Friday night at the Santa Slam duals at Coppell High School.
Going up against Trinity Christian Academy and Highland Park, the boys’ wrestling team was dominant from the start. After barely losing a couple of beginning matches, the Cowboys pulled ahead with pins by senior Nick MacIntosh and junior Frankie Morgan to win the first dual against TCA. Coppell was even more dominant in the second dual against Highland Park with pins from junior Kutter Joplin and many other wrestlers.
“I thought we did really well considering we wrestled two traditionally solid teams,” wrestling head coach Chip Lowery said. “Highland Park was third in the state last year and we only let them win one match and TCA has some really quality wrestlers, they beat us with some of their kids and we won all of the other matches with our younger guys. Overall, I thought we did really well.”
Senior captain Jesse McPherson thought that even though there were some matches that did not go as planned, the Cowboys performed well throughout.
“Today, we did pretty well,” McPherson said. “We had a few little hiccups here and there, but we won both of our duals. We had some studs show up, even though we did not do as well as we could have against them. Yet overall I thought we performed well.”
Unlike the Cowboys wrestling team, the Cowgirls had more struggles throughout the matches. After only winning two of the first 13 matches against the Texas from Sam Houston High School, they were not performing to the level they thought they could compete at.
Yet senior captain Koa Moe believes the whole experience is a work in progress.
“Considering we have nine freshman out of 13 wrestlers, we have not done too bad,” Moe said. “Come district time, we will be a different team and a whole lot better.”
The Cowgirls ended up putting up a fight in the second round against the Texans, with wins by Moe and Madison Nelson, who won 15-0 by score.
Both senior captains Moe and McPherson led their teams and won both of their matches, and without much contest in either of them. They both believe that throughout the hard work and preparation, it is the mindset that led them to the win.
“I honestly just went out there with a confident attitude, knowing that I can beat both of these kids, and I went out there and gave it my all and eventually won,” McPherson said.
Moe also believes her mindset was a crucial component to her victory, yet she also credits her hard work.
“I practice a bunch,” Moe said. “Not just in the wrestling room, but also on my own. You have to run and lift by yourself also. I also had lots of confidence, I know that I am going to win so that is just what helps me.”
Although the Cowgirls did not have as much success, winning both of the matchups for the guys team was a solid accomplishment. Within the wins, Lowery believes that there are good things that he can take away.
“In the TCA matchup, we lost three of the first four, but we ended up winning so we can take away that we always fight,” Lowery said. “Also, when it comes down to it, we can put a quality guy in every weight class on the mat. We did not have any forfeits or any bad guys out there, we were able to put a quality guy out there every time and that was why we won.”
