The Bryan girls took center stage among the four local teams that competed at the 22nd Annual Doc Hess wrestling tournament on Saturday.

Jennifer Thomas and Desirae Campos each won their 16-person bracket, while three others scored points to give the Bryan girls a ninth-place finish in the 48-team event held in four venues on the Bryan campus.

“Our girls showed up big-time during this tournament,” Bryan assistant wrestling coach Victor Thomas said. “The ones that are experienced and the ones that we kind of expected to do well, they did, they showed up. Unfortunately, they did lose in the super finals but they saw some very good competition. Both of them were tested in this tournament and I’m so proud of the way they wrestled and battled through.”


After winning four matches to win her bracket — three by pin and the final by a 9-4 decision over Sophia Rivera of Austin Akins, Thomas was pinned by Weatherford’s Camille Fournier in a match that pitted the two bracket champions of the 119-pound class.

Campos pinned her first three opponents and then blanked Marissa Cano of Killeen Ellison, 7-0, to make the 138-pound division final, where she was pinned by Jordan Suarez of Katy Morton Ranch.

“Look at the big picture, two in the finals and couple that fought and had hard matches because there were some serious girls here today,” Bryan coach Mike Zito said. “So to be in the single digits [in the team competition] and we only had six in the 10 weight classes that is definitely a great finish.”

Bryan finished with 74 points. Cibolo Steele won with 161 points, Katy Cinco Ranch was second and Killeen Ellison third. Rudder was 26th with 26 points.

The Rangers were led by Makia English, who finished second in her 165-pound bracket to Marisol Lopez.

Bryan also picked up points from Karol Vargas in the 148-pound class. She won twice before having to exit the competition with a concussion in a loss to Jillian Wold of Comal Canyon. Cleo Cabrera won 3 of 5 matches and placed fourth in the 148-pound class. Gabriela Ramirez alternated wins and losses over four matches in the 165-pound division.

Maddie Trejo in the 148-pound division picked up points for Rudder with a win in the opening round and in the consolation bracket.


On the boys side, Bryan was 19th out of 48 with 33 points and Rudder was 33rd with 24 points. Lake Travis won with 178 points, edging Houston St. John’s School by six points. Burleson Centennial was third at 148.

Micah Samaripas in the 220-pound division was Bryan’s top finisher, placing second. He won two matches with pins and then was pinned in the final by Thomas Dixon of The Woodlands.

The Vikings had two wrestlers finish third. Michael Flores (132 pounds) won two matches before losing to Austin Saylor of Cibilo Steele and then won two straight, including a 3-2 decision over Brodie Dyer of Dripping Springs.

Joseph Pfromm (182) had a bye, won his first match 14-5 before losing and then won twice, including when he pinned Blake Jenson of San Antonio Reagan for third place.

“Joseph wanted to place higher himself because it’s his senior year,” Thomas said. “He won that [third-place] match pretty comfortable. He hated it because the guy that won the other [bracket] he had beat earlier in the year. Michael didn’t quite dominate but he wrestled well. We’ve got to get him to open up, be more aggressive, let it fly, because he is one of our hardest workers.”

Jayden Ellzey (160) picked up points for Bryan with a bye and a win in the consolation bracket.

“Couple weight classes we spent hours make sure they were seeded right and there was one kid with a a 17-3 record and we had to seed him No. 9 that’s how awesome this tournament was with its depth,” Zito said. “Watching the super finals, every one of them went the distance. No you got lucky to be there. They deserved to be there.”

Rudder had five wrestlers score, with senior Xavier Hernandez (138) leading the way with two wins.

Joseph Rives (113), senior Chris Soler (132) Dequintus Wilson (195) and Jalen Thierry (285) each had victories.

“Quality is going up year in and year out and that is just Texas wrestling, it’s just climbing more and more with competitive schools that get established and youth programs,” Zito said. “When I started there were 125 schools and now there are three divisions and were one of the few states with girls.”