Martin wrestling ‘best team in Texas’
For the first time in almost a decade, the Arlington ISD is home to a UIL state championship athletics team.
The Martin High School boys wrestling team has that honor after a dramatic win in the Class 6A state meet this weekend in Cypress.
The team ended Allen’s 14-year run as the state champion and snapped a streak of six straight second-place finishes to Allen.
“It means we’re the best team in Texas,” said Martin coach Patrick Dunn, who has been Martin’s coach since 2005. “It just came down to who wouldn’t break. Our kids came through.”
The victory gave the district its first state title since the Seguin High School girls track team won the 5A state title in the spring of 2015.
Martin’s path to the title was improbable as the Warriors needed everything to go right and Allen to struggle on the final day. That’s exactly what happened as Martin had four wrestlers make the state finals and all four of its wrestlers won the weight class. Allen also had four wrestlers advance to the finals and they went 1-3.
Add a couple of upsets, a penalty here and there and a great rally by Martin’s Nicholas Zamora to win the 144-pound title over Allen’s Javin Jackson-Bey and the title was within reach for the Warriors. Martin didn’t clinch the championship until an Allen wrestler lost a championship match later in the day.
By the time the totals were posted, Martin had 190.5 points to Allen’s 185. Martin had finished second to Allen in eight of the last night years.
“Everyone truly cares about everyone on this team,” Dunn said. “When kids lost, they felt like they were letting the team down. That’s not what this team is about. We pick each other up.”
Of the 12 Martin boys who qualified for state, nine placed. Joining Zamora as individual state champs were Ibraheem Ahmed (175 pounds), Grayson Carpenter (165 pounds) and Isaak Arevalo (120 pounds).
Seguin’s Eshawn Tolbert also brought home a title for the Cougars by winning the 120-pound title.
Martin’s girls also finished third at state with Camille Rainey (138 pounds) and Jania Dunigan (126) winning state. Sam Houston’s Christina Faulk was the runner-up in the 235-pound class.