Plano East’s Darcy Gomez, left, stares at her Plano West opponent on Jan. 7. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Plano East wrestling team traveled to The Colony High School last weekend for the Cougar Classic.
Plano East recorded four top-three finishes, with three wrestlers placing in the top three of their respective weight classes. The effort was highlighted by a first-place finish from Bilal Habib at 113 pounds. Habib won all three of his matches, including a 14-9 decision over Dallas Kimball’s Isaac Mireles in the championship bout.
Cameron Tran (106 pounds) and Ian Garcia (165) each finished second, while Andy Santamaria (190) earned a third-place finish. Santamaria cruised to a 13-2 major decision over Benbrook’s Aiden Carpenter in the third-place match.
On the girls side, Plano East’s Jessica Mathew placed sixth at 155 pounds.
For Plano East’s girls, Nathalia Itzep (115), Sania Kasturi (125), Villanueva Mialey (140) and Darcy Milla Gomez (170) wrestled at The Colony. The Panthers’ boys were represented by Michael Conner (126), Nithil Vijayakuar (132), Daniel Hartai (150), Joshua Hoeppner (157), John McKinley (175) and Cesar Hartai (285).
Three days earlier, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, Plano East’s boys fell 45-35 in a hard-fought crosstown dual against rival Plano West. The Panthers earned pins from Ozzie Thornton (144), Garcia (165), Santamaria (190), Yener Asan (215) and Habib (113), along with a 17-1 technical fall from Tran (106).
That same night, the Lady Panthers lost 60-18 to the Lady Wolves. Plano East earned pins from Itzep (115), Kasturi (125) and Mialey (140).