Plano East junior Bilal Habib drives his opponent to the mat for a takedown. Habib won the District 6-6A title at 106 pounds. Photo courtesy NiallMorgaMedia
By David Wolman
Despite icy road conditions forcing the cancellation of school for four days last week, the ice cleared up in time for last Friday’s District 6-6A wrestling tournament at Prosper Rock Hill High School.
It proved to be a successful outing on the mat for Plano East, Wylie and Wylie East. All three schools qualified at least one wrestler for this week’s Region II-6A Tournament, and Plano East crowned two district champions.
Bilal Habib entered the district tournament as the No. 1 seed in the 106-pound weight class and backed up his top ranking by winning both matches to earn first place. After a first-round bye, he outlasted Allen’s Roman Lopez by a 9-6 decision in the semifinals. In the first-place match against McKinney Boyd’s Dylan Phelps, Habib scored the first 10 points before pinning Phelps at the 3:33 mark.
Cameron Tran (113 pounds), Ian Garcia (165), Andy Santamaria (190), Jacob Caranfa (138) and Daniel Hartai (150) are also bound for the regional tournament after placing in the top four of their respective weight classes.
Tran, Garcia and Santamaria finished second, while Caranfa and Hartai placed fourth.
Tran earned his spot in the regional tournament after beating Princeton’s Logan Wilczynski by an 11-9 decision in the 113-pound semifinals. With the score tied 9-9 in the third period, Tran scored a two-point near-fall with 1:24 remaining to retake the lead and held on for the win. Tran lost to Allen’s Gianni Diaz by pin in the first-place match.
Garcia went 3-1 with pins in each of his first two matches, followed by a 21-6 technical fall in the 165-pound semifinals. Santamaria finished the day with a 2-1 record, including a 10-4 decision over Allen’s Anthony Boers in the 190-pound semifinals.
The Plano East Lady Panthers had three wrestlers punch their tickets to the regional tournament. Jessica Mathew won the District 6-6A tournament title at 155 pounds, while Natahlia Iztep placed third at 115 pounds and Sania Kasturi captured fourth place at 125.
Mathew needed less than two minutes to pin each of her first two opponents. In the first-place match against top seed Jasmine Arceo of Plano West, Mathew trailed 10-3 after the first period. However, Mathew scored seven straight points in the second period before pinning Arceo at the 3:26 mark.
Meanwhile, Iztep pinned Plano West’s Ajaccia Roland at the 2:14 mark in the third-place match at 115 pounds.