Jesuit Wrestling started the 2023 year ready to roll, with a record of 4-2 in duels, +21 dual point differential before thanksgiving, and top-fifteen finishes in two tournaments.
McKinney Boyd Tri-Duel
Starting off with the tri-duel at McKinney Boyd, the Ranger Wrestling team finished 1-1, with a dominant win over Frisco Wakeland. 126-pound Alex Shomin ’26 led the Rangers off to an early lead due to a fall. Pablo Lopez ’24 kept the momentum going and sophomores Luke Bloodworth and Trevor Leap finished the scoring off with two head-to-head wins, putting the final score at 48-20 for the Rangers.
The Rangers fought a tough battle against McKinney Boyd, Boyd narrowly escaping with a 38-40 win due to weight class forfeits, the Jesuit team winning the majority of the head-to-head bouts. Shomin picked up his second win of the night, along with Bloodworth, Leap, and Lopez to bring a strong Ranger performance in both duels.
“We looked solid, we just need to fill out all the weight classes” -Alex Shomin
Arlington Invitational
After the split at Boyd, the Rangers were ready to roll on Saturday, November 11, especially the Junior Varsity team, coming home with a slew of placements at the Arlington Invitational. Jesuit Wrestlers Trevor Leap ’26 and Mike McCoy ’27 both came home with gold medals, with silvers for Nate Saliva ’24, Harry Dow ’26, and Bennett McPhaul ’26.
157-pound Senior Oliver Collins punched through his bracket with four wins to the 3rd place finals match, winning it by fall to bring his record to 5-1 in the tournament. Kingston
Stevens ’26 was the team’s second-highest performer, placing 4th in the 106-pound bracket. Fighting a tough bracket into the championship semi-final, he won with a hard 18-17 decision to advance.
Other notable performances were 150-pound Pablo Lopez, 190 Luke Bloodworth, Nicolas Westerhide, and Spencer Broussard who together won several matches to bring up the Rangers point total. This allowed the Rangers to finish 15th in a difficult tournament
Woodrow Wilson Tri-Duel
The Rangers traveled to Woodrow Wilson on November 15th to take on the Wildcats and Bryan Adams Cougars. There was a great turnout by fans and parents, who kept the energy alive in opposing territory. The Rangers started with a phenomenal performance against Bryan Adams, easily winning the first duel with a . Woodrow Wilson proved a tough opponent for the Rangers. With a dramatic match between Jake Daboub ’25 and a Woodrow opponent coming down to the wire with a tough loss, the team was still ahead in points, however, forfeits once again cursed the Rangers’ win, ultimately going down 33-38 to the Wildcats.
Richardson Roundup
The Richardson Roundup, taking place on November 18th, led the team into the Thanksgiving break with a tournament full of twists and turns for the team.
106- Kingston Stevens ’26 was the team’s top finisher, with a silver-medal performance. He had an incredible 14-second pin in the first round against a Creekview wrestler to advance in the bracket and did not stop coming with another win by fall to advance into the 1st place match.
Oliver Collins ’24 brought the team’s second-strongest performance with a 3rd-place finish in the 157-pound division. He brought four wins by fall to the Ranger win tally to advance the team points. Sophomores Alex Shomin and Trevor Leap brought the Rangers two 4th-place finishes, with Leap having a key win in the consolation semi-final match to advance.
Spencer Broussard ’24 won two key matches to increase the Ranger’s point total. Along with one match win for Luke Bloodworth ’26 and Pablo Lopez ’24, the Rangers tally increased enough to slide into a comfortable 8th place in the tournament.
Mike McCreedy Invitational
After a restful Thanksgiving and stressful weight checks the Ranger Wrestling team was back on December 1st to travel to Colleyville High School for the Mike McCreedy invitational. With nearly 30 teams in attendance, it proved to be a rough tournament for the team, finishing 17th overall.
However, the Rangers still had several good performances, with Oliver Collins ’24 getting a shot at 3rd place after a 26-second pin in the consolation semi-finals. He was the Ranger’s best performer of the day, with Jake Daboub ’25 coming up second with a 5th-place finish after winning the final match by a 6-2 decision.
JJ Pierce & St. Marks Tri-Duel
The Ranger’s first home event, December 6th did not disappoint against district rivals JJ Pierce and neighboring St. Marks with two wins tallied onto the season. The team went hard to win the event with a phenomenal showing by the entire team, even with injuries plaguing both the JV and Varsity teams.
War Games
The War Games tournament was held in War Memorial High School in Frisco on the 9th, with a single medal performance for the Rangers by Kingston Stevens ’26. Oliver Collins ’24 fought his way into the 5th place match, losing in a brutal 7-4 decision. The Rangers kept the pressure up for an 18th place finish
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