Arlington Martin ends Allen's 14-year Texas state boys wrestling championship streak
CYPRESS, Texas - Arlington Martin stopped Allen boys wrestling's Texas high school state championship streak at 14.
The Allen boys wrestling team had been the benchmark for success in wrestling in the Lone Star State, having won the past 14 state title heading into the final day on Saturday.
The first title happened in 2010 in a one-classification system, then two in Class 5A before winning the last nine in 6A — the only team to have ever won any in 6A since the classification was created in the 2014-15.
Arlington James Martin upset the kings by a slim margin with a victory with 190 1/2 points. Allen was second with 185 — ending their stranglehold it held on the state’s largest classification.
Martin won four individual championships to go with the team title. Isaak Arevalo repeated as a state champion by winning the 120-pound title. Grayson Carpenter won the 165-pound title, Ibraheem Ahmed took first at 175-pounds with a 3-2 win in an ultimate tiebreaker and Nicholas Zamora had an improbable championship at 144.
He beat a defending sate champion in the semifinals, 12-10, and then won by the same score in the finals against Allen’s Javin Jackson-Bey — a key head-to-head win.
After two periods, Zamora faced a 9-3 deficit but in the final 23 seconds in the third got 7 points to win.
“I love winning, I love the kids stepped up and the kids wrestled,” Martin coach Patrick Dunn said. “These guys believed in themselves and did the right thing, worked hard and loved each other. Win or loss they have each other’s backs and support each other.”
Arlington Martin poses on the podium after bringing home the Class 6A boys UIL state wrestling team title with four individual champions.
Photo by Tom Dendy, SBLive Sports
