On Jan. 17, both the women’s and men’s wrestling teams dominated at the Jim Grimm Memorial Varsity Tournament, hosted by Lake Belton Wrestling at Lake Belton high school. The Warriors took home a multitude of podium placers, both on the women’s and the men’s team, as well as a gold plaque celebrating the men’s first place victory. 

“Overall, that was our best performance as a team,” Wrestling Coach Kevin Beers said. “The guys have been close several times, but we never finished when it counted the most. This tournament, we worked through the adversity and came out as champions.”

The Jim Grimm tournament placings – first for men’s and third for girl’s respectively – readily showcase the Warriors’ newfound momentum as they work to build up both their will and their stamina for the rapidly approaching districts.

“After watching the progress of our team, the results on Saturday do not surprise me,” Wrestling Coach Danny Faust said. “We are getting better every week.”

The girls immediately took third place after the first set of rounds, fighting head-to-head with a close point lead from fourth. The final rounds, however, effectively catapulted the Lady Warriors into third place with a lead of 13 points, placing their point total at 93.5. Girls placers include Jasmine DeGuerres ‘26, Deighan Cherry ‘28, Reese Watts ‘26, Yeissel Dameras ‘26, and Maya Hennvall ‘27.

“We’ve grown not just in numbers, but in terms of chemistry,” Girl’s Captain Jasmine DeGuerres said. “We have a lot more girls coming who enjoy the sport and have friends, [community, and people they rely on] within the sport.”

The men’s team, similarly, prevailed over the tournament, easily reaching first place with a 37.5 point difference between them and the team that lay in second place. The boys achieved an impressive 153.5 point total, securing the first boys championship win in the program’s history. Boys placers include Elijah Allen ‘29, Owen Harry ‘29, Jesus Vasquez ‘26, Xavier Cavasos ‘26, Weston Keller ‘28, Teddy Kubelka ‘28, and Avery Hilton ‘28.

“I feel very proud of all of our first year wrestlers,”  Cherry said. “Some of them got their first titles at this tournament, and I feel very happy for them.”