From Amarillo.com
Randall boys, Caprock girls victorious
By Terrence Hunley
Two familiar teams hoisted the trophies of the first big dual tournament of the wrestling season this weekend.
The Randall boys and the Caprock girls, both defending state champions, took first place Saturday in the Raider Duals at the Courts of Amarillo.
The Caprock Lady Longhorns, who have won six straight state championships and seven overall, came from behind to defeat Hereford, 31-24, in the girls final. The two-time defending state champion Randall Raiders defeated Garden City, Kan., 42-27, in the boys championship.
Randall jumped to a 15-0 lead over Garden City three matches into the dual. Garden City won the next three matches, including Joey Dozier shocking two-time state champion Victor Dotson 12-9 in the 152-pound division.
"We gotta find out what was going on," Randall coach David Quirino said. "Credit to (Dozier). He came after him, and we lost the match. Something happened there, but we will figure it out. We lost today."
With Garden City holding an 18-15 lead six matches into the 15-match dual, Quirino was worried but knew it was too early to panic.
"I was a little nervous there," Quirino said. "We had a senior coming up, and he got pinned. It was a little nerve-racking but we believe in what we do, we believe the system, and when the dual is over we will look at the scoreboard."
Randall was able to close it out, winning six of the remaining eight matches. Chris Thompson was able to seal the victory for the Raiders in the 112-pound weight class. Thompson was trailing Anthony Calderon 6-2 with less than 15 seconds left in the match. Thompson was able to reverse Calderon and stick him on his back for a near-fall to win the match 7-6 to give the Raiders a 39-24 lead with two matches remaining.
"We spent two days here, and for the most part both teams steam-rolled everybody then they finally hit each other," Garden City coach Monte Moser said. "A lot of our kids hadn't been in a third period until this dual. We were able to beat a couple of his studs, and they beat a couple of ours. It was a lot closer than the score showed."
rrence.hunley@amarillo.com
