The Lake Highlands Wildcats wrestling team has done it again.

For the fifth year in a row, the 'Cats captured the District 18 team championship and did so in impressive fashion, winning the title by a 93 point margin over the second place team, the Berkner Rams.

As impressive as the district championship win streak might seem, for Pete Grieder, now in his 26th year as head coach of the wrestling team, bringing home his 20th district team championship trophy is especially rewarding.

"Definitely a milestone," Grieder said of this year's district championship.

"But more importantly, and what makes me feel really good about all this, is that the whole team did the work they needed to accomplish their goal of qualifying everyone for regions. We're taking all wrestlers – 12 as full qualifiers and two as alternates – to the regional tournament, so that is big."

Out of the 14 weight classes, the Wildcats brought home six individual gold medals, six silver medals and two bronze medals.

After all said and done, and the wrestlebacks completed, the 'Cats will be taking the whole team to Houston this weekend for the Region II tournament which will be held at the Merrill Center on Saturday.

Some of the individual accomplishments from the District 18 tournament were just as impressive as the team results.

The 'Cats had three undefeated wrestlers heading into the district tournament – sophomore Thayer Atkins (113 lb), junior D'Andre Brumfield (106 lb) and senior Nathan Schulman (138 lb).

At the close of business on Saturday, Atkins and Schulman had captured gold in their respective weight classes and remained undefeated on the season, while Brumfield took his first loss in the finals (4-3 decision) against Nick Barker from Jesuit. Brumfield was challenged by Jonathan Cantu from Berkner but easily won the wrestleback to secure his spot as a regional qualifier.

For Schulman, the first place finish at the district tournament is his third district title in a row. His overall record on the season now stands at 48-0.

Atkins also pushed his overall record on the season to 48-0 with his gold medal performance at the district tournament – his second district title in a row. Atkins won all three of his district matches by pin and is clearly highly motivated to improve on his fourth place finish at last year's state tournament.

Senior heavyweight Ryan Branch captured his district title by pinning Emmanuel Anderson of Berkner and won his second varsity district championship in a row.

Senior Lee Lueder had a very impressive district tournament, as well, winning each match of his three matches in the 160 lb. weight class by pin.

Senior Biak Thang won gold in the 145 lb. weight class and did so by beating Nic Bellegarde of Jesuit with a 15-13 decision in overtime. The win was a big one for Thang who was handily beaten by Bellegrade two weeks ago at the Jesuit tournament.

Sophmore T.J. Grieder, who prior to the district tournament had only wrestled eight varsity matches all year, punched his ticket to the regional tournament with a second place finish in the 152 lb. weight class. Grieder narrowly missed a gold medal, losing to Simon Crawford of Richardon High School in a 8-7 decision in the last ten seconds of the match.

Grieder took the place of senior Yordi Calix who unfortunately couldn't wrestle due to injury. Yordi was a regional qualifier last year as a junior and was high on the list of 'Cats wrestlers who had a legit shot at the state tournament prior to his injury.

"I knew the injury to Yordi two weeks ago was going to be tough on him," Coach Grieder said.

"We waited until the last second hoping he would feel better, but it just wasn't going to happen. Yordi had all the want in the world but just couldn't go. Luckily, we had a capable back-up and T.J. went in there, went after his competition and did a great job."

Senior Henry Offord became a two-time regional qualifier with his gold medal in the 182 lb. weight class by winning the final match with a 9-3 decision over Caleb Sumners of Wylie High School.

Seniors Duncan McAuley (120 lb), Juan Maldonado (195 lb), Trace Mears (220 lb) and junior Dylan Dimizio (170 lb) all placed second in their respective weight classes.

Junior Deandre Neroes, who placed third in the 132 lb. weight class, also qualified for the regional tournament after second place finisher, Jordan Naemi (Berkner) was disqualified from the tournament for unsportsmanlike conduct.

2102 District 18 Final Team Standings

1st: Lake Highlands 239.50 points
2nd: Berkner HS 146.50 points
3rd: Jesuit 118.00 points
4th: Highland Park 73.00 points
5th: JJ Pearce 64.00 points
5th(T): Wylie HS 64.00 points
6th: Richardson HS 58.00 points
7th: Wylie East HS 10.00 points

Individual Wildcat Results:

1st Place

Thayer Atkins - 113 lb.
Nathan Schulman - 138 lb.
Biak Thang - 145 lb.
Lee Lueder - 160 lb.
Henry Offord - 182 lb.
Ryan Branch - Hwt.

2nd Place

D'Andre Brumfield - 106 lb.
Duncan McAuley - 120 lb.
T.J. Grieder - 152 lb.
Dylan Domizio - 170 lb.
Juan Maldonado - 195 lb.
Trace Mears - 220 lb.

3rd Place

Jorge Vargas - 126 lb.
Deandre Neroes - 132 lb.

The Region III Wrestling Championships will be held in Houston next Saturday, February 11th. We will have all the results right here on LH Today.

Congrats to Coach Grieder and LHHS wrestlers on their team title and impressive individual results at the district tournament. Best of luck this weekend!

GO 'CATS!