Despite record snowfall in the area, the 2010 Region III Wrestling Championship went off this weekend with nothing more than a short delay on Friday.

Normally, the weather might have delayed the tournament a couple days, but Region III is comprised of nearly 30 teams from the Houston area and all of those teams had already made the trek north on Thursday. Pushing back this tournament was simply not an option.

With hundreds of wrestlers competing, once the tournament did get started, the action was non-stop on day one - and went well past 10:00 p.m. on Friday.

LHHS was well represented, with 11 Wildcats competing for a spot in the state tournament in two weeks.

Making things difficult for the Wildcats was the fact that Region III is regarded to be the toughest region in the state.

Each weight class was littered with several elite wrestlers in the state, and only the top four from each weight class can advance.

In the end, out of a field of 54 teams, Coach Grieder’s squad finished in 4th place as a team, just 1 point shy of Westside who finished in 3rd.

Individually, four seniors qualified for the state tournament. They include:

Isaac Kinsella – 1st place in the 135 lb. weight class
Isaac Grieder – 1st place in the 160 lb. weight class
Ebrima Njie - 3rd in the 215 lb. weight class
Brent Bono - 5th in the 189 lb. weight class (advanced after winning challenge match)

Senior Robbie Penny finished fourth place in the 140 lb. weight class but lost a challenge match to Matt Klein of Westside, which eliminated him as a state qualifier.

However, as the fourth place finisher, Penny will be an alternate on the team and could still compete should one of the four Region III qualifiers be unable to compete.

Junior D.D. Fields is also an alternate after losing his challenge match in the 125 lb. weight class. Fields challenged Logan McMillan of Katy for the right to go to state, but lost a close match 4-3.

Both Penny and Fields will travel with the team to Austin.