It's a packed house at the Delco Center in Austin today, as the 'Cats are back in action at the state wrestling tournament.

Getting things started this morning was Isaac Kinsella (135 lbs.) who was matched-up against Austin Riddle from Flower Mound. This is a rematch after Kinsella beat Riddle at the Plano East Duals earlier in the season.

The match started out well for Kinsella, who scored first on a take down. Kinsella maintained at least a 2 point lead through the 5th minute of the match, but Riddle was able to tie things up at 9-9 with :53 seconds to go.

Both wrestlers would score again on takedowns before the end of the 3rd period, but neither could close the deal. With the score tied 11-11, sudden death overtime was needed to decide the match.

The OT period lasted all of 20 seconds when Riddle was able to score on a takedown. Final score was 13-11 in favor of Riddle.

Kinsella now moves into the consolation bracket and will need to win twice in order to take home the bronze medal for the 135 lb. weight class.

Kinsella will face Aaron Walker of Judson in the consolation semi-finals.

Next up for the 'Cats were both Isaac Grieder (160 lbs.) and Ebrima Njie (215 lbs.) It was a hectic few minutes for the Wildcat Coaches as both matches started at the same time, side-by-side on the Delco Center floor.

Grieder's match against Sawyer Morris of Westlake was an extremely emotional one for Grieder. It was evident early on that Morris was one of the best, if not the best, opponent Grieder has faced all year.

Grieder drew first blood on a take down and went up 2-0 halfway through the first period. The score was 4-2 at the start of the 2nd, but that's when things got a bit scary for Grieder.

After taking what appeared to take a blow to the back of the head, Grieder was not himself for the remainder of the match. However, he was able to take advantage of the aggressive tactics by Morris and kept scoring throughout the 3rd period.

Grieder won the match 11-7 and was very emotional after the big win, literally collapsing in his dad's arms after the match.

With the win, Grieder advances to the finals which will go off later this evening. Grieder will face Marc Buckus of Canyon Randall who comes from Region 1 and has an overall record of 27-10.

Ebrima Njie's match against Jody Bishop from Allen was a fierce match, as well. Bishop entered the state tournament as the runner-up in Region 3 and has an overall record of 26-2.

Like Grieder, Njie was also injured during the match. In fact, at one point, both Grieder and Njie were forced to take injury timeouts at the same time.

Bishop got up early on Njie, but he never took complete control of the match. Despite a hurt shoulder, Njie kept things interesting right up until the final seconds. Bishop took the decision 5-3 which pushes Njie into the consolation bracket.

Njie will face David Tanner from Rockwall Heath later this afternoon. He'll need to beat Tanner, and also beat the winner of the Teddy Johnson (Coppell) and Crockett Gilmore (Bushland) match, in order to secure 3rd place.

At the break, the Wildcats are currently in 9th place in the team standing with 39.5 points.

GO 'CATS!