We are here at the Austin ISD Delco Center at the State Wrestling Tournament where freshman Thayer Atkins and D.D. Fields just completed their round one matches.

Atkins (112 lb.) wrestled Kaleb Richardson from Coppell High School. In their last match at the Jesuit Tournament in January, Atkins lost to Richardson 5-0. For Atkins, there would be no repeat of the loss to Richardson at Jesuit.

Atkins struck first with a take down to set the tone of the match. The score was tied 3-3 heading into the second period until Richardson moved ahead with an escape to go up 4-3 heading into the third. Atkins chose bottom and got an early period escape to deadlock the match 4-4. After two unsuccessful shots, Atkins finally got the best of Richardson with a take down, netting his first win of the day 6-4.

Senior D.D. Fields (125 lb.) was matched up against David Diaz from Rowe High School. The match started out rather slow with both wrestlers feeling each other out. Fields took the lead in the second period with an escape. In the third period, Fields polished off Diaz with a 3/4 nelson and got the pin.

Up next for Atkins is the top ranked wrestler in the state, Braun Marquez from Randall. For Fields, he faces off against Scott Akers from Flower Mound who is also ranked in the top three in the state.

"The openings rounds went exactly as we hoped for," said head coach Pete Grider. "They both wrestled close matches and won in the third period."

Stay tuned for more updates from Austin.