Area boys hope Berry Center has home-mat edge

Oak Ridge’s Kchrys Maban advanced to the state wrestling tournament last year, but his stay was brief.

He lost in the first round of Class 6A’s 113-pound division.

Now the junior is one of several Houston-area boys looking to shine brighter at home and prove they are as tough as their highly successful female counterparts Friday and Saturday at the Berry Center.

“Anybody can win, and anybody can take fifth,” Oak Ridge coach Michael Morgan said. “When you’re whittled down to the elite, anything can happen, and if he wrestles well, he’s definitely top four, if not in the finals.”

Maban, a regional champion at 113 pounds, will have a home-mat advantage in his return to the big stage as the University Interscholastic League state meet is in Houston for the first time.

“It’s the first time, since I’ve been here at Cinco (Ranch) for 17 years, that we’ve been able to sleep in our own beds for regionals and state, and I’m looking forward to it,” said Cinco Ranch coach Bill Dushane, who was the coach at St. Thomas the last time Houston hosted a state wrestling tournament in 1998 — then for public and private schools — before the UIL adopted the sport.

Girls have been golden

The Houston area has collected 21 gold medals on the girls side in the last five years, but the boys have only 12 in that span.

The area went without a boys champ in 2011, while the girls won four titles.

It isn’t because of a lack of talent.

Cody Koger, a 160-pounder for Cinco Ranch, for example, didn’t give up a point en route to winning a regional title last week. Going into this weekend, he has 190 career victories.

But he has come up heartbreakingly short in two previous trips to state.

Chance at redemption

Andrew Ulrich from The Woodlands is trying to do the same. A slip cost him a year ago.

“We had a little bit of a mental breakdown last year, so we’re working on that this year, getting him prepared for it. And he’s already been there once now, so he knows what to expect,” Highlanders coach Michael Harris said.

The girls are as strong as ever.

Klein’s Kjihla Evans is the area’s only defending state champion, and she picked up another regional crown last weekend at 165.

Other favorites include Cinco Ranch’s Charlotte Fowler (110), Kayla De Leon (138) and Taylor Rosario (185), Cypress Falls’ Allissa Maldonado (102), Langham Creek’s Rachel Doolittle (215) and Clear Falls’ Elissa Douglass (128).

The boys competition begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday, followed by the girls at 11 a.m. Championship matches start at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“I like traveling, actually, because we can check their weight, we know when they’re going to bed … and we have them away from their f amily and friends, and sometimes that’s a good thing,” Klein coach John Banas said. “But it’s also an advantage to be able to sleep in your bed, and then there’s no better arena for the state tournament than the Berry Center.”