The junior trailed by a point when he pulled off a three-point takedown in the closing seconds to secure the title at the UIL State Wrestling Championships.
CYPRESS — Smithson Valley junior wrestler Bryce Palmer felt it as the clock dwindled Saturday at the Berry Center . His state championship hopes were slipping away as he trailed 4-3 with under 15 seconds remaining, locked in hand-fighting as his opponent, Whitehouse senior Carter McLaughlin, seemed content to stall until the buzzer.
“I looked over at my corner and saw my coach, Tim Clarkson, and I knew I had to go. I knew I had to score,” Palmer said. Palmer shoved McLaughlin’s arm to the side, and in one fluid motion, took him to the mat. As McLaughlin struggled to free himself, the referee raised three fingers to award three points for a takedown, sending the crowd into a frenzy. After the last few seconds ticked off the clock, Palmer got up from the mat in triumph to celebrate his UIL Class 5A wrestling state championship in the boys 150-pound weight class. NEWSLETTER: Your free all-access pass to the best high school sports coverage in San Antonio “I remember screaming as soon as I got it. It feels so surreal,” Palmer said. “I love wrestling in arenas like this. I love being on the big stage, love having the lights on me. It’s just who I am, and this just feels even better having .” Palmer finished fourth in the 132-pound division as a freshman and came in fifth at 138 last season before jumping two weight classes to 150. Palmer took to his new division immediately and entered the UIL state tournament as the top seed from Region IV with a 25-0 mark on the season. He won his first two matches by fall Friday before edging Canyon Randall’s Daniel Acosta by a 3-2 decision in the semifinal round Saturday morning. In the title bout, McLaughlin appeared to have the upper hand in what was largely a stalemate when he took a 3-0 lead with a takedown. Palmer earned a couple points with a pair of escapes from the bottom position to stay close before his winning move at the end. On the girls side, Judson senior Samaria Barnett was shooting for her second straight 6A state championship in the 152-pound class. Barnett breezed through her first three matches, getting a first-round pin in her opener before convincing wins by decision in the quarterfinals and semifinals . But Barnett, who was 40-0 entering the state tournament, ran into another undefeated wrestler in the title match in Prosper Rock Hill senior Hadyn Stine. Stine, who won the 145-pound division last season, got a quick takedown on Barnett in the first round and never let up, pinning Barnett 1:35 into the match. Stine finished the tournament with four pins in four matches, three of which came in the first round. She was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler among all Class 6A girls wrestlers. “It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow,” Barnett said. “I didn’t get the outcome I wanted, but props to because she did what she needed to do.” RELATED: Barnett leaves lasting legacy at Judson through success, leadership Barnett won Judson’s girls wrestling program’s first state championship last season when she broke through as a junior. She ends her high school career with an 84-2 record over her last two seasons. “This isn’t the end,” Judson coach Taylor Spivey said. “Wherever she goes, a school is getting a leader. She’s going to push her teammates and expect greatness out of herself. This second place, although it’s not what she wanted, it’s going to fuel her fire for the future.” Two other San Antonio-area wrestlers competed in Saturday’s championship matches, with Uvalde senior George Rodriguez winning his second state title in three seasons and San Marcos sophomore Mila Juarez earning a silver medal. Rodriguez, the top seed from Region IV, made his third straight appearance in the 5A boys 120-pound title match. After winning in 2023, he came in second last season. He left no doubt Saturday against familiar foe Matthew Brock, a senior from Austin Anderson and the No. 2 seed from the Region IV tournament. Rodriguez steadily controlled throughout on the way to a 9-0 decision. Juarez kept Dripping Springs freshman Lucy Clarno close for most of their 6A girls 120-pound title match, but Clarno scored a flurry of points between the second and third rounds to win an 11-5 decision. Steele junior Asaiya Golphin and Churchill’s Lianna Benitez were the other top area finishers in the 6A girls division with Golphin placing third at 185 and Benitez sixth at 126. For 5A girls, Burbank’s Gideon Sanchez earned fourth place, and Smithson Valley’s Summer Williams finished fifth. MacArthur’s Sofia De Alba topped Smithson Valley’s Alexis Avalos in their 100-pound fifth-place match. Davenport’s Cheyenne Velasquez , Edison’s Maria Munoz , Veterans Memorial’s Natania Workman and Smithson Valley’s Gabriela Night placed sixth. Madison’s Brandon Long finished third the 6A boys 215-pound weight class, while Churchill teammates Declan Kelts and Carlos Gonzalez Ramirez were fifth and sixth, respectively. Judson’s Xavier Stoops also finished sixth. New Braunfels ISD had a pair of medalists in 5A as Colin McQuone placed third at 132, and New Braunfels Long Creek’s Cruz Morales was fourth at 138. Veterans Memorial senior Torrance Adkins was third at 175, and Smithson Valley junior Preston Kepler finished fourth at 165. Pieper’s Ethan Cobarrubias finished sixth.
Judson Prosper Rock Hill 5A 6A Churchill Veterans Memorial New Braunfels ISD Brandon Long Carter Mclaughlin Bryce Palmer Samaria Barnett Taylor Spivey Judson Tim Clarkson Barnett 1 Stine George Rodriguez Hadyn Stine Whitehouse Lucy Clarno Mila Juarez Matthew Brock Torrance Adkins Gideon Sanchez Preston Kepler Asaiya Golphin Canyon Randall Daniel Acosta Sofia De Alba Lianna Benitez Juarez Steele Macarthur Alexis Avalos Edison Cheyenne Velasquez Cruz Morales Maria Munoz Natania Workman Gabriela Night Carlos Gonzalez Ramirez Pieper Summer Williams Colin Mcquone Austin Anderson Xavier Stoops Ethan Cobarrubias Declan Kelts Smithson Valley Berry Center CYPRESS 5A Region IV Churchill Dripping Springs Burbank Davenport Veterans Memorial Madison New Braunfels Long Creek San Marcos Uvalde San Antonio UIL State Wrestling Championships Class 5A 6A
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