Local wrestlers take home hardware from state tournament

Wrestlers from schools across southern Denton County took to the mats last weekend to determine the state’s top athletes.

Despite just four Lady Jags competing, the Flower Mound girls took home second place in the team category.

The team, powered by three juniors, scored 71.00 points, about 12.5 points behind first place El Paso Eastwood and one point ahead of third place Allen.

Even though it wasn’t the first time the girls from Flower Mound had made it to state, it was one of their best performances. Flower Mound’s head girls coach Tiffany Mangini knows, since she has been there since the school’s wrestling program started.

“It’s not our first year to take four girls to the state tournament and it’s not our first year to have finalists, but it’s the most success we’ve had,” she said. “It’s amazing because I know where we started – with one girl who just grabbed some friends.”

Flower Mound juniors Wema Laktari and Aisha Williams Bautista both won first place in their respective weight classes.

Senior Naziah Moore and junior London Rolen also made it to the second day of competition and scored enough to earn the team second place.

Mangini said the prep for state started as soon as workouts did, but she made sure the girls faced adequate competition throughout the season that would set them up for success.

She also credited her assistant coach, Flower Mound wrestling grad Drake Dudley, for what he has brought to the team.

“He was a big piece of this,” she said. “Behind the scenes, he really keeps the energy high and takes some pressure off the girls.”

With what seems like a solid recipe for success, the Flower Mound team will enter next year coming off an impressive performance at the highest level of competition.

“It was a very good finish to our season and three of our four qualifiers were juniors, so they’ll be returning,” said Mangini. “It definitely makes for a promising season next year.”

On the boys side, Flower Mound senior Liam Campbell made the podium with a second place finish in his weight class.