Consol wrestling team rallies to edge out Bryan

The A&M Consolidated wrestling team defeated Bryan 39-34 in the annual Crosstown Showdown, giving the Tigers one of their two annual goals with a chance for the second looming Saturday.

"We tell the kids all year long that from November to the first week of February is the preseason," Consol head coach Brian Wessel said. "There's only two things that count, beating Bryan and winning the district. Those are the only two things that mean anything on our schedule. So far we are 1-0."

The win gives Consol momentum going into Saturday's District 25 meet.

Viking head coach Michael Zito, typically on the winning end of the rivalry, praised Consol's effort despite his disappointment.

"Congratulations to A&M Consolidated," Zito said. "We are young this year and have a lot of holes. We felt sorry for ourselves and got on the bottom, but that's the nature of the beast. It was a hard match, but our hats go off to [Consol]. They deserved it."

The Vikings got off to a strong start when Victor Mireles pinned Consol's Shaun Goodman in what Zito viewed as an upset at 160 pounds.

"We knew Victor could beat him, but we didn't think he could pin him," Zito said. "That was definitely a shock on our part, which was good."

In front of a full Viking Gym, Bryan continued to get points as sophomore Cameron McCann gained three more in a 9-5 win at 132. Bryan's Nathan Jimenez (138) dominated in a 16-1 win to give the Vikings a 35-27 lead with just two matches remaining.

But Consol's Jacob Weise (145) and Jacob Wilson (152) wrapped up the Tigers' comeback victory with pins in their matches. Weise had stepped up to the 145 pounds with Wilson out the past few weeks due to an injury. In Wilson's first meet back, they both produced strong performances to give Consol the victory.

"It makes us happy, but it will be short lived," Wessel said. "Some of our folks that I don't think did as well as they could've today will have to wrestle a whole lot better Saturday, otherwise their season will be over."

Bryan's undefeated David Jones (215) missed the meet due to academics but will return Saturday at the district meet.

While Bryan missed Jones, the Vikings got key victories from Trey Pierce (126) and Rafael Turrubartes (220).

"I'm happy with them," Zito said. "We have a lot of young guys, so it's hard to get mad at one guy. We'll definitely use this [as motivation] for some of the guys. Any one of the teams could win the district tournament."

While traditional power Bryan has long been the better of the crosstown programs, Consol has steadily improved over recent seasons. Add to Tuesday's mix some upsets and unexpected outcomes, and both squads had plenty to feel good about with district coming Saturday.

"In matches like this I'm sure Coach Zito had a list of possibilities and different scores that he thought would pan out," Wessel said. "But this was nothing like any of the things I could even think of. I knew it was going to be close. We had a couple of kids pull through that we weren't expecting and a couple lose that we weren't expecting. It was a great night for us, though."