Thirteen wrestlers. Nine state qualifiers. Seven first place finishes. One regional championship team. These were the results after two days of wrestling in the Region II tournament. From Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 in the main gym at the high school, the boys’ wrestling team competed in four rounds of matches looking to place in the top four of their weight class and move on to state.

“[Placing first at regionals] was a good feeling,” senior Bo Nickal said. “I was really happy with my performance and the team’s performance, so it went well.”

The University Interscholastic League (UIL) state tournament will be held in Garland from Feb. 14-15. To prepare for their last tournament of the season, the team has added practices to their schedule, are running extra sprints and partaking in sandbag workouts.

“I’m pretty confident. We’re going to do really well,” Nickal said. “I’m just excited and ready to leave with a bang.”