Plano East junior Bilal Habib holds up the leg of Allen’s Roman Lopez during the first-place match at 106 pounds in the Region II-6A Tournament at Allen High School on Saturday. Habib won by a 10-5 decision. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media
By David Wolman
ALLEN – Getting to the point of becoming a regional champion required Plano East junior Bilal Habib to overcome previous heartbreak.
Each of the previous two seasons, Habib came up one win short of qualifying for the state tournament. Despite falling just short during his freshman season, he was encouraged by how far he advanced. After losing again in the consolation semifinals as a sophomore, Habib was frustrated but determined to work harder.
All of the time Habib spent working with his coaches to correct mistakes, along with training outside of school to improve his overall technique, paid off last weekend. He won all four of his matches to capture the Region II-6A championship at 106 pounds held Friday and Saturday at Allen High School, capped off by a 10-5 decision of Allen’s Roman Lopez in the finals.
Habib also focused on sharpening his mental approach, which he said was the biggest reason he was able to win his weight class.
“Before, I would get nervous in big matches,” Habib said. “Now it feels like I can keep up the pace in all three periods and remain calm.
“(Lopez) actually came off a huge upset in the semifinals. I knew that I beat him the first time, so I knew I couldn’t take bad shots. I slowed it down, worked hard and used my basic technique.”
Plano East came just seconds away from having a second state qualifier.
Andy Santamaria led 5-0 against The Woodlands’ Holden Hart with less than a minute remaining in the third period of the third-place match at 190 pounds. Hart scored five points over the final 41 seconds, including a takedown with two seconds left to force overtime, then secured an 8-5 decision with a takedown in the extra period.
Despite the loss, Santamaria was given another opportunity to qualify for state. Facing Lake Highlands’ Divine Onyejiaka in the fourth-place match at 190 pounds, Santamaria nearly rallied from an early six-point deficit but fell short in a 7-5 loss, finishing fifth.
Cameron Tran competed well at 113 pounds but finished two wins shy of a state tournament berth. His regional run ended with a 14-3 major decision loss to Bryan’s Clayton Hicks.
Jacob Caranfa (138 pounds), Ozzie Thornton (144), Daniel Hartai (150) and Ian Garcia (165) also represented the Plano East boys at the regional tournament.
On the girls side, freshman Jessica Mathew (155) had the most success among Lady Panther wrestlers. Coming off a district championship, Mathew went 2-2 at regionals, earning pins in her first and third matches. Nathalia Iztep (115) and Sania Kasturi (125) also competed for Plano East.
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