While the eyes of nearly all high school sports fans are focused in on the hardwood, as both the best boys and girls basketball teams inch toward the state championship, one of the most fascinating sports in the state is reaching its precipice.

And with it comes some interesting trends.

The UIL state wrestling championships will take place this weekend in Austin, pitting the very best wrestlers in Texas head-to-head for the title. A total of 20 wrestlers in each weight class – four plus an alternate from each of the four regions – will compete in a tournament to determine the champion.

It’s an exciting two days of grappling, but what may be more exciting is what this particular contingent of wrestlers means for the future.

As I was browsing through the list of qualifiers in our area, I started to notice something: an awful lot of these state qualifiers are either sophomores or juniors.

That didn’t seem right to me. You’re telling me that a large number of our area’s state qualifiers – the top echelon of wrestlers that our area has to offer – are coming back next season?

So I did some research. I took the data from the list of qualifiers and began to break it down.

And wouldn’t you know it? Of the 59 wrestlers from our area that qualified for the state meet, 26 of them – 44 percent of them – are either sophomores or juniors. Isolating just the youngest qualifiers, 15 of the qualifiers – more than a quarter – are sophomores.

Astounding, I know. But I think it speaks to the quality of our area’s wrestling programs to not only train great seniors, but also exceptional underclassmen.

Other interesting facts I noticed from my research:

-The two most prolific programs in our area are less than nine miles apart: Coppell and Flower Mound are each sending eight wrestlers to state.

-Two wrestlers are chasing the dream of an undefeated season. Frisco senior Tammy Bourma, who wrestles at 165 pounds, is 46-0, while Lewisville 171-pounder Michael McKinney is 43-0.

-All four Frisco ISD high schools are represented, sending a combined 15 competitors to Austin. All five Lewisville ISD high schools are represented, sending a combined 18 wrestlers.

-Dallas ISD is very well represented: four state qualifiers from Skyline, and another two from Sunset, Kimball and Molina.

If you get a moment this weekend, take your eyes off the basketball court and turn it to the mat. You might see something special.

Basketball, despite being a high-flying, heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumping sport, has a way of sneaking up on you.

Did you know, for example, that the girls high school basketball playoffs aren't just here, they're already a round deep? It's true: this weekend will constitute the second round — called the area around — of the UIL girls' basketball playoffs.

The boys, on the other hand, will start early next week.

And boy, do the playoffs have a lot of our area teams in them.

In Class 5A action, Plano West gets to take on a tough Cedar Hill team in the second round. West made short work of Saginaw, 71-41, in the opening round, while Cedar Hill soared past Grapevine, 52-35.

My favorite area round matchup comes when Irving MacArthur takes on Lewisville. MacArthur's Alexis Jones versus Lewisville's Makayla Roberson, two of the area's top scorers going head-to-head in a do-or-die game? Sign me up.

North meets south in a slobberknocker of a second-round 5A matchup when Duncanville takes on Plano East. Watch out for Duncanville's Bunny Williams; she's as dynamic a player as the area has seen recently.

Richardson and Garland are are also still alive, thanks to sensational performances by Farrin Bell and Gabrielle Wilkins, respectively. Also still in the hunt is Skyline, which toppled Garland Naaman Forest, 69-40, thanks to an absurd 28-point outburst in the third quarter.

Another area matchup in the area round pits DeSoto against Richardson Berkner. Berkner squeaked by McKinney Boyd in overtime, 59-57, to get here; the Lady Rams will need to be better than that to get past Jordan Jones and DeSoto.

Class 4A is also littered with area matchups, including Carter-McKinney. Carter managed to get past Conrad in the first round, 62-24, ending what has been an excellent season for Conrad.

But the game I'm most looking forward to is Rockwall against South Oak Cliff. SOC's suffocating defense will be tested by Hannah Hughes, Alyssa Lang and the rest of the Rockwall offense.

If the basketball playoffs snuck up on you too, it’s OK. Look at me: I’m a sportswriter and they snuck up on me.

But now is the perfect time to get to the gym for exciting girls basketball action.

We all just got done thawing ourselves out after our area’s recent bout with The Cold Front of the Century of the Week. As a result, I realize that what I’m about to ask will likely cause a great many of you to wonder if I slipped on the ice and suffered head trauma.

Regardless, here goes: I want you to go sit outside.

It’s for a reason, of course: to go see some of the best and brightest athletes that this area has to offer. It’s soccer season.

The area isn’t just rich in soccer talent. No, the area is a veritable Mark Cuban of phenomenal futbol.

The girls’ side is especially loaded, with three teams cracking the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas national rankings. Plano West leads the pack at No. 2, while McKinney Boyd and Flower Mound Marcus are not far behind at Nos. 4 and 10, respectively.

Over on the boys’ side, Frisco Wakeland is ranked third in the nation, with Flower Mound Marcus and Plano just missing the cut.

And that’s not even counting elite area teams like the Coppell girls (No. 5 in Region III), Southlake Carroll girls (No. 6), Frisco Wakeland girls (No. 9), Highland Park girls (No. 10), Coppell boys (No. 5) and Southlake Carroll boys (No. 10).

It all starts, of course, with elite players, which this area has in spades. Coppell forward Chioma Ubogagu is ranked as the No. 3 national prospect for 2011, according to respected soccer site topdrawersoccer.com. McKinney Boyd’s Kelley Monogue is No. 24, Keller forward Rikki Clarke is No. 29, Grapevine’s Clarissa Wedemeyer is No. 31 and Plano West superstar Whitney Jaynes is No. 32 on that same list.

Over on the boys side, you can count Mansfield star Aaron Simmons (No. 38), South Grand Prairie midfielder Rocco Bagley (No. 48) and W.T. White’s Eduardo Aranda (No. 60) among the nation’s top players according to the website’s recruiting rankings.

The point is that there is exactly no reason to stay inside while there is such elite soccer going on just down the street from your home.

Except for, you know, the weather. But trust me: it’s worth risking the frostbite.

First question: What’s the biggest decision you’ve ever made?

Depending on your age, it might be the decision to marry, the decision to take or leave a job, the decision to ask a girl out, the decision to join a team or the decision to simply make a decision.

Second question: How did you make that decision?

Chances are, you didn’t make the decision lightly. You carefully weighed the pros and cons of each choice. You consulted other parties, soliciting advice from them as to what they, hypothetically, would do. Depending on your religious affiliation, maybe you prayed about it.

The point is that it was difficult; that’s what makes it the biggest decision, right? No significant decisions are ever easy.

And the last thing you want to hear, after hours or days or weeks or months of agonizing over what to choose, is criticism. That can be devastating, re-instilling the possibility that you made the wrong decision.

Yet that’s what hundreds of high school athletes face when it comes to signing their National Letters of Intent to play in college.

Here they have an enormous choice: where to go to college. They have to weigh dozens of different factors: athletics, academics, playing time, proximity to home, climate, even things like if they’ll get to play on television.

But when the big day comes, and they put their pen to paper, they’re often faced with criticism of their decision. Why did he go there? Why did she pick that place? Does he realize what he’s throwing away? Does she understand the implications of her actions?

It’s usually most prevalent in online communities, where Internet Einsteins gather to critique the decisions of 17-year-olds. There are millions of thoughtful people who participate in online discussions; there are also thousands of thoughtless ones who think it’s their favorite college’s right to have every player on their team.

As fans, either in the high school or college ranks, it’s our responsibility to hope for the best for our team. As humans, it’s our responsibility to not criticize or second-guess the biggest decision of a 17-year-old soccer player’s life.

Support your team, and support the athletes who are making life-changing decisions at an early age. The two are not mutually exclusive.

On the large calendar I keep on my desk to keep me from becoming insane, I write down important events.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is marked with a proclamation of “NO WORK” in block letters. Scheduled interviews and appointments are jotted here and there.

But in the box representing the first Wednesday in February, I've drawn -- poorly, to be fair -- a hurricane. That's because it's National Signing Day, and it's a whirlwind of activity for high school athletics.

National Signing Day is the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent to play college sports. Basically, before today, every time an athlete commited to play for a school, it was a verbal commitmment. Once athletes puts pen to paper -- which they can do for the first time on Feb. 2 -- it might as well be carved in tablet form.

It's an exciting day for all involved: the athletes, the colleges, the parents, the fans. But to me, National Signing Day could use some revamping.

Here are four ways that I would change National Signing Day:

Headgear

In almost every instance, the ritual is the same: athlete signs letter, athlete puts on baseball cap of new college, people applaud and take pictures.

But why the baseball cap? I'd love to see sport-specific headwear. If you sign to wrestle at Nebraska, you put on red ear guards. If you sign to play football at Illinois, you put on the orange helmet. If you sign to ride equestrian for Texas A&M, slap on that maroon riding helmet.

Music

These ceremonies are usually pretty quiet. A few announcements and some applause. Boring.

How about some appropriate tunes? Crank up Ace of Base's “The Sign” or Moby's “Signs of Love.” Or how about Madness' “Sign of the Times” or Neil Young's “One More Sign”?

My personal choice, though, would be Stevie Wonder's “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours.”

The fakeout

More athletes need to change their minds at the last second to keep everyone guessing.

I'd tell everyone for weeks that I was going to Ohio State, then abruptly sign with Michigan. All while professional wrestling entrance music blared. I've thought this out.

Exotic pens

There is precisely no reason for an athlete to sign with anything besides a feather quill and jar of ink. None.

Congratulations to the new signees. And if you need any help pulling off any of these ideas at your signing ceremony, let me know. I'm available.

By Greg Tepper
gtepper@neighborsgo.com

A week ago, I covered the 4A Division I state quarterfinal football game between Denton Ryan and Wichita Falls Rider.

And, as I have almost every weekend since September, I hustled down to the field as the final gun sounded, hoping to catch the victorious coach (Denton Ryan's Joey Florence in this particular instance).

As I made my way onto the field at Denton's Collins Stadium, I felt something strange. Something foreign. Something...not right.

Cold.

That chill in the air -- and my goodness, did it come quickly -- is a surefire sign of the end of football season. If only there were some other sport, one that was played inside where it was warm, but maintained the same thrill and competitiveness of football.

I think you know where I'm going with this.

It's officially time to set our sights on basketball, which means it is officially time to submit your basketball content to neighborsgo.com.

We at neighborsgo are truly blessed to have such wonderful contributors to our HS Gametime section. Between our columnists like Irving's Mark Zeske to our photographers like Flower Mound's Andie Smith and Garland's Mark Ryan, we've had great participation in our football coverage.

But now that it's basketball season, it's time to hit the proverbial reset button, which is both good and bad.

On one hand, basketball is an entirely different animal, especially from a photographer's standpoint. It's quicker, closer and sometimes harder to catch in the lens.

On the other hand, now is the perfect time for you to start contributing to our HS Gametime section. We're always on the lookout for people looking to share their sports photography, so if you think you have what it takes to get in our section, submit your basketball action shots to neighborsgo.com.

Or maybe you're more of a writer -- an aspiring amateur sportswriter, perhaps. We're always eager to put new voices in our paper, especially when it comes to sports.

So if you think you have what it takes to be the next name we mention in the HS Gametime section of neighborsgo, give it a shot. Start a blog on our website, neighborsgo.com, and start writing about area high school basketball. Or log on and start uploading your best action shots from this week’s big game.

Now’s your chance to see your name in print, and get out of the cold while doing it.
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Greg Tepper is the Coppell and Irving neighborsgo editor and can be reached at gtepper@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8039.

By Greg Tepper
gtepper@neighborsgo.com

It was a team effort to get to this point. Well, that’s to say it was a three-team effort.

In the span of six hours, in two stadiums more than 320 miles away, District 7-5A solidified its claim as the best football district in the state. And the three teams that did it couldn’t have had different paths.

Denton Guyer went first. It’s easy to forget that this program was in 4A as recently as 2008, when it went all the way to the state semifinals. The school is only in its sixth year in existence and its second year in 5A.

Yet there the Wildcats were Nov. 27, stepping onto the field against Abilene Cooper in a regional semifinal game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

And there they were, drubbing the traditional power, 55-7.

It was shocking only because it was so easy; this new kid on the block, Guyer loudly declared, is here to stay.

Next up was Coppell, a program with more history than Guyer — though that’s not necessarily a good thing. The Cowboys had been good before but always seemed to fall short of expectations. The 2000 season was supposed to be special before it ended, abruptly and heartbreakingly, in the third playoff round against Abilene Cooper.

The 1999 season, too, could have been amazing before a loss in the third round to Greenville.

And last year? A promising season. A loss in — you guessed it — the third round, this one to Arlington.

Nov. 27 was the point at which the Cowboys were supposed to step aside, let history take its course — and lose. It was all set. Very good opponent (Midland). On the road (Midland’s Grande Communications Stadium). Third round.

Only this was different. The Cowboys set their eyes on Euless Trinity, ranked No. 1 in the state, after a 49-7 shellacking of Midland.

To hell with history, Coppell loudly declared.

And then there was Southlake Carroll, the dynasty. State champion in 1988, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2005 and 2006. One of the greatest sports franchises in Texas.

Yet this season was different. After a tumultuous off-season that included starting quarterback Daxx Garman being ruled ineligible, Carroll lost its opener, 35-14, to Copperas Cove. Was the dynasty finally falling apart?

But at Cowboys Stadium, with its district rivals and next opponent Denton Guyer looking on, Southlake Carroll beat defending 5A state champ Abilene, 38-24.

The Dragons, Carroll loudly declared, are still roaring.

Three teams. Three distinctly different backgrounds. One district.

And no doubt as to the best football district in the state.
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Greg Tepper is the Coppell and Irving neighborsgo editor and can be reached at gtepper@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8039.

By Greg Tepper
gtepper@neighborsgo.com

At Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of SMU last Friday, the game wasn’t much to see. Allen jumped all over Justin Northwest, taking a 35-0 halftime lead in a situation where it seemed the Eagles could name their score.

Allen went on to win, 49-14. But in this instance, everybody won.

The high school football postseason provides the participating teams with a special bonus besides playing for a state championship: the opportunity to play in some of the most exciting venues in the area.

SMU’s Ford Stadium, for example, just underwent a major renovation, adding a new integrated video and audio system to go along with a revamped club level.

It doesn’t matter that the 32-foot-by-45-foot video board wasn’t on for the game, or that the majority of the 32,000 seats were left vacant; playing in an atmosphere such as that is reward enough for the players.

Arlington Bowie watched its season come to a close with a heartbreaking 39-35 loss to Midland on Nov. 13. But the blow is softened by the lasting memories of playing at Texas Tech’s Jones SBC Stadium in Lubbock.

And then, of course, there is the headliner: Cowboys Stadium, Jerry Jones’ $1.3 billion monument to The Star, The Franchise and himself.

The 80,000-seat structure will host eight football games in the span of 65 hours this weekend.

It started last night with Fort Worth Boswell playing Waco Midway.

On Friday, it will be Sherman against West Mesquite, followed by Rowlett against Mesquite Horn.

Saturday features the quadruple-header to end all quadruple-headers. Cedar Hill and Denton Guyer. Colleyville Heritage and Southlake Carroll. Euless Trinity and Allen. Duncanville and Coppell. Four games that, in any other week, would be front-page stories by themselves, and they’re all happening under the same roof on the same day.

And then, at noon on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys host the Detroit Lions.

Considering the history of playoff games falling behind schedule, it’s wholly possible that the Coppell and Dallas Cowboys will play on the same field on the same day.

That’s special, regardless of the outcome.

My advice to the players, coaches and fans is simple: soak it in. Playoff football is special enough, but playoff football in some of the world’s best venues is extraordinary.
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Greg Tepper is the Coppell and Irving neighborsgo editor and can be reached at gtepper@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8039.

By Greg Tepper
gtepper@neighborsgo.com

For a previous few area high school football teams, the real fun begins now.

The high school football playoffs begin this week, with a flurry of bi-district matchup big enough to whet the appetite of any fan. For most teams, they’re a mere six wins away from entering the annals of high school football lore in the place where it means the most.

But what does it take to get to the top of the heap? Is the regular season indicative of postseason success? The answer is both yes and no.

On one hand, a team has to have its own level of talent. Obviously, if teams weren’t very good, they wouldn’t be here in the first place.

And talent never goes away. It’s not something you need to worry about showing up at the stadium every week; if you’re good, you’re good.

But it takes a little something extra to succeed in the playoffs. It takes a new attitude.

Unlike the regular season, every game in the playoffs is do-or-die. If you lost a game in the regular season, it’s really not that big of a deal; one game isn’t going to win or lose your season.

But in the playoffs, when your season can end with one loss, every play is magnified. Every throw is critical. Every block is crucial. Every penalty is potentially devastating. Every score is potentially season-extending.

It takes an attitude to win in the playoffs, and that ultimately goes back to the coaching. Coaches ultimately dictate the attitude of a football team; they can inspire confidence or doubt.

The X’s and O’s are important, but if a team doesn’t come in with the right attitude, they become moot details.

It also takes a bit of luck to succeed in the playoffs. The ball has to bounce your way. You have to get a call here or there. You have to catch the breaks.

When you add all of that together – talent, attitude, coaching and luck – you can get a potential postseason juggernaut. But when you don’t, you’ll see good teams lose early.

Welcome to the big show, playoff teams. Let’s see what you’ve got.
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Greg Tepper is the Coppell and Irving neighborsgo editor and can be reached at gtepper@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8039.

By Greg Tepper
gtepper@neighborsgo.com

This is the greatest time of the year for high school football fans. The playoffs are nigh upon us and the best teams in the state are getting ready to go head-to-head for the chance to hoist the hardware.

But it’s also the most confusing time of the year for fans, since the playoff structure is a bit of a mystery. There are about a million different moving parts in the way the University Interscholastic League runs its postseason.

I’ll attempt to clear up some of the confusion.

To be clear: I’m not going to re-hash a bunch of playoff scenarios, because that would take way too much space. Instead, I’m going to tell you the guidelines for the playoff match-ups. For all the playoff scenarios, visit dallasnews.com/highschoolsports.

In Class 5A and Class 4A, four teams from each district make the playoffs. For example, in District 8-5A, Allen, Flower Mound and Flower Mound Marcus have all clinched playoff spots, while one spot is still up for grabs in the final week.

(In Class 3A, three teams from each district make the playoffs. If you need me to explain the difference in that, contact me and I’d be happy to explain it in person).

This is when it gets a bit dicey. The four playoff teams from each district are then divided into two divisions. The two teams with the highest school enrollment are Division I; the other two teams are Division II.

For example: the four playoff teams from District 9-5A are Skyline, Lake Highlands, Richardson and Jesuit. Skyline (enrollment of 4,765 students) and Richardson (2,410) will play in the Division I bracket with the other big schools. Lake Highlands (2,281) and Jesuit (2,078) will play in the Division II bracket.

Now, those teams in each division will be seeded according to their district finish. In the 9-5A example, Skyline will be the top 9-5A seed in Division I because they have a better district record than Richardson, the other Division I team.

Still with me? Hang on, we’re almost done.

In the first round of the playoffs – called the bi-district round – the top seed from one district will play the lower seed from another district. District 1-4A will play District 2-4A, District 3-4A will play District 4-4A, and so on.

Back to the District 9-5A example. Skyline, being the top seed in Division I from District 9-5A, will play the lower seed in Division I from District 10-5A (still to be determined).

Tiebreakers are an entirely different animal. Suffice to say that each district has its own tiebreaker, and it’s complicated.

So there you have it: a quick primer on how the playoffs are set up. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bit of a headache.
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Greg Tepper is the Coppell and Irving neighborsgo editor and can be reached at gtepper@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-8039.