By Will Anderson
Correspondent

For Cooper Scott, Westlake’s star 220-pound wrestler, his final high school season has been about mastering his technique and not relying on brute strength alone.
Scott’s full range of talents were on display last week at the District 26-5A tournament at Vista Ridge, where he finished second overall to guarantee himself a spot in the Region 4 tournament, beginning Friday in San Antonio.
In the district semifinals, Scott defeated Cedar Park’s Dean Collier 5-1. Scott got an early takedown to go up 3-1 and was able to capture two more points as his opponent played catch-up.
In the district finals, Scott faced Nick Mabry of New Braunfels Canyon, the third matchup between the stellar big men this season.
Neither wrestler scored in the first period, then Mabry went up in the second with an escape and a controversial takedown point that was originally ruled out of bounds by the referee.
“The coach asked the referee to confer with the assistant referee, which he can do,” Westlake coach Pat O’Harra said. “They decided it was a takedown. I argued it – I didn’t agree with how it went down.”
The reversal put Mabry up 3-0 after two periods. In the third, Scott earned one point for an escape but another takedown ended the match in a 5-1 loss for the Chaparral wrestler.
“What I was upset about was the blown whistle,” O’Harra said “If they hadn’t blown the whistle, my guy might have kept wrestling, and we would have been in control. I understand why the coach argued it though, I would have argued it, too.”
Afterward, Scott defeated challenger John Hernandez 1-0 to advance. Scott picked up the point in the second period and then did not allow Hernandez to escape in third.
“I just had to keep my head up and stay focused, not get discouraged,” Scott said. “Coach just told me to wrestle like it was my last, since it really could have been.”
Scott could face Mabry again as well as some of the state’s other top wrestlers in San Antonio this weekend. The seeding for the tournament will be decided in a meeting on Thursday between all the coaches from Region 4.
“I don’t see Cooper being seeded any better than fifth because of guys he’s lost to and other guys they’ve lost to,” O’Harra said. “But it’s the regional tournament, you’re going to have to wrestle everybody and you’re definitely going to have to wrestle the best guys to win whether its an earlier round or a later round.”
Scott is joined at the Region 4 tournament by teammate Ryan Elswick after the 106-pound sophomore finished second at the District 26-5A meet.
Elswick defeated Armando Delara of Vista Ridge 8-2 in the semifinals but pulled out of the final match against Vandergrift’s Adrian Baraza because of a shoulder injury.
“He had a hard time getting through his semifinal match with his shoulder so realistically it wasn’t going to be smart to try and wrestle that match,” O’Harra said.
Delara finished third so Elswick was not challenged for second place.

“It was a good semifinal match but I had to be more conservative because of my shoulder,” said Elswick, who estimated he’s only about 30 percent healthy but hopes to be closer to 100 by the weekend. “It’s relatively painful, but I just have to work through it.”
Scott and Elswick are the only two Chaparrals that secured spots in the regional tournament although Jay Garza, Ray Eells and Roby Boyd all qualified as alternates in case someone gets injured or pulls out.
The top four at finishers at each regional site advance to the state tournament on Feb. 24. Elswick, only a sophomore, has been there before — Scott has not.
“People want to take me down. I’ve got a target on my back,” Elswick said. “I’m glad to have Coop there. It’ll be nice for both of us to be going through the same thing at
once.”

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