Hawk grapplers get start with Houston Invite

HOUSTON -- The Houston Hawk wrestling squad got its first taste of action with the annual Houston Invitational at Houston High School earlier this month.

Daniel Harvey, Clinton Banzoff and Blake Elder scored top-three finishes to lead the Hawks.

Harvey defeated a pair of Bristol Bay wrestlers en route to winning the 189-pound title.

Banzoff was defeated by the eventual champion in the 215-pound bracket, but rebounded to earn third place in his weight class.

Elder placed second in the 130-pound class.

With Elder, one of four Hawks returning with state tournament experience, Harvey, new to the wrestling squad after moving to Houston from California before the school year, and Banzoff, who is returning to the team after missing most of last season due to injury, Houston head coach Chris Roggie said he is excited about his squad.

Roggie said Houston currently has 25 athletes on the roster, a great improvement over the 15 he started with last season. Only nine wrestlers finished the season for the Hawks.

Roggie said the strengths of his squads now lie in the middle and upper weights.

"We are pretty strong from 125-140 and pretty solid from 171-215," Roggie said.

Elder, Chris Hanson, Fred Young and Jeremy Grube each return to the squad after earning a spot in the 1-2-3A state tournament last winter. Though none of the Hawk grapplers placed in the state tourney, Roggie said his athletes wrestled tough in the tournament, and he expects his athletes to do better in not only the final tourney -- but the tournaments leading up to state.

In addition to the experienced corps of wrestlers, the Houston squad also has a young group of athletes that Roggie is excited about.

The group includes Eric Shell, a middle school state champion, Potteet Dae, a freshman Roggie said has a lot of potential, and sophomores Matt Gardner and Jeff Grey.

Roggie said Houston should be able to fill all the weight classes this year. Currently the Hawks have holes at 103 and 145, but Roggie believes those spots should be able to get filled.