CYPRESS — Few can say they were a state champion wrestler but Foster’s Madison Canales is among the even fewer to say she won back-to-back championships.
Canales continued to make history on Saturday inside the Berry Center when she capped off a perfect 46-0 season with a pinfall win over Centennial’s Maritza Martinez in the finals.
Canales entered the mat stoic but left ecstatic.
“It’s very fulfilling to come back to do this again,” Canales said. “I had some solid girls in my bracket this year but to come back means everything. Shoutout to my mom. I couldn’t do it without you."
The junior earned falls in her four tournament bouts for a total time of 9:34.
On her path to the finals, Canales defeated Cooper’s Lexia Suarez, Hillcrest’s Inergee Donald and Dumas’s Emily Loya.
Foster wrestling coach Scott Kimball expressed how much Canales means to the program.
“She is a leader of examples,” Kimball said. “She’s a great example of what our girls can look at, strive for, and see how she carries herself each day.”
Canales plans to participate in the 2023 USMC Women’s National Championships in Spokane, Wash. in April.
As a team, Foster finished 11th with 44 points.
Congratulations went to Canales’s accomplishments, but Kimball wanted more from his collective team following a second-place showing in the state duals on Jan. 20.
“What I have more on my mind is the team aspect,” Kimball said. “Madison is pushing for that third, but we want a team title. We didn’t win matches we should’ve here. We want that team title.”
Foster’s Madison Canales has her hand raised after winning the 5A state wrestling title at 126 pounds on Saturday at the Berry Center in Cypress.
Fulshear’s Seth Smith finished in fourth place while Lamar Consolidated’s Jason McCullough finished in sixth place at 215 pounds.
Wakeland’s Kyle Templeton defeated Smith in the third-place match and McCullough lost to Pieper’s Kaden Glass in the fifth-place match.
Templeton also defeated McCullough to earn a spot in the bronze-medal match.
Smith was going for his third-straight bronze finish in his senior season.
McCullough defeated Azle’s William Spratt via fall, Amarillo’s Ryan Lofgren via fall and Lubbock’s Keagan Davis via a 7-6 decision on his way to the podium.
Smith won against Heritage’s Bakari Kyiamah via fall, Glass via 7-4 decision and Spratt via 6-3 decision.
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