![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
With Districts Looming, Wrestlers Reflect on Season
Junior Ben Bell takes down his 285 lb. competitor on Jan. 23 vs. Leander in the Backyard Brawl. “I have to use speed and explosiveness to my advantage,” Bell said. “I mostly wrestle kids that are bigger than me, so I can’t just rely on muscle.”
February 1, 2019
Varsity wrestlers junior Ben Bell and seniors Corey Lensing and Hampton Jenschke helped CP win first in the Top Gun Tournament on Jan. 26 in Corpus Christi. Now, the wrestling team looks to head into the district matches Feb. 7 with more confidence.
Bell, at around 245 lbs, typically wrestles kids that are much bigger than him. He had to beat a 285 pounder in the finals of the Top Gun Tournament.
“It motivated me to want to win,” Bell said.
The T-Wolves wrestling team is currently ranked number 11 in the state for duals, and also have four state qualifiers in seniors Ethan Forbes, Jenschke, Jacob Muñoz and junior Bell.
Muñoz, who is currently ranked number eight in Texas, said that the team has a good mix this year of young and older people who all have a great amount of wrestling experience.
“It’s looking to be a great year for us as we head into district with a good handful of state-ranked wrestlers,” Muñoz said. “Hopefully [we are] going to take home the district title as a team, and possibly regionals as well.”
For Muñoz, he said it’s been a great year of learning and growing himself as a wrestler, now that it is his primary focus.
“In the past, I’ve had football to always worry about,” Muñoz said. “But now that football is over for me, I’m able to learn and apply stuff in wrestling that I previously have struggled with due to juggling multiple sports. I’m excited to see how far I can advance this season.”
The wrestling team practices for two hours every day, including a one-hour lift session in the weight room. Junior JV wrestler Andrew McCloud said that most of the team’s success comes from being mentally tough.
“Wrestling is a tough sport,” McCloud said. “Even when we win, it still hurts. In order to be successful, you have to be able to take a beating and still get back up. That’s what a lot of wrestling is.”
Junior JV wrestler Sam Nart said wrestling helps him stay in shape, in and out of the mat room.
“Being in wrestling has not only built up my mentality, but also my physicality as well,” Nart said.
Junior Faith Elliott, who wrestles on varsity, said that wrestling is challenging because it’s a dangerous sport that requires a lot of time and dedication in order to excel at it.
“I like [wrestling] because of the challenges it provides,” Elliott said. “And because it’s fun to beat on people. I look forward to improving and learning every day in practice.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
