February 19, 2022

A school-record three Dripping Springs High School wrestlers earned top-five finishes at the UIL 5A State Meet on Saturday, Feb. 19, in Cypress to pace the boys’ wrestling team to a ninth-place finish.

Grant Clarno (220 pounds) placed fourth in his weight class to come away with the highest finish for the Tigers, while Hagen Shipley (126) and Alec Rill (195) recorded fifth-place finishes. All three wrestlers made their second appearance at the UIL State Meet.

The Dripping Springs boys’ team was represented by nine wrestlers at the state competition with seven recording at least one win. The ninth-place team finish is the highest for the Tigers since 2019 with the team totaling 51.5 points in the 103-team field. Other state qualifiers were Abel Silverman (106), Taylor Van De Walle (113), Shane Bookbinder (138), Seth Rill (160), Ben Lourens (170), and Dominic Parmeson (182).

The DSHS girls’ team tied for 43rd place out of 91 teams with eight points. Alyson Brownson-Welch (128) and Carson Crow (110) are just the second and third DSHS female wrestlers to score points at the state meet. Brownson-Welch made her third state appearance while Crow and Caroline Nix (138) were first-time qualifiers.