February 20, 2023

Dripping Springs High School junior Alec Rill placed third in the 215-pound weight class to help the Tigers finish 13th at the UIL 6A State Wrestling Championships on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Berry Center in Cypress.

After winning his opening round contest, Rill suffered a defeat to Keller’s Andrew Jurasek in the quarterfinals but responded by winning four-straight matches to earn third place honors. In the third-place match, Rill recorded a fall 1:56 into the contest to defeat Cy-Fair’s Ethan Anderson and collect the bronze medal. His third-place finish is the best for the Tigers since Chase Warden won back-to-back state titles in 2019 and 2020. 

Rill concluded the 2022-23 season with a 56-4 record, improving on his fifth-place state finish in the 195 weight class from a season ago. He scored 23 points to help the Tigers tie for 13th as a team out of 96 schools with 34 points. 

Jackson Shipley (106 pounds) and Ben Lourens (190) each won their opening round contests before falling in the quarterfinals and consolation matches. Hagen Shipley (126) won two matches and Cole Sides (120) collected one victory to also score points for the Tigers. Shane Bookbinder, Raphael Siewen, Taylor Van De Walle and Addison Williams also represented Dripping Springs at the state championships. Williams is just the fourth female in school history to advance to the state competition.