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The Lakeway Christian wrestling program continues to reach new heights.

With a 38-27 win over Boyd Buchanan, the Lions captured their third consecutive TSSAA Division II-A/AA Dual Wrestling State Championship and fourth in five years.

“It means a lot to the kids, you know, just a testament to their hard work all year long that they’ve put in,” Lakeway wrestling coach Tony DeAngelo said. “I think it’s really something that all of us are just grateful for the opportunity to do.

“I think to the program and to the institution, it just solidifies what we’re doing here is right. You know, and it takes a village. Being successful that many years in a row, and we certainly have that village, and that’s really something cool to be a part of.”

In the Lions’ most recent championship run, they opened the tournament with a dominant 63-14 win over Pope Saint John Paul II. Lakeway lost just three mats in the win to advance to the title match, setting up a third matchup with Boyd Buchanan in the final.

Boyd Buchanan halted Lakeway’s run in 2023, but the Lions began their current three-peat in 2024 with a win over the Bucs.

Lakeway took an early lead in the title match at 29-12, but the Bucs stormed back to make it 32-27, leaving heavyweight Plamedi Boyenga as the last Lion left on the mats. Boyenja sealedthe title with a pin in the first period.

“Two great programs going head-to-head, we knew it was going to be heater,” DeAngelo said. “We knew it was going to be a tough one, and that it was going to be close. And I think a big part for us is our outlook on that. We enjoy that, you know, we want those kinds of matches and and we enjoy those kinds of matches and those duels and so for our guys, they were excited the whole time to step out on the mat. There was no nervousness or anything like that. And then, you know, at the end there, our heavyweight getting the pin to seal the deal was pretty remarkable. You know, it’s pretty storybook.”

Though Boyenga delivered the final blow, DeAngelo said that the win was a complete team effort from top to bottom, even crediting those who dropped matches for staying in the fight and taking away points.

“Our guys went out there and did their job, whether it was getting a win or just not getting pinned,” he said. “I mean, sometimes in a dual setting like that, just fighting your butt off the entire time, even if you’re losing the match in the third period, knowing that you’re going to lose the match, fighting to go get a takedown, so that we only lose by three points and not four points. And that’s huge for a team score. And so I think everybody did their part this weekend.”

DeAngelo highlighted several standout performances, including John Comes at 106 pounds, Sam Comes, Luke Kibelbek, Trent Casto, Jonathan Graham and Matthew Silver.

“I’d have to name the whole lineup to be honest. Even a guy like Landon Dilley, who popped into the last duel and went out there and competed with one of the top-ranked kids in the state. And I think that was unexpected from the other team. He did an awesome job for us. Caden Dressel did an awesome job for us. Drew Austin and Plamedi. They both did an awesome job for us, and it’s hard to individualize one person in a team setting like that.”

DeAngelo takes the same approach when evaluating the program’s ability to not only reach the top but stay there. It’s not him, but his staff, wrestlers and administration — a village.

“It just goes back to having that group of people around who want to see a program be successful and are willing to put in the work,” DeAngelo said. “And it’s no one person or one thing that we do, it’s just a culmination of everything from the administration and the support staff at the schools, the coaching staff that we built with Zeke (Moisey) and Dylan (Bargatze) and Coach (Chris) Hawkins. We’ve got great guys there. And I think it’s just the leadership on the team and everybody that comes into practice every day understands what the expectation is to compete at a high level, and they come ready to do the work and do it right.

“Our assistant coaches do a wonderful job. I think a lot of times as the head coach, I get the phone calls and the interviews and stuff like that. But man, our assistants that we have in our program, they do a super job of keeping the guys, not only during the practice every day, but at tournaments and just all of it. It’s a staff. It’s not just me.”

After locking up the team portion of state, the Lions now set their sights on the individual side of the state championships, beginning with regions.

“The expectation is just go compete. Go have fun and compete,” DeAngelo said. “Show everybody the hard work you put in all year. And it’s kind of weird when you come back from a state dual title, then you come in the practice room on Monday, and you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s great and all. But now it’s time to really buckle down and get ready for the next two.’ So you’ve got to retrain your brain a little bit. You almost want to relax after a state dual team win. But the reality is, we’re right back to work on Monday, and our guys are used to that.”