CYPRESS – Once her final high school wrestling match was over, Amanda Mcaleavey ran towards her coach Ryan Crosby.
Just like last year – after she won the Class 6A 110-pound State Championship – the Cypress Creek senior embraced him. Except she didn't jump in his arms.
"When she was going to hug me and she didn't hug me as hard as she did last year when she won it," Crosby said. "I was like 'What's she doing'."
Instead, Mcaleavey ducked under his arms spun around and joyfully threw her coach onto the mat for one final time. This time as the 6A 102-pound State Champion.
"I was in the moment," Mcaleavey said with a laugh. "I was like a lot of practice, a lot of drilling. It's time to get him back."
"It was great," Crosby added with a smile.
The duo had every reason to be celebrating.
Last year, when Mcaleavey won the Class 6A 110-pound State Championship, she finished the season undefeated at 51-0.
With her 5-1 victory over Mia Arceneaux of Rockwall on Saturday, the senior completed her senior season undefeated at 40-0.
Amanda Mcaleavey completed her final two years of high school wrestling with an impeccable 91-0 record and back-to-back state crowns.
"It was a blessing, I wouldn't want to end it any other way," Mcaleavey said. "I think ending on a win really means a lot to me. I feel like it sets my record straight for college wrestling."
The pressure to finish with another state title was a bit family and well sister-rivalry driven.
Amanda's sister Anna in her high school career finished with a pair of state crowns and there was no way little sister would finish short of that.
"I couldn't let her win," Mcaleavey said. "I had to tie her."
Photo by Olivia Raymond / VYPE U
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Photo by Olivia Raymond / VYPE U
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Photo by Olivia Raymond / VYPE U
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Photo by Olivia Raymond / VYPE U
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Mcaleavey made the change in weight classes for the 2019-2020 season because of how her first trip to state as a sophomore ended.
That year, Mcaleavey lost in the state semifinals. Three years later, she's a state champion.
"I just wanted to come back and redeem myself and prove myself," Mcaleavey said.
Mcaleavey's career is over at Cypress Creek with the finality of her last match inside the Berry Center. But she will be a wrestler Crosby will not soon forget.
"Few and far between you find a kid like that," Crosby said. "She puts in the work. She's extremely aggressive and she got a lot of older siblings and that shows in her wrestling. It's a family ordeal."