In a state where football is sacrosanct, there has emerged a newcomer who, in the last two decades or so, has risen in “rizz” at a rate heretofore unseen.
The epicenter of this cultural phenomenon is Allen, Texas. Here, under the direction of mat maestro Jerry Best, Allen High barks loudest in the sport of wrestling, making others look like mere Chihuahuas.
AHS’ boys team had won 14 consecutive state titles (2010-23) before coming up 4.5 points short versus reigning state champ Arlington Martin.
But as disappointing as that hiccup proved to be, Allen High’s girls team mitigated the pain by capturing its fourth consecutive state title, outpointing Conroe Woodlands College Park, 123-68.
So what’s the magic elixir? Unsurprisingly, Coach Best offers a not too sexy answer.
“There’s no real secret,” he says. “Boring maybe, but it really does come down to hard work. And our championship pedigree. Kids grow up wanting to be a part of it.”
Best’s track record certainly impresses. No other school in University-Interscholastic-League history has ruled any sport like Best’s Allen Eagles have wrestling.
Far down the totem pole from AHS’ 14 straight state titles is the girls swim-and-dive program at Highland Park. It owns the second-longest title streak (10, 2001-10).
Best, encroaching on his 23rd year helming AHS’ legendary wrestling program, boasts an ink-cartridge-draining resume.
Highlights include 19 coach-of-the-year designations since 2008.
Best was honored as Texas’ top wrestling coach in 2009, ’11, ’13, ’14 and ’23. Also, in 2013, the National Wrestling Coaches Association named him Region 6's #1 wrestling coach. Then, in 2014, the National Federation of State High School Associations proclaimed Best to be the best in Section 6.
Best’s AHS tenure has produced 244 state qualifiers, 190 state placers and 67 state champions. Eleven Best tutees have earned recognition as Texas’ “Most Outstanding Wrestler,” and 17 have secured roster spots on Team USA’s World Team.
However …
Unless one aspires to become the next “Iron Claw,” the road all but ends with competition in either college or the Olympics.
The ever-swelling popularity of mixed martial arts, though, has at least opened the door for wrestlers who broaden their skill set.
In fact, Best’s most renowned AHS grappler is three-time state champ Bo Nickal (Class of 2014). Nickal recently improved his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) record to 6-0 after Cody Brundage submitted in round two of a welterweight bout in Paradise, Nevada.
Nickal, a Penn State three-time NCAA champion, credits Best for instilling the intensity and focus paramount to UFC success.
Accordingly, I half-expected Best to be a no-nonsense, mean-streaked curmudgeon whose success requires running roughshod.
Instead, I found Best to be a disciplinarian yes, but far from a dictatorial taskmaster. In fact, he (a three-time, D-II national champ following an injury-plagued two years at Oklahoma State) and I (a University-of-Oklahoma journalism nerd) good-naturedly exchanged Bedlam barbs til the cows came home.
Even more telling, Best’s disciples gush over his impacting their lives.
Kade Moore, a four-time state placer and now a redshirt freshman at the University of Missouri, claims “There wouldn’t be a program (in Allen) without Jerry Best. His influence on me as a coach, mentor and friend is unmatched. Me and everyone who goes through (his) program owe it all to him.”
Even kids knee-high to a grasshopper get inspired by this grappling guru via Best’s “Best Trained” Youth Program.
In fact, Zeke Liescheski, AHS Class of 2024, whet his insatiable appetite for wrestling as a mere 5-year-old who jettisoned a kindergarten sleep mat for a Best-Trained big-boy mat.
“Coach Best has taught me discipline … how to plan ahead and approach everything you do with mental toughness and fortitude,” says Liescheski, who became a state champ as only a freshman.
Liescheski (3.5 GPA) will this fall study kinesiology at Tarleton State and next year help inaugurate a Tarleton wrestling program that will mark Texas’ first at the DI level.
Meanwhile, Liescheski’s female training partner, AHS senior Jasmine Robinson, a 17-year-old U.S. Army enlistee, will extend her career via the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).
Robinson has received a special exemption from combat duty so she can prepare for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
A four-time state champ who placed third in the world while competing for Team U.S.A., Robinson (3.4 GPA) plans to pursue a career in either biochemistry or sociology.
“So Jasmine, what has wrestling under Coach Best taught you?,” I ask.
“I now know if I truly want something in life, hard work and dedication will set me up to achieve even what may now seem impossible.”
“One more. What’s it like to train with Zeke?”
“I think it’s funny people ask because I’ve been wrestling with guys since middle school. What did Zeke say?”
“He says you are really strong.”
“He better.”
Jerry Best, head coach of Allen High's dominant wrestling program, was inducted into the NCAA Division II Hall of Fame in March 2010 for a stellar career at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Wrestling at 142 pounds, Best won three consecutive Division II wrestling titles (1994-96).
Best first turned heads as an undefeated four-time state champion at Chandler (Oklahoma) High. He then logged an injury-plagued two-and-a-half stint at Oklahoma State before transferring to Central Oklahoma.
In 1994, Best posted an 18-4 record en route to his first individual national championship. His dominance also proved pivotal in the UCO Bronchos (sic) claiming the team national title that year.
The following season Best registered a 24-5 mark that led again to national titles for both Best individually and Central Oklahoma as a team.
Best then put the cherry on top with a 35-4 record and a third consecutive national title that forever secured his legacy in a state famous for wrestling warriors. (The Bronchos finished second nationwide in 1996.)
Overall, Best finished with a 77-13 career mark that included a 40-1 record against Division II opponents.
“(Success) really does come down to hard work. And our championship pedigree. Kids grow up wanting to be a part of it.” – Coach Jerry Best