Abilene ISD -

The Abilene High and Cooper baseball and softball teams are in prime position for a run at a district title in their respective District 4-5A playoff races. A Cooper powerlifter finished third at the state powerlifting meet last weekend, and the golf teams at AHS and Cooper are in the midst of competition for their respective district championships.

We’ll cover those stories in this week’s Abilene ISD Athletics Roundup.

POWERLIFTING
Cooper junior Kayden Bryan, who figures to be one of the top offensive linemen in West Texas this fall, finished third in the Division I Super Heavyweight division at the Division I state powerlifting meet last weekend in Abilene.

Bryan finished fifth last year as a sophomore after lifting 1,700 combined pounds in three disciplines: squat, bench press, and deadlift. He improved two positions this year with 1,850 pounds, including a personal best in the squat of 720 pounds. He lifted 480 pounds off the bar in the bench press and 650 pounds in the deadlift.

Bryan won the Region I championship in the Super Heavyweight division on March 7 with a personal-record lift of 1,855 combined pounds, including 500 pounds in the bench press.

BASEBALL
Abilene High moved into first place in District 4-5A Tuesday night with an 11-0 win over Wichita Falls Legacy, improving to 4-1 in the district. The Eagles’ third-straight victory pushes them one-half game ahead of Wylie, which is 3-1 in district play but did not play Tuesday night. The Eagles and Leopards will play Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Blackburn Field as AHS goes for a three-game season sweep of Legacy. AHS has outscored Legacy 21-0 in two meetings in 2025.

Cooper dropped to fourth place Tuesday after an 8-0 loss to Wichita Falls Memorial, falling to 2-3 in district play. The Cougars will take on Memorial in Wichita Falls on Friday, trying to avoid being swept this season by the Mavericks. Cooper will host Copperas Cove at Cougar Field in a non-district game on Saturday at 3 p.m.

AHS leads the district at 12-5-1 overall and 4-1 in the league. Wylie is second in the district at 12-3-1 and 3-1, followed by Memorial (11-6 and 3-2), Cooper (12-4 and 2-3), and Legacy in fifth at 4-13 and 0-5. Each team will play 12 district games, and the top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the playoffs.

SOFTBALL
The Lady Eagles lead District 4-5A at 11-7 overall and 3-0 in the league, one game ahead of Cooper, which is 12-9 and 2-1 under first-year head coach Kaegan Ramirez. The Lady Cougars knocked off Wylie, 11-8, in the district opener for both teams on March 18 before dropping a 4-3 decision to Abilene High on March 22. The Lady Coogs bounced back Tuesday night with a 12-4 at Wichita Falls Memorial and will play Coahoma on Friday night at Cooper in a non-district game.

AHS, meanwhile, has sandwiched 13-0 and 8-0 wins over Wichita Falls Memorial and Wichita Falls Legacy around the 4-3 win over Cooper to improve to 3-0 in the league. Abilene High has a critical game Friday at Wylie, which is 10-9 overall and 1-1 in the league (third place).

AHS and Cooper are on top of the district, with Wylie in third at 10- and 1-1, and Wichita Falls Memorial (11-14 and 0-2) and Wichita Falls Legacy (2-9 and 0-2) tied for fourth. Each team will play eight district games, and the top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the playoffs.

GOLF
Cooper and Abilene High played the first round of the District 4-5A boys’ golf tournament on Monday at The Champions Course at Weeks Park in Wichita Falls. Abilene High is in third place after the first 18 holes, and Cooper is in seventh with one round left to play. The tournament’s final round will be played on Monday (March 31) at Live Oak Golf Club in Abilene (formerly Diamond Golf Course).

Wylie leads the way after the first round with a team score of 303, followed by Wichita Falls Memorial at 312 and Abilene High in third at 326. The AHS No. 2 team is fourth at 335, followed by Wylie No. 2 (339), Wichita Falls Legacy (371), and Cooper (372). After Monday’s final round, the top two teams will qualify for the Region I-5A championship tournament, scheduled for April 16-17 at LakeRidge Country Club in Lubbock.

Wylie’s Jack Cole is in first place in the individual medalist race after firing a 1-over-par 73. Wylie’s Reece Templeton is second with a 74, and Abilene High’s Grant Duwe is third after carding a 75. The top two individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the regional tournament.

The first round of the District 4-5A girls’ tournament was played on Wednesday (March 26) at Live Oak Golf Club, and the final round will be played on Monday (March 31) at Weeks Park Golf Course in Wichita Falls. Abilene High finished second at the District 4-5A Preview Tournament on Monday, March 17, posting a team score of 384 at Weeks Park Golf Course. Wylie won the tournament with a score of 341, followed by AHS, Wichita Falls Memorial (423), Cooper (437), and Wichita Falls Legacy (446).

After Monday’s final round, the top two teams will qualify for the Region I-5A championship tournament, scheduled for April 14-15 at Lake Ridge Country Club in Lubbock. The top two individuals not part of a qualifying team will advance to the regional tournament.

SOCCER
The boys’ and girls’ soccer season at Abilene High and the boys’ season at Cooper ended earlier this week in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

The Cooper boys dropped a heartbreaker to Amarillo Palo Duro in the Class 5A bi-district round as the Cougars and Dons tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. Palo Duro won the shootout, 6-5, advancing to the area round on penalty kicks. Cooper finished the season at 9-8-3 under veteran head coach Lalo Munoz.

The Abilene High boys finished their season at 7-8-3 after Monday evening’s 4-1 loss to District 3-5A champion Lubbock Monterey.

On the girls’ side, Abilene High’s season ended with a 2-0 loss to Amarillo High on Monday. The Lady Eagles finished the season 7-13-0.