Senior Elijah Hines recently became just the fourth wrestler from Whitesboro High School (WHS) to make state multiple times, placing among the 16 best wrestlers in the state of Texas at heavyweight at the state competition in Houston on Feb. 13.
Elijah lasted all three rounds in his state match and finished the season 30-6. He competed at state last year as well, but this year, he didn’t want to leave any meat on the bone.
“I think he felt like he didn’t have a good enough showing last year,” his coach Benton Gabbert said. “He didn’t accomplish what he wanted to, so I think he was pretty fired up and gung-ho this year and wanted to make sure he had a good showing when he got to Houston.”
That he did, and it came with a lot of preparation, with a particular emphasis on conditioning.
Whitesboro already contends with a disproportionate level of competition; since most small schools don’t have a wrestling program, there’s not enough bodies to form their own classification. Thus, 3A and 4A wrestlers compete with 5A schools. So with the level of competition raised even higher at state, Gabbert said the bulk of Elijah’s preparation revolved around conditioning, as most matches usually go all three rounds when competitors are most evenly matched.
“With him being the only one, we had some other kids that came in and helped work with him,” Gabbert said, “just to give him some partners to push around… making sure he can last the three rounds and still be able to push it as he gets closer to the end of them.”
But the preparation was a year-round journey for Elijah. It hit a key juncture in the summer when he attended a wrestling camp at Melissa High School, a school that has dominated wrestling at the 5A level in recent years, winning the team state title in 2026.
“All summer, I worked out in sweats, I worked on my conditioning a whole lot, I really worked on being technical and being in the best possible shape,” Elijah said. “I feel like I’ve improved a lot since when I first started wrestling. Even this year, I feel like I’ve improved from last year; my conditioning, my technicality, it’s all gone up a lot.”
All Elijah wanted was another crack at the state competition before he graduated. It can be a lonely journey being so hyper-focused on one’s craft, but Elijah felt the entire town of Whitesboro behind him.
“This is a big thing,” he said. “Only 16 people for each weight class go to state. So for me, it was more like, ‘I have to do this for my city.’”
As if he didn’t already have enough fans, Elijah commends his inner circle — Coach Gabbert, Coach Fagan, their wives and Coach Marvin — for their steadfast support and belief in him.
“Coach Gabbert, I was surprised when he said it, but he told me that he could feel it, that we’re going back [to state] this year and that he believed in me,” Elijah said. “They’ve all been feeding into me and constantly telling me I got it.”
Elijah sits today as a winner, but it took a valiant effort for his dream to finally be reached in the closing stages.
After losing his third match on day one of regionals, Elijah had to win three straight matches on day two to climb into third place and clinch a spot in the state tournament.
“It’d been a long weekend, it’d been a long time practicing, I felt like I just had to do it,” he said.
Elijah felt anything less than a placement would be a disappointment. He won the first two matches, which set up a do-or-die bout in the third. He lost the first round, but battled back and won the next two, a comeback that became one of the better matches he said he’s had.
“I just [thought] ‘had to go, had to go,’” Elijah said, “‘I can’t not win this match.’”
So he didn’t. He prevailed — and his hometown stands burst into joy.
When the whistle blew, Elijah threw his arms up in triumph.
“It felt like a weight had been released,” he said.
With a whole town on his back, it’s easy to see why. But it was a well-deserved weight, serving more as a pedestal, because Elijah became the face of Whitesboro for a period and now can forever dub “2x state wrestler” to his name.
For a program that Gabbert started in 2016, it sure makes for a fine anniversary present to commemorate a decade of opportunity.
