As predictable as the unrelenting heat this year is Wylie tennis.

Coach Adam Cherry’s team, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A in the preseason, has moved to No. 1 in the state and captured another District 4-5A title.

Wylie roared through league play as expected, downing Wichita Falls Legacy 16-3, Abilene Cooper 18-1, Wichita Falls Memorial 18-1, and Abilene High 18-1.

The Bulldogs were to play Sweetwater on Tuesday on the WHS courts in a match that was postponed earlier in the season. On Saturday, Wylie is host to Midland Lee in a final tune-up before the playoffs begin.

Wylie started the season ranked behind Frisco Independence and HP but has moved to the top of the heap.

WHS is ahead of No. 2 HP, No. 3 and three-time defending state champ Frisco Centennial, No. 4 Independence, and No. 5 Frisco Emerson.

The Frisco ISD has nine ranked teams in Class 5A, including Nos. 3-7. Frisco Wakeland is No. 17 in 6A.

Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, which lost in the 2025 final to Centennial, is No. 8.

Longtime Wylie rival Amarillo High is No. 10.

VOLLEYBALL GETTING STATE NOTICE

The Wylie volleyball was on a quest this season: get the respect not afforded to many teams west of the metroplex.

Coach Shay Cox’s team has been up to the task.

Wylie has moved up to No. 7 in Class 5A, showing off its 30-4 record, already one of the best in school history.

The Bulldogs are atop the District 4-5A standings at 2-0, just ahead of No. 20 Wichita Falls Memorial (26-6). The teams will meet twice in the coming weeks, the first time Oct. 6 in Wichita Falls and then Oct. 23 in a regular-season ending showdown at the WHS gym. Recently, these matches have determined the district champ.

Wylie opened league play with 3-0 wins over Abilene Cooper and WF Legacy. WHS drives to the north side on Friday to battle Abilene High in its next match.

Ahead of Wylie in the standings - naturally - is Argyle. Argyle has advanced to No. 1 in the state and has been the Bulldogs’ Region I roadblock for two years running.

Other ranked Region I teams are No. 3 Eagle Mountain, No. 12 Joshua, No. 18 Burleson, and No. 19 Amarillo High. Wylie lost 2-1 to Burleson earlier this year but has beaten Colleyville Heritage, a Region II team. CH is ranked No. 6 in 5A, just ahead of Wylie.

Wylie has won 12 straight matches since losing to Burleson.

CROSS COUNTRY

While other fall sports have been making noise, which is the nature of their respective sports, Wylie cross country has quietly put together a terrific season.

The WHS girls were third in the varsity 5,000 meters at the Rick Neill Memorial in Lewisville on Sept 17.

Allisyn Schulle, elevated to the varsity during the season, was fourth overall (21:52.20). Coming in seventh was Layla Dambacher (22:21.36), with Mya Fierro 19th (23:45.23), and Emma Henao 22nd (24:18.78) as Wylie placed four runners in the top 25.

The boys also were third with Tucker Balliew taking eighth place (18:22.52) to lead the team. Elijah Davis (18:38.36) and Luke Cardenas (18:38.96)C ran together, taking 16th and 17th. Chance Robinson was next in with a 21st place finish (18:47.29) with Landon Hicks close behind in 23rd (19:04.59).

Coach Jody Harvey has wanted his boys to run close together and there were only 47 seconds separating the first and fifth runners across the finish line.

The next meet was the Phyllis Pappas Pacer in Wichita Falls, a meet with a larger field.

The Wylie boys were third, just behind runnerup and district rival Abilene High.

The teams are close - AHS turned an average time of 17:50 while Wylie posted a 17:54.

Balliew again was eighth on the 5,000-meter course but his time dropped to 17:23.88. Finishing ahead of him was AHS runner River Brock in fifth place (17:10.50).

Davis was 10th (17:26.03), with Hicks 20th (18:00.10) and Cardenas 25th (18:08.05).

On the girls’ side, Amari Dudley was back in action and took fifth place (19:50.77). Dudley got a good look at her competition to win a district individual title.

In second was Mia Garcia of Cooper, with teammate Lila Murillo in fourth. Between them was Aubrey Duran of Abilene High. Dudley has work to do to beat these three runners - Garcia finished 1:14 ahead of the Wylie runner.

Dambacher was 13th (21:38.98) and Fierro 17th (22:01.44).

Wylie runs again this weekend in Lubbock at the Lubbock ISD meet. It will be a look at the Mae Simmons course, which is the host course for the Region I meet. The district meet is Oct. 15, back at Lucy Park in Wichita Falls.

FIREWORKS AS FOOTBALL OPENS DISTRICT PLAY

Defending champ Palo and surging Abilene Cooper joined Wylie atop the District 2-5A standing on Friday.

Both teams registered important wins.

The Dons traveled to Wichita Falls and roughed up Legacy 50-9. The Leopards, winners of two games in their first two seasons, were the non-district surprise in the district with three wins. PD, however, brought Legacy down to earth.

In Abilene, Memorial brought its high-powered offense to Shotwell Stadium. Memorial scored four touchdowns for the second straight year, but Cooper piled up the points in a 49-28 victory.

In 2025, Cooper won similarly, 42-27.

It was the Cougars’ third straight win this season after two close losses to open the season.

The two teams meet this week in Amarillo, another big game early in the district season. The Coogs were second to the Dons last year, losing to PD in the regular season finale.

They are 1-0 along with Wylie, which overcame an early 13-0 deficit to score 49 straight points on its way to 56-20 victory over Coronado in Lubbock.

The Bulldogs won both games at Lowrey Field and were 3-0 in Lubbock County this season. Wylie will pass through town on its way to play Palo Duro in mid October, hoping to capture that winning karma.

The Bulldogs are open this week before playing host to Memorial on Oct. 9. The Mavericks will try to square their record against Coronado.

2026 DISTRICT 2-5A STANDINGS
Team District Season
W L PF PA W L PF PA
Wylie 1 0 56 20 3 2 163 99
Am. Palo Duro 1 0 50 9 4 1 168 68
Ab. Cooper 1 0 49 28 3 2 141 105
Lub-Cooper 0 0 0 0 0 4 63 172
WF Memorial 0 1 28 49 2 3 232 234
Lub. Coronado 0 1 20 56 1 4 124 173
WF Legacy 0 1 9 50 3 2 173 145

LAST WEEK'S GAMES
Wylie 56, Coronado 20
Palo Duro 50, Legacy 9
Abilene Cooper 49, Memorial 28
Lubbock-Cooper open

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Coronado at Memorial
Abilene Cooper at Palo Duro
Legacy at Lubbock-Cooper
Wylie open

YEP, CASE STILL HAS IT

If you didn’t get enough football over the weekend, there was Monday Night Football. Bears vs. Eagles.

Maybe not a must-watch game for a Texan, but starting at quarterback for Chicago in place of injured Caleb Williams was Wylie’s own Case Keenum.

And what a game the 38-year-old quarterback who led Wylie to its only state football championship in 2004.

Keenum drove his team to a touchdown on the opening drive and had two near misses for a second TD throw later in the first half.

In the third quarter, he threw a 41-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to Kalif Raymond to give Chicago a 20-7 lead.

He sealed the game with a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Keenum completed 24 of 34 throws for 247 yards as the Bears stopped the Eagles 27-7.

He has played for eight different teams, and twice for the Houston Texans. He starred in college at the University of Houston.

“It’s going to go down as one of the more special nights of my life,” he told SportsCenter after the game.