SPORTS
Bowie teen earns karate black belt
A Bowie teen earned the prestigious black belt title in karate in late July, the culmination of eight years of dedication.
Fourteen-year-old Brycen Ivy, son of Steve and Chanda Ivy, earned the title after an impromptu test was issued at the North Texas Karate Academy in Bridgeport on July 21.
“We had to spare 15 rounds,” Brycen said. “Each round is one person and is two minutes long. The rest in between rounds is only one minute.”
The opponents were other black belts, usually adults and they are instructed to not hold back. A few rounds featured a two-against-one scenario that would last one minute.
“It was very intense,” Brycen said.
The shy teen has been working towards this achievement for more than half his life ever since he was five years old.
“A friend of mine told me about North Texas Karate Academy in Bridgeport,” Chanda said. “They have a homeschool class on Fridays in the morning. So Brycen and his brother both started going. Zac decided it wasn’t necessarily his thing, but Brycen kept with it.”
His instructor Stephen Starnes said he only has had a little less than 50 black belt students, with Brycen being his 47th.
Besides the sparring, the first stage months earlier was the mastering of forms which Brycen passed.
Even after passing the most physically grueling challenge, there is still the 18 month probation period he has to pass, which requires a continued demonstration of dedication to the sport as well as showing great character. Starnes is not worried.
“He is a very disciplined young man,” Starnes said. “Very devoted. He practices a lot. Really dedicated to coming to class. Just a great kid who is very polite.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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