2026 TTCA Wheelchair State Championship
The Inaugural Event
Waco
March 6-7, 2026
Medalists (L to R): Lily Terral (Houston Stratford) 3rd, Jeremy Perez (Joshua) 1st, Mattingley Bristow (Weatherford) 2nd
TTCA Hosts First High School State Wheelchair Tennis Tournament
By James Hill
WACO - The Texas Tennis Coaches Association hosted the first high school state wheelchair tennis tournament in the nation.
Held at the Waco Regional Tennis and Fitness, the coed event featured six of the most talented wheelchair players in the state and nation.
The first state wheelchair high school champion was Jeremy Perez, a freshman boy from Joshua High School. Perez beat Mattingley Bristow, a freshman girl from Weatherford High School, by a score of 6-2, 6-2 in the finals.
Perez is ranked No. 2 in the nation in high school wheelchair tennis while Bristow is third.
The players must be enrolled in their respective schools and members of their high school team.
Accompanying Perez to the tournament was Joshua assistant coach Suzanne Maynard.
“This is new territory for us,” Maynard said. “He’s a pretty impressive young man. “I have him in class (English) as well, so he’s impressive on and off the court.”
Joshua head coach Nicole Fielder was with her varsity team in Stephenville. She echoed her assistant coach’s positive regard of Perez.
“We have a thing on our team - we always say, I L T, ‘I love tennis,’” Fielder said. “Jeremy really loves his tennis and I think that’s great about him. As an adaptive athlete he doesn’t let his limitations limit him. He still gets after it and is quite the competitor. He can play both in his chair, and at times as a para-standing athlete. He just has a good attitude!”
Wes Kidd, coach of Weatherford, was equally proud of her charge.
“She’s determined and athletic,” Kidd said of Bristow. “She has a lot of good strength, so she can put a lot of ‘pop’ on the ball. She generates a lot of power from the wheelchair and competes pretty well with able-bodied players. As a person, she is determined and doesn’t want help with anything.”
Lily Terral of Houston Stratford, ranked 10th nationally, took third place in the inaugural tournament. Terral was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Alyssa Harding of South Grand Prairie High School.
Deaken Ailshire of Baytown Lee took fifth place, by a score of 6-3, 6-1 over Joseph Werkhesier of Vandergrift High School.
