Pirated Treasure Returns Home to Wylie High School
- News
Rivalries run deep in Texas high school athletics, and while today’s Wylie High Pirates and Wylie East Raiders have each other in their sights, there was a time when Wylie East didn’t exist. Almost 20 years ago, Wylie High’s focus was on a team nearly 20 miles to the south – Mesquite Poteet.
As the story goes, on Jan. 24, 2006, during a heated basketball game, a group of Poteet football players–fellow Pirates, but not exactly allies–spotted the WHS Pirate flag, left unguarded and, unfortunately, ripe for the taking.
“It was just hanging on the wall, unattended, asking to be taken,” said Ryan Wallace, a junior at Poteet at the time.
Seizing the moment, Ryan and his buddies launched their pirate heist, swiping the WHS Pirate flag that night. The flag was now deep in enemy territory. When the two schools clashed again on the football field the following fall, Poteet fans didn’t waste the chance to fly their captured flag, much to the dismay of Wylie High fans.
“We did it to taunt Wylie High,” Ryan said.
He didn’t know then that one day, he’d trade his green for maroon.
Ryan met his wife, Allyson, while they were both attending Texas State University. After getting married, Allyson began searching for a teaching job and came across an opportunity in Wylie ISD.
“In 2022, I saw that a dance and drill team position opened up,” Allyson said. “I applied, and I got the job.”
When they purchased their home in Wylie, Ryan had a hard time converting from a Poteet Pirate to a Wylie Pirate.
“He said, ‘I can’t believe we are moving to Wylie!’” Allyson said. “The two schools were such big rivals. He couldn’t get over it. He said, ‘I can’t say AHMO. I just can’t do it.’”
As the spouse of the WHS drill team director and with three kids in the district, Ryan finally caved.
“
He says AHMO now,” Allyson said.
Despite his new allegiance, Allyson wasn’t fully aware of her husband’s animosity toward WHS until this past Christmas.
“I opened a gift, and it was this ratty old Pirate flag,” she said.
After hanging onto it for 17 years, Ryan decided it was finally time to return the flag to its rightful home and gifted it to his wife.
“He said, ‘You can use it in your classroom or with drill team or whatever,’” Allyson said.
Today, the flag has taken on a new life. It proudly hangs in Allyson’s dance room at Wylie High, but its purpose has grown beyond decoration. Earlier this school year, Allyson and WHS girls’ head basketball coach Jessica Linson were brainstorming a gift to pass down to each class at pep rallies, and the long-lost flag was the perfect fit.
The seniors were the first to claim the honor of winning the coveted flag.
“I love that the flag is back at our home base!” WHS senior George Lannan said. “I think having the flag will bring another special quality that Wylie High School has to offer.”
Now, the Pirate flag has become a prized symbol, proudly flown at every Wylie High School football game, with plans to make appearances at all WHS sporting events. The once-stolen flag is now a part of Wylie High’s storied legacy, embodying the spirit and pride of AHMO.
- WHS