Rattler wrestlers take three of five

The Tucumcari wrestling team won three of five dual matches during a meet Saturday at Bernalillo.

The Rattlers defeated Roswell 51-17, toppled Bernalillo 48-18 and nipped Socorro 34-33, despite four forfeits against Socorro.

Tucumcari lost to district foe West Las Vegas 33-30 and Class 5A power Los Lunas 52-0.

Tucumcari improved to 10-4 in dual matches this season.

“The whole purpose to going to Bernalillo was to see Socorro; they’re in our division,” Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias said.

Encinias said he wanted to see how Julian Vargas, Caleb White, Joseph Martinez, Kaleb Hayes and Rod Dunlap matched up against the Warriors.

“They beat them all head-to-head, which is what you want to see,” he said.

Encinias said an upset loss in one of the weight classes led to the loss against West Las Vegas, an opponent Tucumcari defeated earlier in the season.

He had no answers for the shutout loss to Los Lunas.

“Los Lunas handed it to us pretty good,” he said. “They’re that good. They’re a big school, and they handed it to us. There’s no way to whitewash that.”

Dunlap suffered his first loss of the season during a 4-3 decision against his Los Lunas foe. Dunlap won his other four matches Saturday, improving to 20-1 on the season.