Rattler wrestlers win two out of three at Texas meet

The Tucumcari wrestling team won two of three dual matches during a meet Thursday in Amarillo, Texas.

The Rattlers lost to host Amarillo 51-12 but defeated Texas teams Pampa 65-30 and Bushland 51-40. Tucumcari improved to 12-5 in dual meets on the season.

Tucumcari’s Rod Dunlap won all three of his matches at 145 pounds and improved to 23-1 overall. Joe Martinez at 152 and Colt Garcia at 182 won two matches Thursday.

Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias said Garcia and Dyson Clark at 195 pounds have been performing stronger as of late.

“Colt is really starting to come on,” Encinias said. “He’s wrestling as well as he has all year. He and Dyson, we need the younger guys to be strong at districts this week if we are going to win it. We’re doing well with the guys we’re expecting to do well. It’s the other guys who need to step it up to win the district championship at Robertson, because it’s going to be close.”

“We’re still not where we should be,” he added. “I think our guys are a lot better wrestlers than what they’re wrestling. Hopefully, we’ll hit our peak this weekend.”

The Rattlers, however, suffered a setback when Caleb White, wrestling at 138, quit the team, citing a back injury.

The district dual championship begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Robertson High School in Las Vegas. The Rattlers face Robertson and Newcomb.