Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari 220-pound senior wrestler Dyson Clark stunned the defending heavyweight champion from St. Michael’s to capture the District 1-3A title Wednesday and earn an automatic berth to this week’s state tournament at Rio Rancho.
Freshman Isiah Garcia at 113 pounds, junior Charles Prieto at 132 and sophomore Xzander Garcia at 182 each finished second for Tucumcari during the district tournament at Robertson High School in Las Vegas. Each earned a berth to the state tournament.
The Class 3A boys state championships will be one day only, on Thursday, at the Rio Rancho Events Center. This year’s tournament will have a reduced format and fewer wrestlers qualifying because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Weigh-ins begin at 11 a.m., with the semifinals starting at 3 p.m.
Also, two Tucumcari girl wrestlers qualified for the state tournament that begins Saturday. Sarah Villajos (2-3), a freshman at 120 pounds and MiKayla Klinger (0-2), an eighth-grader at 182 pounds, each earned quarterfinals berths. Matches for the girls begin at noon Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center
Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias said St. Michael’s Santiago Martinez, who won the state title a year ago in the heavyweight division, moved down a weight class to 220 pounds this year.
“He went down a weight class because he thought it’d be easier,” Encinias said. “He ran into a buzzsaw with Dyson. We were going to teach him a little respect.”
Encinias speculated Clark’s laid-back disposition lulls opponents into a false sense of security and that he is a strong counter-wrestler. So when Martinez made a tactical mistake, Clark took advantage and pinned him. Encinias said it was one of Clark’s best matches of the season.
Clark improved to 8-0 overall.
Despite Clark’s triumph, Encinias admitted to a tinge of disappointment with his wrestlers at the district meet.
“We wrestled better than at the district duals, but not as good as we should,” he said.
Encinias said Isiah Garcia (2-6) moved into another weight class and “looked a lot stronger” during his matches Wednesday. On the other hand, Xzander Garcia (7-2) “didn’t wrestle as good” during his matches at the district meet. Encinias also said Prieto (6-3) continued to show inconsistency against his opponents.
“I expect Charles and Xzander to wrestle a lot better at state,” he said. “And Isiah could pull off some upsets.”