Wrestling adds outdoor workouts

Wrestling is an indoor sport, but longtime Rattlers coach Eddie Encinias is doing a lot more outdoor workouts this year.

Encinias said he's doing it partly to limit his athletes' risk of exposure to COVID-19, which could lead to a quarantine for several weeks.

He also sees more outdoor sessions as another way to get his team into shape for the upcoming season, which begins at the Los Lunas Duals on Saturday.

Tucumcari's only regular-season home meet is during the prestigious Tucumcari Invitational on Dec. 18, though it is scheduled to host the district open tournament on Feb. 12.

After his athletes complete a two-mile run, Encinias can be seen with his smartphone keeping time as they run up and down the bleachers at Rattler Stadium, then do wind sprints on the field. After that, they'll head inside for more work with exercise ropes and weights.

"We're going to get in shape fast," he said. "They're a great group of working kids. It's not like I haven't had that in the past, but I think they want it more this year. They want the harder workout. They've answered the bell so far."

Right before the district schedule begins, Encinias said he'll hike those practice sessions' opening runs to 4 1/2 miles. He prides himself in getting his athletes in top physical condition, which can become a significant advantage early in the season.

Encinias said several wrestlers are motivated by their losses during last season's state tournament.

"Some of these guys were close and could smell it," he said. "That's the only thing that will motivate. You have to be crazy to do these workouts just for the workout."

Isiah Garcia, a freshman last season, was the highest-finishing Rattler at the Class 3A tournament, finishing runner-up in the 113-pound weight class. Tucumcari 132-pound senior Charles Prieto, recovered from a shoulder injury in football, and 182-pound junior Xzander Garcia each finished third last season.

Sarah Vallejo and MiKayla Klinger, a freshman and eighth-grader respectively last season, also qualified for the girls state tournament and have returned.

Encinias said he has almost two dozen athletes, including six girls, at the high school level and about 26 at the middle school. He said he's optimistic he'll qualify several athletes to the state tournament in February.

"I don't want to single anybody out, but there's three or four guys who could come on and do it," he said. "I've got some tough freshmen and a couple of tough sophomores, one or two juniors and three seniors that could really come through. Even a couple of eighth-graders could make it to state."

One thing that could hamper his team in dual meets is the lack of a heavyweight wrestler.

"I'm trying to beat the bushes and find one at the high school, but it's kind of tough because of lot of those kids don't want to work this hard," he said.

Even if a heavyweight grappler doesn't emerge later in the season, Encinias thinks his Rattlers will be competitive in their sprawling district that includes Robertson, West Las Vegas, St. Michael's, Newcomb, Wingate and Northwest (Shiprock).

"We should be right there at one or two in district if everything goes fine and we don't have any injuries," he said.

Encinias is beginning his 20th year running the Tucumcari wrestling program. He has nothing to prove, as a New Mexico Wrestling Hall of Fame plaque he received in 2019 attests.

But he said he's in no hurry to retire.

"It feels like home," he said about coaching. "I'm in a comfort zone with wrestling. Whenever (retirement) happens, it happens. It's going to be a spur-of-the-moment type thing. With the assistants I have, I don't have any worry about leaving. There's always going to be leadership."