THS wrestling coach retires

Tucumcari High School's wrestling program reached the end of an era when head coach Eddie Encinias submitted his retirement letter last week after 22 seasons and guiding nearly as many state champions during a Hall of Fame career.

Encinias, who also resigned as assistant coach in football and track, said he felt increasingly obligated to retire after undergoing surgical replacements of both knees and one hip in the last two years.

"It's just time," Encinias said Thursday during an interview in his classroom. "When you can no longer get on the mat because of the knees you've had replaced and hip and actually do hands-on coaching, it's time.

"And the timing is good because we've got three excellent (assistant) coaches - Dennis Garcia, Donnie Garcia, Tim Clark - coming back. They'll be fine; they'll take it to another level."

Encinias said he has not recommended a successor.

After turning in his resignation letter last Tuesday, Encinias gathered his wrestling athletes to inform them of his decision.

"It was a very hard thing for me to do," he said. "We shed some tears together, and we hugged each other. There was a lot of emotion because we're a family. We live together; every weekend (during the season) we're in a motel with these guys. As a coach, you not only help them with their wrestling, but their lives. I truly love these guys; I think the world of them."

Encinias will continue to be an in-school suspension teacher at the high school.

Encinias coached 19 Tucumcari wrestlers to state titles, including Xzander Garcia just a few months ago, during his tenure.

Though Tucumcari remains the smallest school in New Mexico with a wrestling program, he earned respect from fellow coaches over the years due to its competitiveness.

In 2019, Encinias was inducted into the New Mexico Wrestling Hall of Fame after being nominated by Los Lunas wrestling coach Steve Chavez.

Asked about his career highlights, Encinias mentioned his first year as head coach at Tucumcari when Jake Jimenez, Gilbert Jimenez and Mike Martinez each won state championships.

"Those guys were a blessing; they basically carried me during my first year as a coach," he said. "We had three state champions right off the bat, but it wasn't because of me, believe me. Those guys were just tough, were beasts, and they were experienced wrestlers. The coaches before me did a great job."

More recently, he said Garcia's championship in February was a delightful surprise after he had struggled during the district meet.

"The week before, he'd gotten his butt kicked by these wrestlers," Encinias said. "But at the state tournament, he was so focused. He was just in a zone. He looked like he hadn't lost a match."

Encinias himself was a two-time district champion and an all-state wrestler in high school.

Any thoughts he might have a collegiate career on the mat were dispelled during a tryout at the University of New Mexico shortly after he graduated from high school in 1971.

"I went out there during the summer months ... whew," he recalled. "I got my rear end handed to me. That's when I got some perspective when I wrestled those guys in the (Western Athletic Conference). Those guys about killed me. At the time, the WAC probably was the weakest conference. I thought, 'What are these guys like in the Big 12, the Big Ten?'"

He enlisted in the Air Force not long after that, which Encinias said was beneficial.

"I got more mature and got my head on right," he said of being in the service.

He eventually became a volunteer assistant coach with a high school wrestling program in North Carolina, then did the same for a few years at Tucumcari before he became a head coach.

One hallmark of Encinias' style was his insistence that wrestlers be in good physical condition even before their first meet of the season.

"If we're going to be competitive, we have to out-condition everybody," he said. "Ninety percent of the time, if it was close, we'd win that third period, just because of our conditioning. That was something I thought we needed.

"I love it when we go to Amarillo or one of the bigger tournaments and we just take it to some people because they're not expecting that. That's fun to watch."

When asked what he would do now that he has more free time, Encinias answered with a laugh: "Whatever my wife (Brenda) wants."

"In wrestling, you have to leave your family a lot. She's the backbone of our program," he added.

He also said his health is good despite three ailing joints being replaced.

"I still feel great. Everyday things such as mowing, cutting down trees, things like that, I can still do," he said.

Encinias said he probably would attend an occasional wrestling meet, especially the Rattler Invitational, as a spectator. But that would be the extent of his involvement.

"I'll probably never go to any of the practices," he said. "The old head coach has to break away. The new head coach deserves all the respect. If the old head coach stays involved too much, it's too much of a distraction. I don't want to be a distraction to these guys."

Encinias printed out sheet of paper titled "What Does 'Coach' Mean," that contained a list of six slogans.

He said the one that means the most to him is: "All coaching is taking a player where he can take himself."

"I try to win by that," he said, pointing to that line. "I've never believed in saying, 'That's my state champion.' No, it's not. I believe in saying, 'He was a state champion.' He's got more to do with it than I had to do with it. He did it."

The last sentence on the list states: "God made certain people to coach; I was lucky to be one of them."