Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari boys wrestling team opened its season by going 3-2 in dual matches Saturday at the Los Lunas Duals event.
The Rattlers defeated the Los Lunas junior varsity, district foe Del Norte and Bloomfield but lost to big-school powerhouses La Cueva and Atrisco Heritage.
Fernando Ureste, wrestling at 114 pounds, won all five of his matches for Tucumcari. Defending state champion Xzander Garcia, competing at 166 pounds, went 4-1 for the Rattlers.
First-year Tucumcari coach Tim Clark said 121-pound wrestler Billy Otero was out with the flu. Combining that with a lack of wrestlers at three upper weights, the Rattlers’ lineup faced tough sledding to secure dual-meet victories.
Clark said several of his wrestlers probably would compete better at next-lighter weight classes.
“The kids figured out they’re going to have to work on weight management,” he said. “I’m not telling them to starve. They’ll need to eat nutritiously, and they’re right there on the bubble (for ideal weight). If they get to a lower weight, they’ll probably be stronger.
“But overall the kids did good, and the girls wrestled really well.”
Clark said he took five girls to the event. He said Amaya Infante, wrestling at 138 pounds, competed particularly well in the girls round-robin format, going 3-2.
Tucumcari’s most experienced girls wrestler, MiKayla Klinger, did not compete Saturday because she is a member of high school robotics team at the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge.
Clark was asked what his team will need to work on in the days ahead.
“We need to keep working on conditioning, work on technique,” he said.
“We also need to work on counters. We’re kinda getting caught flat-footed, so we need to work on the defense part.”
Tucumcari this week competes at Boys Ranch, Texas, on Tuesday (the match was after the Quay County Sun’s deadline) and the Al Salazar event at St. Michaels in Santa Fe on Saturday.