Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari senior wrestler Josh Pacheco earned another tournament title this season — this time at the 14-team Matador Classic at Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday.
Wrestling in the 150-pound weight class, Pacheco won all four of his bouts on Saturday, including against Michael Castillo of Canyon West Plains in the championship.
“He looked really good,” Tucumcari coach Tim Clark said of Pacheco. “In the finals, he was against a kid that he wrestled this summer in freestyle wrestling in Amarillo. Josh said it was going to be a tough match, and they battled it out. But Josh came out on top.”
Pacheco improved to 19-1, with his only loss at the rugged Rattler Invitational.
Tucumcari’s Julian Brown finished third in the 106-pound class, going 5-1 on Saturday.
“He looked really, really good this week,” Clark said.
Justin Goen finished fourth in the 157-pound division with a 5-2 record on Saturday. Julias Salas, at 144 pounds, also finished fourth with a 3-2 record.
Other Rattlers who competed at the tournament were Robert Gomez (1-2 at 120 pounds), Brandon Gonzales (2-2 at 126), Bryson Klinger (1-3 at 132), Patrick Szaloy (1-2 at 132), Josiah Sanchez (3-2 at 144), Zoriah Phillips (3-2 at 144), Alex Bueno De La O (2-2 at 144), Diego Martinez (2-2 at 150), Benny Garcia (1-2 at 157) and Maliki Alderete (2-2 at 165).
“They all did pretty good,” Clark said. “We're just making some young-wrestler mistakes. We just have to keep moving forward.”
One standout wrestler who didn’t compete was Fernando Ureste. Clark said he tweaked a knee during the Rattler Invitational last month, and he decided to rest Ureste in favor of district competition later.
“We’re trying to give him some time to heal,” Clark said. “He practiced, and he was hurting. It’s not a major medical problem; it just bothers him when he wrestles. We’ll see how it goes this week.”
Tucumcari finished seventh in the team standings with 77 points. Lubbock won the team title with 210 1/2 points, and Wolforth Frenship was runner-up with 185 1/2.
In the girls tournament, Tucumcari won the team title and an individual title with Daniella Garcia.
Competing in the 114/120-pound weight class, Garcia knocked off two of her teammates to win the crown, including Sarah Sanchez in the final.
It will be Garcia’s final competition this year as a Lady Rattler. Clark said she recently was accepted to New Mexico Military Academy.
“She’s moving on to bigger and better things,” he said.
Laura Gomez finished fourth at the tourney.
Tucumcari won the team title with 38 points against four other squads.
Both Tucumcari teams will compete Saturday at the Sammy Vivian Invitational and the Lady Warrior Invitational, both at Socorro.