Two THS wrestlers win titles at Texas event

Two Tucumcari wrestlers took home first-place honors at the 12-team Red River Classic tournament at Vernon, Texas.

Tucumcari’s Fernando Ureste and Josiah Sanchez each prevailed in eight bouts Friday and Saturday to win their respective weight classes.

The Rattlers finished a strong fourth in the team standings at the event, which featured teams from Texas and Oklahoma.

“I was happy; it was a great day,” Tucumcari coach Tim Clark said. “In a hard, solid tournament, we were right up there. We were the only New Mexico team there. We came in looking like we were meaning business and knew what we were doing.”

Ureste (26-3 this season), won all of his matches by pin in the 138-pound weight class, including during the championship against Edgar Armendariz of Elk City, Oklahoma.

Sanchez (18-8), wresting in 144 pounds, also won all his matches at the event, including a pin against Josias Daniels of Boswell, located in Fort Worth, Texas, in the final.

Another Tucumcari standout wrestler, Josh Pacheco, suffered only his second loss of the season with a 13-3 decision against Max Trostle of Caprock in the 150-pound division.

“Josh, he just came up a little short,” Clark said.

Pacheco (30-2) had won all of his previous bouts at the Red River Classic by pin. His last loss was during the Rattler Invitational in December.

Also finishing second for THS was Julian Brown (21-12), who lost to Zyair Gonzales of Caprock in the 106-pound championship. Brown finished 4-1 in the tournament.

Other THS results from the event:

— Brandon Gonzales, who went 1-4 at 126 pounds;

— Bryson Klinger, who went 4-4 and finished fifth at 132 pounds;

— Patrick Szaloy, who went 1-4 at 132 pounds;

— Alex Bueno De La O, who went 3-5 at 144 pounds;

— Benny Garcia, who went 2-3 at 157 pounds;

— Diego Martinez, who went 3-2 at 157 pounds;

— Justin Goen, who went 4-2 and finished fourth at 165 pounds;

— Maliki Alderete, who went 2-5 at 175 pounds;

— Isaiah Ureste, who went 3-3 at 215 pounds.

Caprock won the team title with 331 points. Elk City finished runner-up with 242 1/2 points, and Boswell was third with 227. Tucumcari finished with 203 1/2 points.

Tucumcari’s strong showing gave Clark a jolt of optimism his team would fare well in the dual district meet next month.

“I truly think is going to come down to us and West Las Vegas for the district championship,” he said. “I really, really think if we can have a good, strong showing like we did this weekend against West, we could probably pull it off.”

In girls action, Tucumcari’s Sarah Sanchez finished third at the event with a 3-2 record in the 114-pound weight class.

Other girls who competed for THS were Lana Gomez (107 pounds) and Savannah Urquizu (126).

The Tucumcari girls scored 23 points, finishing eighth. Caprock won the team title by a 2-to-1 margin in points over the runner-up, Lawton Eisenhower of Oklahoma, with 155.