13 wrestlers headed for state

Thirteen Tucumcari High School wrestlers - including four district champions crowned Saturday - qualified for the state tournament that begins Friday in Rio Rancho.

Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias knew Saturday afternoon at least nine wrestlers would advance. He didn't know until Sunday afternoon another four had qualified for wild-card spots for the Class A-3A state tournament.

Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias couldn't have been happier with his team's performance over the weekend.

"It was great. I wish we'd wrestled that way two weeks ago; we would have won district (in team competition). Everybody did what they were supposed to do," he said.

The state tournament begins at 9 a.m. Friday with quarterfinal-round matches at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. Semifinal and championship matches begin there at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The Tucumcari champions of the district-wrestling meet Saturday at West Las Vegas were senior Rod Dunlap in the 145-pound weight class, junior Joe Martinez (152), sophomore Dyson Clark (182) and senior Kaleb Hayes (220).

Dunlap boasts one of the best win-loss records in the tournament, at 26-1. Martinez is 20-5, Clark is 14-8 and Hayes is 18-6.

"I thought Rod would win it; he did," Encinias said. "I thought Joe would win it; he did. I thought Kaleb would win it, though the guy beat him - Javier Mares (of Robertson) - twice before. I thought he would beat him, and he did. And Dyson Clark came on towards the end of the season and did a great job beating a tough kid (Mackenzie Ebell) from Robertson."

The top three finishers at the district meet also qualified for state. Finishing runner-up from Tucumcari were freshman 120-pounder Charles Prieto (10-11) and junior 160-pounder Karl Jiminez (9-13).

Rattlers who finished third and advanced were senior 113-pounder Ricky Montano (14-10) and 132-pounder junior Julian Vargas (13-13).

"We had some surprises from Ricky Montano and Karl Jiminez - especially Karl," Encinias said. "I think he wrestled his best match ever. I thought Karl had a chance to win the finals, but he'd never been in that big of a stage before. The nerves got to him. The kid from Robertson who beat Karl before (Isaiah Ortiz), Karl basically dominated him.

"Julian always wrestles tough. Ricky beat a kid from Wingate (Lynnayah James) who'd beat him before; he did a good job with him. Charles beat a tough kid to get into the finals."

Tucumcari wild-card qualifiers were eighth-grader Damon Page (126 pounds, 1-3 record), freshman Reyes Garcia (170, 3-13), sophomore Colt Garcia (182, 15-12) and sophomore Jordan Marquez (285, 6-12).

On top of that, Tucumcari junior Aleayah Lucero qualifies for the girls open portion of the state tournament in the 120-pound division.

Encinias held high hopes for his wrestlers at the state tournament.

"The four guys who won district, I think have a really good shot at winning state," he added. "We could have some surprises from the wild-card guys. Julian hasn't wrestled his best yet; I think Julian would be one of the top four. Same thing with Colt and Ricky. Colt Garcia hasn't wrestled up to his potential; he could be very dangerous."

Several students and high-school staff members Monday morning still were congratulating Encinias for his team's showing Saturday.

"Don't credit me," he said. "Credit the kids."