THS grappler finishes runner-up

RIO RANCHO - Tucumcari senior Antonio Gonzales had conquered every opponent in his 172-pound weight class during the Class 4A state wrestling championships.

But at the finale, Highland junior Amiri Mumba stood in his way - again.

Gonzales (30-6) lost a 6-2 decision to the top-seeded Mumba (31-2) in the finals Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

It was Gonzales' fourth loss to Mumba this season, though Saturday's was his closest against him.

Mumba scored a takedown and near-fall in the first period to grab a 5-0 lead, then played good defense during the final two periods to repel Gonzales.

Eddie Encinias, Gonzales' former head coach before he retired two years ago after a 20-year Hall of Fame career, could be seen comforting a distraught Gonzales after the match.

"He's probably the toughest guy I've faced my whole high school career," Gonzales said of Mumba a few minutes later.

"Wrestling is the thing I've loved most about school," he added. "At the end of the day, I did everything I could, even though I lost."

Tucumcari head coach Tim Clark said he saw signs that Gonzales might be wearing down Mumba late in the match.

"I think if we would have had a little bit more time, I think we would have caught him," Clark said. "Tony had the endurance if we just had a little bit more time.

"We battled all year long with him, and he never gave up. He attempted and shot and worked his game. I can't be no more prouder than what I am. He gave it his all. I wish that he would have got that gold medal. But he's moving on to bigger and greater things in life."

In the semifinal Saturday, Gonzales defeated Kirtland Central's Chance Aspaas 3-1 by scoring a takedown with less than 10 seconds left in the final period.

Gonzales won two other state-tournament matches Friday by pin and by decision, respectively.

Tucumcari junior Joshua Pacheco (38-11), competing at 145 pounds, earned a fifth-place medal by going 4-2 during the tournament and defeating Academy nemesis Zac Fernandez 10-0 in the fifth-place match. Fernandez had defeated Pacheco four previous time this season.

Clark said he helped Pacheco make some adjustments against Fernandez.

"Josh changed his tactics," Clark said. "That was the biggest thing we kept telling him over the last couple of weeks is he knows what you're going to do, so you just need to do something different.

"That match, Josh was like if he'd won a state championship, just because he was able to redeem himself."

Tucumcari sophomore Fernando Ureste (36-6), wrestling at 133 pounds, lost a semifinal match by a 7-2 decision to Bloomfield's Elias Johnson, then was eliminated 6-4 by Nico Ulibarri of West Las Vegas in the consolation round.

Against Ulibarri, Ureste was on a verge of a takedown late in the final period that would have at least tied the match and possibly send it to overtime, but he ran out of time.

"The future looks great," Clark said. "We'll be back up here with Fernando and Josh."

William Turpin (17-18), a sophomore wildcard qualifier for Tucumcari at 107 pounds, suffered two losses Friday and was eliminated from the tournament.

In girls competition, both of Tucumcari's qualifiers were eliminated Friday.

Sarah Vallejo (18-8), a senior at 114 pounds, lost an opening-round match in overtime, rebounded with a pin in the consolation bracket, then was eliminated in a 2-0 decision by Sandia's Brianna Lucero.

MiKayla Kliniker (11-8), a junior at 152 pounds, suffered consecutive losses to Shiprock's Marlaina Dokey and Miyamura's Shundean Halkini.

Clark, finishing his second season as head coach, said he was appreciative of his assistants - Dennis Garcia, Ryan Fought and Encinias - especially when he was still recovering from neck surgery early in the season.

"They didn't have to be there, but they showed up, got on the mat, wrestled with the kids, did what they needed to do," Clark said. "And I can't be more prouder than my kids and my coaches."