Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
Coyote Jordan Padilla (112) got a gold medal with a pin over Deming's David Uribe.
(CCSR photo by Karen Boehler)
Goddard might have surprised a few people at the District 3/4AAAA wrestling meet at Mission Control Saturday.
The Rockets did have some strong individual wrestlers, and were expected to take some individual titles, but against defending state champion Silver and a Deming squad with seven top-ranked grapplers a team trophy was a very long shot.
But as Goddard coach Jamie Martinez said after the match, “We did pretty darn well,” not only earning three individual titles but coming home with a team second-place trophy, only 32 points behind Deming.
“The guys came through and did real well,” Martinez said. “There were a couple of matches there, we’re down, what? Thirty points? We lose a couple of matches we should have won but (Deming) had 13 go to state and we have 12. So it was good.”
Taking home the gold medals for the Rockets were Travis Price (140), Lance Lessard (145) and heavyweight J.T. Menchacha.
Just missing the gold were 125-pounder Kai Perez, David Anaya (160) and Bishop Whiteside (189).
Tempers flared during Whiteside’s match against Silver’s Dakota Bencomo, and the grappler had to be restrained by his coach. Martinez said there was no bad blood between the two wrestlers. “The refs just kind of let it get out of hand.”
After a short period to calm down, the match resumed with Whiteside, who was expected to take home gold, falling 6-1.
Taking third for Goddard were Ray Whiteside, who pinned Chaparral's Luis Cobo (119); Gaige Franco (135), who pinned Roswell’s Isaac Guajaca and Jacob Wiggs (152), who pinned Chaparral’s Mathew Lodge.
Rounding out the dozen Rockets who qualified for state — the top four district finishers all advance — were Rylin Franco (130); Luis Terrazas (171) and Brandon Youngblood (215.)
While Martinez was pleased with his whole team, there were a few he felt put out extra effort.
Rocket Travis Price earned the gold at 140 pounds with a pin over Stana Teresa's Artudo Anchondo.
(CCSR photo by Steve Notz)
“I was pleased with Travis Price at 140,” the coach said. “He came through and did well. Gaige came through at 135 and then Ray — Ray Whiteside, he came through. And then at the end, at 215, Brandon, he beat that guy in the last 10 seconds from Silver. So he did good. Every ne did good.”
After a season plagued by injuries, Roswell didn’t do quite as well as a team — the Coyotes finished fifth — but did bring home some individual hardware.
Jordan Padilla got the only gold for Roswell at 112, pinning Deming’s David Uribe with 30 seconds remaining in the second period.
At 103, Raul Sanchez was the favorite for the title, but fell 4-3 to Erick Rangel of Santa Teresa after he couldn’t get the point needed to send the match into overtime.
“Tough match,” said Coyote coach Chris Rottman. “Just last seconds you’ve got to get out there and go for it.”
Rottman was also pleased with George Aho (171), who took Rocket Terrazas down in a decision, and Roger Alarcon (215), who earned bronze over Goddard’s Brandon Youngblood.
Also headed to state for Roswell are Jesus Trevino (125); Luis Aguirre (160) and Andrew Aguilar.
“Everybody else, they did really well,” Rottman said. “It’s just a matter of coming in and clearing your head and getting ready to go to that next level.”
That “next level” is the state tournament, which begins Friday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.
For more sports news, go to Chaves County Sports Report