The wrestling team had their UIL State Tournament on February 16th and 17th at the Berry Center. The wrestlers have been working very hard all year long and have had outstanding seasons.
Senior Eli Esquivel is one of the team captains and was a state qualifier this weekend. This wasn’t his first time; he went to state his sophomore, junior, and now his senior year.
Esquivel had an outstanding final year with a record of 42-8. Now he is finally done after 4 hard but fun years.
“Overall I would say I did pretty well,” Esquivel said. “I made it to state, which was an amazing experience and I really put everything I had into it. I left everything out on the mats.”
Wrestling tournaments can be a roller coaster of emotions; it’s extremely important to keep calm and not to get too upset or get too ahead of yourself. Every wrestler has their own way of dealing with their emotions. For Esquivel, his way of dealing with things is to keep his mind on the match and not worry about previous matches.
“I was pretty relaxed and wasn’t super nervous,” Esquivel said. “I just thought as long as I got through the tournament and left everything out there, then there was really no way I could get upset.”
It’s obvious that in a sport like wrestling, there are going to be some challenges faced. For some, it may be the weight they need to cut. That’s what it is for most people, but it was different for Stewart. He ended up having to gain weight in order wrestle.
“I was usually wrestling 120 for the overall season,” Stewart said. “But for districts, my coach let me bump up and go 144. The hard thing about it was the amount of food I was eating and water I was having to drink in order to get my weight up.”
The following are the top results from the Regional meet and all those who qualified for State. No one placed at State this year.
Hailey Bello 100lb Regional Champion -State Qualifier – 42-7 Overall Record
Yvette Zepeda 107lb 4th at Regionals – State Qualifier – 49-13 Overall Record
Stephanie Diaz 126lb 3rd at Regionals – State Qualifier – 46-18 Overall Record
Ufuoma Abel 132lb 3rd at Regionals – State Qualifier – 38-15 Overall Record
Melanie Alvarez 138lb 6th at Regionals – 37-15 Overall Record
Eli Esquivel 126lb 4th at Regionals – State Qualifier – 43-8 Overall Record
Logan Soileau 157lb 2nd at Regionals – State Qualifier – 50-7 Overall Record
Evan Sebesta 175lb 6th at Regionals – 45-11 Overall Record
LeBron Tah 215lb 4th at Regionals – State Qualifier – 45-15 Overall Record
That’s a wrap on this year’s wrestling season results! The wrestlers are going to continue working hard in the weight room and even on the mat during the off-season. But of course, they have a small break; it’s back to the grind in April!
