The wrestling team has had a successful season having both regional and state qualifiers.
After placing second in district 11-5A, the team had a total of nine athletes make it to regionals including: Linda Marroquin, Juan Martinez, Alexander Thyes, Alvaro Valdez, Ruben Ventura, Jesse Jimenez, Joseph Gonzales, Dustin Chunn and Neamiah Jarrell. The team competed at Pflugerville Weiss High School, finishing the tournament eighth out of 36 schools.
“This team has put in a lot of time over the off season and has dedicated themselves to getting better,” head coach Jacob Ferguson said. “They are a great group of kids that push each other and challenge one another to continue to get better.”
Two out of the nine wrestlers moved on to state. Senior Juan Martinez became the first regional champion and junior Linda Marroquin placed third, becoming the first girl to qualify for state in school history.
“I felt emotional because all I thought was ‘I went through literal blood, sweat, and tears for this’,” Marroquin said.
Ferguson said it’s always thrilling to see his wrestlers win, but it doesn’t stop there.
“We are proud of what we have done so far, but our goal is always to progress and to continue to get better,” he said.
Both Martinez and Marroquin competed at the Berry Center in Cypress Feb. 22 and 23. Marroquin did not place at state and finished the season 15-13. Martinez placed fourth in the 106 pound weight class at the state tournament, becoming the first wrestler to place in state in program history.
“It’s the same thing, I go out there and compete,” Martinez said. “I told myself, ‘Why be nervous?’ Just do what I do. Its senior year, I got nothing to lose.”
Since the beginning, Martinez had the mentality of knowing it’s not always going to be easy and his preparation had to be at a high performance level to compete on the mat.
“Life is not always about winning you know you always have to learn from both your losses and your wins,” he said.“That mat knows me better than anybody else in this school.”
Martinez finished off his high school wrestling career with an overall record of 38-9.