By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Falcons finished fourth as a team at the District 16-6A meet last week. A good amount of the team will head to the Region IV-6A meet this week in San Antonio.
Senior Thiago Almeida is one of the likeliest to advance to state. He has qualified for that meet previously and hopes to perform well.
“I feel good, this is the best that my weight cut has gone so far,” Almeida said. “I feel really energized right now. Instead of having to focus on the weight cut, I can focus more on my wrestling, technique and get mat time.”
Almeida took home the regional championship last season.
“(Almeida) is a leader and a captain,” Falcons coach Roland Gomez said. “His standards are everyone else’s standards, and he has helped bring the team up to that. Nothing gets in the way of what he wants to accomplish.”
The Falcons also will take junior Justin Jaramillo, sophomore Nathan Davila, junior Sean Rodriguez, freshman Sinhue Medina, senior Isaac Joseph and senior Diego Lozoya.
“I am glad that I have the opportunity as a senior to wrestle at regionals,” Lozoya said. “I get to wrestle with Thiago at practice, so learning from him makes me better. Hopefully I make it to state.”
The Lady Falcons are a small team and will have only three girls represent Los Fresnos in the regional meet.
“I am pretty excited, but there is a lot of competition,” junior Katie Reyes said. “Regionals should be pretty tough, especially the second day, the first day not so much. I feel confident and ready.”
Reyes is joined by fellow juniors Alysha Solis and Yireh Moreno.
“The past two years were a learning experience for me, but this year I want to be really competitive,” Moreno said. “Whether it goes good or bad I want to try my best in every match I have.”
The top four will advance to the state meet Feb. 18-19, and the fifth-place finisher will be an alternate.
“Luckily, we have been there before, and they know the expectations,” Gomez said. “They know it is not going to be easy, and they are ready for the challenge.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct a wrestler’s last name. RGVSports.com regrets the error.