The Takedown Newsletter * 12.30.2008

TheTakedown
Weslaco High School
Panther Wrestling Newsletter
12.30.08 Volume 0-Issue 05


Wrestling Alumni Return To Weslaco High School The first annual wrestling “Alumni Night” saw the return of the following panther wrestlers: Class of 2004: Dina Villarreal, 2nd Place District, Regional Qualifier, Most Improved Wrester; Victor Olvera, 4x district champion, 4x regional qualifier, 4x state qualifier. Class of 2007: Joseph Daily, 2xDistrict Champion, 2xRegional Qualifier, State Qualifier; Mike Rodriguez, 2xDistrict Champion, 2xRegional Qualifier, State Qualifier. Class of 2008: Frankie Hernandez – 2xDistrict Champion, Regional Qualifier – 3rd, and State Qualifier – 6th, P.J. Lopez, District Champion, Regional Qualifier, State Qualifier; Cole England – District Champion, Regional Qualifier, Amador Ramirez, Regional Qualifier, Justin Brown, Regional Qualifier, Stevie Carreon – District Champion, Regional Qualifier, State Qualifier, Erasmo Cruz, Regional Qualifier and Danny Villegas, Regional Qualifier. A great start to another WHS Wrestling tradition.

Panthers - PJSA Memorial Wolverines – Dual Meet: The Panthers hosted the PSJA Wolverines on Thursday, December 18th, for the first home dual meet of the year. This was also the night of our first annual “Alumni Night.” Approximately 125 excited and vocal fans came-out for this meet. I was selling programs, and manning the concessions throughout the meet, so I followed the matches as best I could. PJSA Memorial won the meet. The results for the individual wrestlers were as follows:

Junior Varsity:

Josh Smillie: Josh pinned his opponent with 24.4 left in the 1st period. (W) Congratulations!

Dante de la Rosa: Dante won his match by a 7-0 decision. (W) Congratulations!

Caleb Ramirez: Holding his own throughout most of the match, Caleb lost in the third period. (L)

Girls:

Samantha Martinez: Tied 4-4, Samantha was pinned 22 seconds into the second period. (L)

Liz Villarreal: Liz won on a forfeit by PJSA Memorial. (W) Congratulations!

Monica Martinez: Trailing 3-5, Monica was pinned in the second period. (L)

Ana Almaguer: Ahead 2-1, Ana pinned her opponent at 1:02 of the 1st period. (W) Congratulations!

Boys:

103 Justin Ramirez (11th /2nd yr.), won on a forfeit by PSJA Memorial. (W) Congratulations!

112 Lucio Cruz (10th /2nd yr.), behind 0-2 after the first period, and 3-4 after the second period, Lucio fought back to earn a 5-4 decision over Christian Uribe. (W) Congratulations!

119 Cody Casares (9th /1st yr.), moving up in weight class, Cody trailed 0-4 after the first period and was pinned 53 seconds into the second period. (L)

125 Charlie Villegas (11th /3rd yr.), led 5-2 after the first period, 8-2 after the second period, and won a 15-5 decision over his opponent. (W) Congratulations!

130 Hector Villanueva (10th /2rd yr.), wrestling in his varsity match, Hector trailed 2-6 before he was pinned by the Wolverines’ Edgar Davila 1:18 seconds into the first period. (L)

135 David Martinez (11th/1st yr.), falling behind 1-2, David was pinned at 1:13 of the period .(L)

140 Mack Perez (10th /1st yr.), trailing 0-2, was pinned 17 seconds into the first period. (L)

145 Christopher Teschke (12th /1st yr.), a forfeit by WHS (L)

152 Andres Medina (10th /1st yr.), trailed 0-5 after the first period, 1-5 after the second period, and was trailing 2-13 when he was pinned by Frankie Pedraza with 17 seconds left in the third period. (L)

160 Adrian Sanchez (9th /1st yr.), trailing 5-8, was pinned 57 seconds into the first period. (L)

171 Weslaco – Forfeit.

180 Andres Sanchez (9th /1st yr.), leading 10-1 Andy pinned his opponent 38 seconds into the second period. (W) Congratulations!

189 Michael Torres (12th /1st yr.), after lifting his opponent in the first period, Michael elevated his own wrestling experience and won the match. (W) Congratulations!

215 Robert Martinez (12th /2nd yr.), tied 2-2 Robert was pinned 1:41 into the second period. (L)

285 Alex Solis (10th /1st yr.), trailed 4-5 after the first period, 5-8 after the second period, and 5-10 in the third before being pinned with 1:22 left in the match. (L)

Top: Fans await the start of the wrestling matches at the Lackey Gym on "Alumni Night" at WHS. Bottom: Lackey Gym served as the arena for the first home Lackey dual meet of the 2008/2009 wrestling season.

Panther Wrestling Schedule – December 22 & 23: The WHS Panther Wrestling team will have practice from 9:00 till 12 noon on the 22nd and 23rd of December on the mezzanine level of Sepulveda Gym. Please make sure your wrestlers are in bed at an appropriate hour, that they get up with sufficient time to have breakfast and make it to practice on time; and that arrangements are made to pick-up your wrestler as well.

Weslaco High School – McAllen High Dual Meet Provides Holiday Joy as Panthers Win 42 – 41 !!!! The Panthers hosted the McAllen High School Bulldogs on Tuesday, December 23rd, at 3:00 p.m. in the first meeting between coaching brothers Mark Pederson (WHS) and Myles Pederson (McHI). With a revamped varsity line-up, the Panthers rose to the occasion, providing exciting matches throughout the afternoon and were able to come from behind to win the dual meet by a score of 42 to 41. Congratualtions Team!

Boys:

103 Justin Ramirez (11th /2nd yr.), went at it quickly and efficiently and pinned McHi’s Gabriel Flores 8 seconds after the start of the match. (W). Congratulations!

112 Lucio Cruz (10th /2nd yr.), demonstrating his experience, Lucio was in control from start to finish as he pinned Henry Soto of McHi 1:13 into the first period. (W). Congratulations!

119 Cody Casares (9th /1st yr.), won on a forfeit by McHi. (W) Congratulations!

125 Charlie Villegas (11th /3rd yr.), won on a forfeit by McHi. (W) Congratulations!

130 Josh Smillie (12th /1st yr.), in his first varsity match, Josh led McHi’s Samuel Montiel after the first period and was able to pin Montiel 1:15 into the second period. (W) Congratulations!

135 Hector Villaneuva, Jr. (10th/2nd yr.), filling-in for David Martinez and wrestling in his second varsity match for WHS, Hector provided the afternoon’s most exciting match. Leading 8-5 after the first period and maintaining an 11-10 lead in the second, Hector pinned Chris Pugh of McHi with 1:03 left in the period. (W) Congratulations!

140 Mack Perez (10th /1st yr.), forfeit by Weslaco High School (L)

145 Dante de la Rosa (10th /1st yr.), in his first varsity wrestling match for Weslaco High School, Dante was pinned by Edderick Almazan of McHi at 1:10 of the first period. (L)

152 Andres Medina (10th /1st yr.) , leading 4-3 after the first period and 11-4 well into the second, Andres put together a series of moves that enabled him to pin McHi’s Hayden McGhee with just seconds left in the period. It was a great start to the afternoon. (W) Congratulations!

160 Adrian Sanchez (9th /1st yr.), trailing 0-2, was pinned 1:14 into the first period. (L)

171 Forfeit by both WHS and McHi.

180 Andres Sanchez (9th /1st yr.), 15 seconds into the match, a freak collision between Andy and McHi’s Ezzy Cobos, resulted in Andy losing a front tooth and Cobos with a bleeding tooth mark at the top of his forehead. After a lengthy timeout, the match resumed with Cobos pinning Andy at the 1:12 mark of the first period. (L)

189 Michael Torres (12th /1st yr.), trailed 0-7 after the first period, 0-9 after the second period and 0-15 in the third period when the match was called because of a technical fall. Being that his opponent was McHi’s Sam Mangum, a 2008 state qualifier, this match will help Michael down the stretch as he gains experience that will help him in the district tournament in early February. (L)

215 Robert Martinez (12th /2nd yr.), tied 5-5 after the first period, Robert was trailing 6-17 when he was pinned after a hard fall to the mat that resulted in an injury timeout as the trainers attended to Robert. Chris Kyle of McHi was awarded the victory. (L)

285 Alex Solis (10th /1st yr.), trailing 0-2 after the first period, and giving up 55 pounds to his opponent, 2008 State Qualifier Scott Inskeep of McHi; Alex was pinned 41 seconds into the first period. (L)

Left: WHS’s Hector Villanueva, Jr. tightens his hold as he pins McHi's Chris Pugh in the second period. Right: Panther Andres Medina is in control as he pins Hayden McGhee of McHi in the second period.

Panther Wrestlers Interviewed by Channel 23: Three Panther Wrestlers were interviewed after the dual meet with McHi by Jason Notoras, a sports reporter from Channel 23 in Brownsville. Notoras stated that it was his intent to record some of the matches and show them during the sports segment of the 10:00 o’clock news, but he was delayed at a basketball game in Santa Rosa and arrived in Weslaco after the dual meet had ended.

Lucio Cruz, Charlie Villegas, and Justin Ramirez took turns answering Notoras’ questions regarding the essentials of wrestling, the Panther wrestling program, and what they have learned from competing in the sport. Besides the interview, Notoras used stock video footage to highlight wrestling action.

During the airing of the story, Notoras also noted the achievements of the WHS Wrestling Program during the past eight years and the expectations placed on the team by the wrestlers themselves. Good Job !!!

Channel 23 News reporter, Jason Notoras, interviews WHS Panther Wrestlers, Lucio Cruz (Soph.), Captain Juan “Charlie” Villegas (Jr.), and Justin Ramirez (Jr.), left to right, after the dual meet with McAllen High School. Each of the wrestlers took his turn before the camera, answering questions regarding the sport of wrestling and what each of them has gained from being in the sport.

Panther Wrestler Fundraiser Posters Available: The Takedown Club’s fundraiser, 11”X17” posters of our Panther Wrestlers, are now available. Those wrestlers and their parents who attended the McHi dual meet received their packets at this meet. The remainder of the poster packets are available from Coach Vanessa Marines.

The cost of the two poster packet is $10.00 to the parents. The parents, or wrestlers, can then market the posters to local businesses for $50.00 each. Once the wrestling season is over, the wrestler can ask for the poster back from the sponsor and keep it as a remembrance of their efforts during the season. If the 21 packets (42 posters) find sponsors of at least $50.00 each, we will be able to earn $2,100.00 for our wrestling team. Under UIL rules we must submit the monies to the school district, but can suggest a particular use for the funds.

We would like the poster sponsorships turned-in on the first day of school (spring semester), January 6, 2008. Please have the sponsors make checks payable to the Weslaco I.S.D. General Fund.

Thank you to the parents, relatives, and friends that provided transportation to the Nava Studios on Friday, December 19th, so that the photos for these posters could be taken. At least three photos were taken of each wrestler, in various stances, and each wrestler selected the pose that they liked best for the final poster layout.

Reminder to parents: The individual wrester and wrestling team photos will be taken at the end of the season. This particular packet will have various photo options (8”x10”, 5”x7”, wallet, etc.) that you may purchase. Notices will be sent out when that time comes (February).

Practice Schedule for the Week of December 29th: Being that we are in the middle of our wrestling season, the team continues to have practice during the holiday break. The scheduled times for this week are from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Monday, December 29th through Friday, January 2nd. The team will have practice on New Year’s Day! Parents, please make sure your wrestlers are in bed at an appropriate hour, that they get up with sufficient time to have breakfast and make it to practice on time; and that arrangements are made to pick-up your wrestler as well. Thank you!

Tomas Garces Tournament on Tap January 3rd: This highly anticipated wrestling tournament will take place in the Sepulveda Gym on Saturday, January 3, 2009. Teams invited to compete this year are San Benito High School, PSJA High School, PSJA North High School, McAllen High School, McAllen Rowe High School, Sharyland High School, Weslaco East High School and our own Weslaco High School. This will be a team dual format tournament, so there will be plenty of wrestling on display throughout the day.

A ceremony before the start of the tournament will honor the memory of Tomas Garces, WHS Class of 2003, the former Panther Wrestler, two-time District Champion, two-time Regional Qualifier, and two-time State Qualifier; who was killed Sept. 6, 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq when his convoy was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device. Tomas was only 19 years old at the time.

Make plans to attend and bring the entire family and holiday guests. It’s a great way to bring the holiday season to a close and continue a Weslaco Panther Wrestling tradition. And remember….
This One’s For Tommy………………

“ Intense, tough, never-gave-up; when you wrestled him, you were grabbing the tail of a rattlesnake." Coach John Glapa referring to his wrestler Tomas Garces. (Associated Press Release)
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Here’s Wishing All of Our Wrestling Community a Happy Holiday Season …...and may all your Christmas’ be Purple & White.