Sports
Three Hornet Wrestlers Advance to Regional Competition
Senior Ramon Reyes finishes in third place in his weight class.
Herndon’s wrestling team has been a team in flux all season and competing against established programs in the Concorde District has put the Hornets in a difficult position.
The Hornets’ youth showed at the Concorde District Tournament at Centreville High School. With a tournament roster of only six wrestlers, which was the lowest of any school in the district, Herndon placed in sixth place with 22 aggregate points.
Westfield narrowly won the district with 225.5 points and was followed by Robinson with 219 points, then Chantilly with 119.
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”Overall our program is pretty young this year and is being rebuilding,” Herndon coach Mike Gonzales said. “Next year we should be a little bit more competitive than this year.”
The fifth year coach knows the school’s wrestling program well. He helped the Hornets win four Great Falls District titles from 199-94 and was a two-time all region champion.
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Senior Ramon Reyes, who competes at the 119 pound level, was the top overall finisher for the Herndon team. Reyes placed in third place in his weight division with a decision victory to win the consolation bracket.
“Ramon is the only senior in the whole program, so we return everyone that that was in the room this year for the next couple years,” Gonzales said. “He’s a good example in the room. They look at him and his workout partner and how hard they train, so they’ll know how hard it takes to train.”
Reyes defeated Chantilly’s Kyle Smith to earn third place. Reyes and Smith have built up a rivalry of sort throughout the season and earlier this year Smith easily beat Reyes on a pin.
“I started working harder since day one,” Reyes said. “Last time I lost because I basically gave up.”
Reyes would like to see more athletes at his school tryout for wrestling and not see as many people give up on it.
“Wrestling is a tough sport,” Reyes said. “I think it’s the hardest out there. You got to be mentally tough and in shape and listen to your coaches in the corner.”
Two other Herndon wrestlers made it to the weekend consolation bracket of the tournament. Sophomore Jared Nielson (103 pound class) and junior Gabe Pike (112 pound class) placed in fourth place.
“If they all stay with it, they’ll be good,” Reyes said.
In total, three Hornets advanced to regional competition, which will be held Feb 10-12 at Fairfax High School.
