Eastwood freshman takes 8th at nationals
EL PASO -- For the city's top talents, the high school wrestling season concluded a good month ago. But, for those even fewer elite grapplers, exit time was just a weekend ago. And, now, it's time to train.
While it may still be too soon to label Eastwood 130-pounder Devin Vasquez as elite, the 5-foot-6-inch freshman certainly has the early results to back it up.
After improving on his runner-up status at the Region I meet with an impressive fourth-place finish at the Texas state meet, the soon-to-be 15-year-old saved his best for last. He attained All-American status with an eighth-place finish among freshmen at the National High School Coaches Association Tournament, which ran March 24-27 in Virginia Beach, Va.
"That was about a 10, (the) toughest tournament I've ever been to in my life," said Vasquez of his 20-wrestler, freshman bracket. "At first, I thought I was going to do pretty good. That's what I thought. They didn't wrestle like freshmen. They wrestled like seniors. Big wake-up call."
City wrestling tournament director Ron Dentinger, said, "(The NHSCA) is like a who's who, the equivalent of the Nike tournament for basketball. For (Vasquez) to place in the top eight in a major competition like that means he's probably already a Division I athlete for his age group."
Vasquez opened by pinning New Jersey's Zachary Alto in less than two minutes. But, New Mexico's Anthony Abeyta turned the tables on Vasquez, pinning the El Pasoan 1 minute, 2 seconds into the second round.
"That hadn't happened to me in my whole first year of high school," Vasquez said.
Eastwood coach Roman Villa added, "For both Devin and (Texas State 145-pound champion) Andy Rico, (the city's only other competitor at Nationals), that was the first time that either of them got pinned this year. And we had a long talk over dinner about how they would bounce back."
Vasquez bounced back quite well, dominating Maryland's Matt Capobianco (4-0), Ohio's Michael Snyder (pin, 3:42), and New York's Joe Mastro (7-1) before getting decisioned by Connecticut's Miguel Calixto, 3-2.
"I really have high expectations for Devin, he doesn't know how good he is; he's like a little kid, very humble," said Rico, who was among his division's final 24 wrestlers until the nation's second-ranked Joey Kielbassa of Illinois eliminated him, 4-3.
"It's been a great season for both (Vasquez and Rico), not a lot could've gone better," Villa said. "They've had some good wins, tough losses. I'm encouraging them both to take a week off."
But, Vasquez doesn't appear to be having any of that.
"I'm gonna train harder, because now, there are a lot of expectations," he said. "I think I can make it to the finals, at least, next year. I want to train hard, maybe win state."
And maybe take a crack at sophomore Nationals, where eighth will not be enough.
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