When it is time to hit the mat this season, the Bulldogs are ready to go.
Mexico Boys Wrestling Home Quad Photo Gallery
The Mexico boys won all three duals in their first action at home on …
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When it is time to hit the mat this season, the Bulldogs are ready to go.
Mexico Boys Wrestling Home Quad Photo Gallery
The Mexico boys won all three duals in their first action at home on Jan. 14, beating Eldon 74-6, Southern Boone 41-26 and district foe Orchard Farm 82-0. Finishing the night undefeated and winning at least two matches was a list of Bulldogs, including Carlos Juarez Ramirez at 106 pounds, Brayden Arnold at 126, Watson Azdell and Jesus Garcia at 132, Israel Hernandez at 144, Grant Van Horn at 175 and Grant Walker at 215.
Head coach Gayle Adams said the intensity caught his attention, which is promising since all three schools are Class 2 like Mexico and therefore could be seen again down the road at state.
“Even though we dropped a few matches, I think the kids wrestled hard,” Adams said. “It was nice seeing the crowd out there. I like the intensity of the wrestlers.”
Juarez Ramirez put on his own clinic, earning a 19-6 major decision against Southern Boone’s Peter Heyen and a 17-1 technical fall against Orchard Farm’s Grant Farley. Juarez said all of this season with several individual championships to follow a state runner-up campaign had groundwork laid in the summer.
The time and effort has been put in, Juarez said, and spectators, coaches and teammates can see some intensity in his moves. Juarez will wrestle all of the way to the whistle and relentless on the attack.
“I never realized it until this year that I’ve got to keep wrestling to the whistle,” Juarez said. “Even if the whistle sounds, you’ve got to keep running. Once you stop, that’s when you give your opponent a chance to score on you. That’s why most people lose. They give up before the whistle blows.”
Van Horn is one of two seniors on the team this season and is coming off a state runner-up season like Juarez. He has won several individual titles at tournaments this season, also like Juarez, and defeated Eldon’s Brendan Wilson by an 18-1 technical fall and pinned Southern Boone’s Tobin Klemme. Drilling intensity in practice has been what Van Horn said he lacked last year.
“It’s the mentality you keep in practice,” Van Horn said. “It’s the pace you keep. If you’re not pushing yourself when the coaches are looking, it really shows on the mat who’s tired and who can’t last an entire match. Hold yourself accountable.”
As a team, Mexico has consistently finished high in team standings at tournaments, winning the Mid-Buchanan Invitational the previous Saturday before its home quad. The Bulldogs also have notable team finishes of third at Grain Valley, fourth at Union and second out of state in a Florida tournament.
Juarez said each individual pushes themself to get better and that further helps each wrestler to all make up a deep team.
“We just keep pushing each other,” Juarez said. “We never let each other rest. We just keep pushing each other. At the end of the day, that’s what also makes us come closer as a team.”
Van Horn agrees that the Bulldogs push each other, and it’s not to the point where there is any drama and malice. Everyone genuinely likes each other.
“Our chemistry is probably better than any other in Missouri,” Van Horn said. “A lot of teams, when you go to tournaments, in the stands you see them separated and not talking. We’re always having fun, always laughing and always getting to know each other better.”
There were some tight matches during the night, resulting in some wrestlers not being part of the undefeated Bulldogs but still having good nights. Adams said heavyweight Travis Shramek lost 4-2 to Aidan Yung after pinning Eldon’s Brody Robbins earlier in the night but fought the entire match to give himself a chance for victory.
Adams liked what he saw from both Hernandez brothers with Israel not taking a loss and Isai taking one 4-1 loss to Southern Boone’s Owen Britton at 165 pounds. He had pinfall and major decision victories in his other matches.
Watson Azdell had an opponent in all three duals and defeated each one, earning two pinfalls and a 10-3 decision. Azdell is the team’s other senior so Adams likes seeing what he did in one of the last times in front of a home crowd.
“He did a great job and had three matches,” Adams said. “He got down on weight. That was big for him.”
Win or loss, Adams said his wrestlers always strive to be better and that attitude is infectious in the wrestling room and in competition.
“I like the competitiveness,” Adams said. “We step out on the mat, we’re fighting to get better every time we wrestle. The kids are just as hard on themselves as we’re hard on them in practice. They expect to win, and I expect them to do good things too.”