As the wrestling team approached their regional UIL qualifying matches in early February, Akins wrestlers fine tuned and prepared their minds for the toughest opponents they would face all season.

“The sport of wrestling all comes from mentality, lots of sweat, hard work and dedication,” junior Katerina Pena said.

Although the season is now over, team members are proud of their accomplishments.

Wrestling is a tough sport and it takes a lot of dedication from athletes to perform their best and stay strong throughout every practice and match they compete in.

“Wrestling is like a 24- hour sport because you constantly have to watch what you eat and practice everyday and practice your technique as well,” senior Robert Rodriquez said.

The season started off strong for the team this year and they improved until their season ended in late February.

Although wrestling is more of an individual sport, they have to work as a team to support each other. They help each other grow everyday whether it’s wrestling against each other because they need an opponent to practice with, or just someone to help them stretch or even just as simple support.

“We have a very family-based team and everyone is always there for each other,” Pena said.
Coach Roy Tambunga said he has confidence in his team.

“The team is doing very good this year we started off great and we are almost done,” Tambunga said. “We have a lot of new young freshman this year as well as our old ones, and I have about four seniors that will make it past district, which i am pretty excited about”

Brenda Cancino who had a personal 32-13 record before the district tournament, is now finished with her last wrestling season in high school, but hopes to continue her wrestling career into college.

“Wrestling is a passion of mine and I want to continue it outside of high school,” Cancino said. “I am just waiting for the right college to try and get a scholarship. I have gotten some emails from out of state colleges but I am really just hoping to stay close to home.”

The team sometimes has to travel far away to compete, including tournaments in the Houston and Dallas areas.

The Houston Hurricane Classic tournament lasted two days and they performed well against some tough opponents.

“My weight class is 148 and I wrestled at 165. It was hard but I felt like I did good,” Cancino said.

They also had a few wrestlers place in the Houston tournament, including 1st place for Leslie Mejia, who was 37-5 before the district tournament; 5th place for Robert Rodriguez, who was 26-14; and 6th place for Katerina Pena, 24-8.

“Wrestling is my sport and my plan is to go all out,” Rodriguez said.