The frenetic schedule El Dorado’s wrestling team has had to contend with comes to a close with a meet at Lake Hamilton today.
Weigh-in is set for 5 p.m. with the action set to begin at 6 p.m.
The meet is the fifth over the last week with four coming in a five-day span after wintry weather two weeks ago caused several events to be rescheduled.
After Tuesday’s event, EHS will begin its preparations for the regional meets, which are scheduled for next month after the Wildcats failed to qualify for the Dual State meet.
El Dorado wrestled Saturday at Hot Springs Lakeside with the boys beating Hot Springs 42-30 and suffering defeats at the hands of Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs Lakeside.
The girls were swept by Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs Lakeside.
Although the Wildcats were downed by the Wolves on Saturday, the margin was only 10 points, and coach Alex Townsend said his team has a chance to avenge that loss.
“We’re going to have a little more of a fuller team,” Townsend said. “We’re going to have some of our guys back we didn’t quite have Saturday at a couple of spots, so I expect us to go up there and compete. I think we’ve got a shot to beat them, too. We had a shot to beat them Saturday, but we didn’t quite have a full roster and had a couple of guys injured, which hurt us a little bit. I think we can give them a run for their money. We have a shot to come out with a win.”
Although El Dorado won’t be competing at Dual State, Tuesday’s meet could help with seeding with the upcoming regional tournaments.
“We can improve our records a little bit individually,” Townsend said. “For a couple of kids, it can help with seeding a little bit, but it’s not going to have a huge impact. It’s more so just to give them another event, another road trip experience, a little bit more mat time before we head to regionals.”
El Dorado got solid contributions from Richard Diaz and Jackson Pagan on Saturday with the duo combining to go 5-1 on the day.
“He’s a guy that comes to work every day,” Townsend said of Diaz, who wrestles in the 120-pound weight class. “He works hard every day. He’s a guy that’s gotten better just because of the work he’s been putting in. He’s been a big help to us this season.”
Pagan, who competes in the 126-pound weight class, stands to be a key figure for EHS in the future.
“He’s a sophomore, second-year wrestler that we’re excited to see over the next two years,” Townsend said. “He’s a kid that’s only going to get better as well. He had a big day on Saturday.”
As EHS gets ready to close out the regular season, Townsend said he believes his team has handled the busy schedule well.
“I think they’ve handled it well for the most part,” Townsend said. “I think toward the end of last week, we were getting a little bit tired from the week, but I think we’ve handled it fairly well.
“There’s a couple of things we could’ve handled a little bit better, but dealing with teenage kids, it’s going to be rare that you’re going to get a perfect outing over the course of a week, week and a half.
“I expect us to go up there with a lot of energy and fight our tails off and see if we can come out with a win.”