The wrestling team will compete in the district tournament tomorrow at Lewisville High School. The tournament begins at 9 a.m. and tickets will be sold at the door. The top three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to regionals.

“There’s no telling [what will happen. The tournament] is going to be tough. [I hope] to qualify as many people [as possible] for regionals and then from regionals to state,” coach David Rozanski said.

The wrestling team only has two seniors this year, and assistant coach Austin Kaehn said a lot of the athletes are in their first year of wrestling. Ten wrestlers from Hebron will be competing in the district tournament.

“These new guys have been working on all [skills],” Kaehn said. “For one, [they have been] conditioning with the football guys, then [getting] all around mastery of enough moves and techniques to get them out of districts. They don’t need to know everything, but they need to know a handful of things really well.” 

Senior co-captain Rolando Morales said Southlake Carroll High School is one team to watch out for at district since many of their wrestlers advanced to regionals last year.  

“I’m definitely anticipating a lot of challenges,” Morales said. “All the top schools are going to be there, [and] everyone’s going to be bringing their A-game. Everyone wants to go to regionals. So, I’m going to be expecting it, but I’m also going to be prepared.”  

Adjusting to COVID-19 precautions, districts reduced the number of wrestlers who progress to regionals from the top four to the top three. Senior co-captain Jeremiah Joseph placed fourth in district last year and ended the regular season with nine pins and one loss.

“This year, I’m hoping to place [in the] top five in state,” Joseph said. “I think I can be the district champ and the regional champ this year. It will be a lot harder, though, since usually [the] top four advance, but now they made it top three.” 

The team has been working on attacks, shots and being aggressive for the district tournament. For those who advance, the regional tournament will be from April 16-17 in Haltom City. 

“We definitely have a lot of hurdles to go through and still have some challenges to work through as well, but I definitely see the guys putting in the work every day,” Morales said. “They have that mindset to make it to the end and give it their all.”