By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Wekiva High School wrestling team prepared for the Class 3A Region 1 Championships this week after six wrestlers advanced to regionals following district play.
The Region 1 championships were set to start Friday, Feb. 28, when the Mustangs traveled to Lake Mary, which hosts the Class 3A Region 1 Championship. They will finish on Saturday, Mar. 1.
The six wrestlers who advanced because of their district championship results were Demarcus Stokes, Nevin Thomas, Joseph Saint Melus, Elijah Jean, Jeremiah Demonsithe, and Joniel Deleon. Stokes and Thomas finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes. Saint Melus and Jean finished third place in their respective weight classes. And Demonsithe and Deleon finished fourth in their respective weight classes.
Wekiva’s head coach, Lenin Vazquez, was proud of his team’s performance in district.
“Well, they’re peaking at the right time, the guys that are moving on,” he said. “All of our hard work and our challenging schedule this season is paying off.”
Vazquez said two of the biggest district highlights were watching his wrestlers, Stokes and Thomas, compete in the district championship finals. He says now it’s all about the next match, and that’s the team’s mindset – taking it one day and one match at a time. They’re focusing on what’s right in front of them and not getting distracted by what-ifs.
“They’re confident in their ability, and they’re not afraid of anyone,” said Vazquez.
Vazquez said he and the wrestlers know the jobs are not finished. They aim to be state championship contenders, win it all, and become all-state wrestlers. But Vazquez said it is not always about training as hard as possible going into these important meets.
Vazquez said he and the team would focus on cleaning up their finishing on takedowns. He said that’s where most of the team lost many points they shouldn’t have because of takedowns. But he said rest is the most important thing for his team right now.
“Our other main focus is making sure they’re fully recovered from just the long season,” Vazquez said. “We want them to be peaking right now, so we’re decreasing our workload at practice and just keeping them fresh. So once that first whistle blows at regions, they still want to keep wrestling and want to compete.”
Vazquez told me that he thinks the reason behind Wekiva’s success this season is the balance in their approach. Their mindset, strength, technique, and dedication to their craft are all on the same wavelength and, in a way, feeding off each other. Just how these kids feed off each other and train even harder because of the brotherhood born among teammates.
Vazquez said that Melus and Stokes are the team’s de facto leaders and role models to the rest of the team. The two partners push each other daily to the limit, so there are never plateaus in their training, he said.
“They lead by example by leaving it all on the map every single day,” Vazquez said. “Whether it’s at practice or at a competition, you can never tell because these two are always at 100 percent.”
Vazquez said that attitude and energy trickle down to his team. He said another big part of their success this year is how they handled the losses. He said that winning is always easier, and it’s the losses that test mental strength.
The team is mentally prepared for regionals, Vazquez said: “We’ve been to tournaments bigger than regionals.”
He said the team was well prepared for the size of the tournament and was confident in their ability to succeed.
“The moment is not too big for them,” Vazquez said. “They have been tested. They are battle-tested, and they are ready. They are ready to take this challenge on.”
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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