BEEVILLE — The Trojan wrestlers hosted their new district foe, the San Antonio Highlands Owls, on Tuesday night. The match was extremely close but the Trojans captured the district win 42-36.

“We had three new young wrestlers in the lineup tonight, and we were fortunate to get away with a win. Our veteran wrestlers were able to pick up some bonus points for us to secure the win,” said head coach Terry Foster.

“We are still a work in progress.”

The dual meet went right down to the final match. Each weight class that had competitors for both teams was won by pin fall, and in most cases, it was over before the first two-minute period had run its course.

The varsity boys’ match led off with the 132-pound division. Beeville’s Tristan Longoria captured the first JHS points by pinning his Owl opponent in the first period to give the Beeville squad a 6-0 lead.

The Owls won the second match, at 138 pounds, as the experienced SA wrestler pinned Trojan Seth Aguirre. The Owls also won at the 145-pound class as Nathaniel Burris was the victim of a quick pin by the Highlands’ wrestler. That win gave the Owls a 12-6 lead.

Trojan Cordell Aguirre, at 152 pounds, broke the Owls’ modest winning streak by getting a second period pin fall win to tie the match at 12-12.

The Trojans took a brief 18-12 lead as Jeremy Ramirez pinned his Owl foe in the next battle at 160 pounds. Trojan Dustin Chaney (170 pounds) did not keep it going as the Highlands wrestler earned another first period pin to even things at 18-18.

The Owls captured the match at 182 pounds with a win over Beeville’s Ernesto Gomez. But, at 195 pounds, Trojan senior Brent Puga won on a pin within the first minute of action to tie the match at 24-24.

At 220 pounds, Beeville’s Elijah Green met defeat by a Owl pin fall to give the visitors a 30-24 advantage and the Owls also won the super-heavy weight match with a default, walk-over win to make it a 36-24 margin going into the final three lightweight matches.

Joe (Trey) Montez got the Trojans back on the right track at 113 pounds, winning by default as the Owls did not have a wrestler at the weight. At 120 pounds, Trojan Rogelio Salazar took his opponent into the second period before earning a pin fall victory to tie the match at 36-36 with just one weight class left to take the mat.

Mario Perez took the mat for the Beeville varsity at 126 pounds. The referee at the match met him in the center of the floor and raised his hand in victory as Highlands did not have a 126-pounder to compete with Perez. That win, by default, gave the Trojans the slim 42-36 district victory.

The Lady Trojans and Lady Owls squared off for six matches following the boys meet. Danielle Perez, at 102 pounds, won her match against the Owls with a first period pin. Mandy Maldonado met defeat in the second match at 110 pounds. The Lady Trojans won by default at 119 pounds with Brianna Gobel getting the walk-over victory. Heidi Rodriguez, at 148 pounds, also won for the hosts. The match ended in a 18-18 tie, but the Beeville girls were awarded the win on less cautions. Both teams had the same number of pin fall wins, and the match went to the second tie-breaker consideration.

The Trojan wrestlers compete next at a dual meet with the Corpus Christi Ray Texans on Dec. 29 at their gym.