Hernandez A Role Model For Wv Athletes Junior Works Hard For Success In Wrestling, Football

The effort of Anthony Hernandez in wrestling and football has become a metaphor for the light at the end of the tunnel of both sports at West Valley High School.

Youthful and inexperienced, both Eagles teams have struggled.

Just a junior, Hernandez’s wrestling performance for the Eagles this year has been on high beam.

They’ll likely not win a Frontier League dual, but, says first-year coach Geoff Hensley, “Anthony might have a shot at the state tournament.”

It was Hernandez, a starter at slotback, whose game-opening 75-yard kickoff touchdown return stunned East Valley despite WV’s ultimate football loss.

It is Hernandez who has provided leadership and a 22-6 overall record as one of two state hopefuls for a wrestling team that has but three seniors.

The new-look Eagles are heavy with freshman learning at the knees of their coaches and young athletes like Hernandez.

“His worth ethic is unbelievable,” said Hensley. “He started a morning running group and has turned into an excellent driller.”

Hernandez is not a big athlete, competing at 152 pounds for the Eagles, but he competes hard.

He moved to the Valley as a fifth-grader after his father, Mike, who had been stationed at Fairchild, retired from the Air Force.

At Centennial Middle School, Hernandez competed in sports until tearing an anterior cruciate knee ligament and undergoing surgery in eighth grade. But he was back on the football field and in the wrestling room as an Eagle freshman.

His improvement over last year’s break-even wrestling record has been dramatic. In no small measure it is the result of his work ethic. It was also a product of schooling provided by his elders.

“Last year I wrestled a lot of older guys,” he said. “I know the experience of wrestling them and the coaches we have helped me a lot.”

Now Hernandez is one of the older wrestlers in the room and the role model for younger WV athletes.

“Adam Aldendorf and I are pretty much the leaders of the wrestling room,” said Hernandez.

That is why he started the morning runs, as a way of showing the freshmen what it takes to compete at the high school level.

“That extra workout will help at the end,” he said.

He also likes the makeup of the coaching staff. Hensley replaced interim coach Mike Williams who remains as an assistant. They are the technicians. Football coach Tim Trout is the conditioning coach.

Hernandez has worked hard to improve his technique. Hensley said he is more versatile on his feet, can leg ride and is a more solid on top.

“The whole package,” Hensley said. “He understands what he needs to do to be a state wrestler.”

Hernandez’s ultimate goal is to participate in Mat Classic, Tacoma’s 24-mat four-classification state tournament extravaganza. This year’s tourney is Feb. 18-19.

“When guys like Juston Demke (a state qualifier last year) said it was a real good experience, with all those mats,” said Hernandez, “it was something I wanted to do.”