Tijuana Luchadores
| Tijuana Luchadores | |||
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 Current season | |||
| Established 2019 First season: 2019 Play in and headquartered in El Santo Coliseo Tijuana, Mexico | |||
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| League/conference affiliations | |||
Current uniform
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| Team colors | Red, Green, White | ||
| Personnel | |||
| General manager | Epictitus Milburn (nunccoepi) Icy Douglas (iseedoug) | ||
| Team history | |||
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| Championships | |||
League championships (0)
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Conference championships (4)
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Division championships (3)
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| Playoff appearances (7) | |||
| Home fields | |||
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The Tijuana Luchadores are a professional American football franchise based in Tijuana, Mexico. The Luchadores currently compete in the Developmental Simulation Football League (DSFL) as a member club of the league's Simulation Football Conference South (DSFL South) which currently only has one division. The franchise was established in 2018 (S3) by loco.
The Luchadores have competed in the DSFL South Conference Championship game four times, winning it in 2022 and 2023, 2024 (S9), and 2025 (S10). The Luchadores are the first team in NSFL/DSFL history to win 3 championships in a row, winning the Ultimus in 2023, 2024 (S9), and 2025 (S10).
Contents
History of the Tijuana Luchadores
2018 DSFL Season 3
The Tijuana Luchadores' first season as a team in the DSFL was not a very successful one at all. They had a strong start in their first regular-season game as an organization, winning against the Portland Pythons 26-3, but were unable to keep this trend going. After their first ten games, they were just sitting at a .500 win percentage, at 5 wins and 5 losses. Despite this, they were still in a position to finish the season first in the Eastern Conference, being just one game behind the leader, the 6-4 San Antonio Marshalls. However, the team would go on to lose the remaining four games on their schedule, finishing in last place in the conference and failing to make the playoffs for the first time at 5 wins and 9 losses. The team averaged a league-worst 14.3 points per game on offense, and these troubles were paired with a defense that gave up 19.9 points per game, also a league-worst. The only bright side to this inaugural Luchadores season was that the run game was hinting at possible success in years to come, averaging 90.9 rush yards per game behind RB1 Zach Muntez, who ran the ball 377 times for 1268 yards.
2019 DSFL Season 4
The Luchadores fared much better in their second season in the DSFL than the first, however their slow start made it seem like they were going to fall flat yet again. After losing all four of their preseason games, their first five regular-season games, and failing to score 20 points in any of these appearances, someone lit a fire under Tijuana and they went on a seven-game winning streak. This push was good enough to put them on top of the Eastern Conference and secure them a spot in the playoffs, although home-field advantage was still up for grabs. The Luchadores would end up losing their last two games of the season to finish in 2nd place in the division at 7 wins and 7 losses. Their offense scored a league-leading 19.2 points per game, powered by an excellent rush game which averaged over 130 yards per game and 12 rush touchdowns by runningback Sydney Spinelli. The Tijuana Luchadores made their first playoff appearance in the Division Championship game against the San Antonio Marshalls, however they were unable to advance to the 2019 Ultimini, losing the game with a final score of 24-7.
2020 DSFL Season 5
The Tijuana Luchadores 3rd season in the DSFL saw some shake-ups. The Luchadores moved to a different division, the West, and the Chicago Blues became a whole new team, the Palm Beach Solar Bears, a team the Luchadores would struggle against, winning just one of their four regular-season match-ups against them. Despite these distractions, Tijuana was able to start off on the right foot and win their first two games of the season, their best start yet. Despite scoring only 15.7 points per game, the Tijuana Luchadores were able to finish their season at 7 wins, 6 losses, and additionally the organization's first tie, coming in their week 5 matchup against the Palm Beach Solar Bears. This success was due largely to their defense, which allowed opposing teams only 15.2 points per game, despite the fact that they gave up more yards per game than any other team, nearly 350. The Luchadores' record of 7-6-1 was good enough to get them into the 2020 West Division Championship game, where they would fail to score one touchdown against the Palm Beach Solar Bears, losing the game 27-3 and putting the franchise's playoff record at 0-2.
2021 DSFL Season 6
The Tijuana Luchadores underwent another division change in 2021, as the entire west conference became the DSFL South, and the entire east conference became the DSFL North. The Luchadores got off to another one of their signature bad starts, losing their first three games of the season @Kansas City, @San Antonio, and vs. Norfolk. At the end of the season, Tijuana once again had a league-worst defense, who gave up more than 20 points per game. For comparison, their offense only scored 15.4 points per game. Thanks to the arm of quarterback Sam Penner, who completed 257 passes for 2641 yards, many of these going to lead receiver M. Ross, who caught 80 balls for over a thousand yards and 7 touchdowns, the Tijuana Luchadores were able to make the playoffs with a record of just 5 wins and 9 losses. This time, the Luchadores would face off against the San Antonio Marshals in San Antonio, but they failed to win yet again, putting their playoff record at 0-3. The Tijuana Luchadores would lose the game by 20 points, the final score being Marshals 31, Luchadores 11.
2022 DSFL Season 7
After losing all four preseason games again, it didn't look like the Luchadores would do any better than last season. However, they won their first two regular-season games against the Norfolk Seawolves and the Palm Beach Solar Bears, 38-9 and 14-3 respectively. The Luchadores offense averaged a conference-best 317.4 yards per game and 18.9 points per game, behind strong quarterback play by. Despite these strong offensive numbers, the Luchadores' defense struggled again in 2022, giving up a whopping 22.4 points per game. These struggles led to a regular-season record of 6 wins and 8 losses, which was somehow good enough to put them at the top of the DSFL South, giving the team home-field advantage for the Divisional Championship game. This game was played vs. the San Antonio Marshalls, which they won with a final score of 22-10, giving Tijuana the organization's first appearance in the Ultimini, the DSFL's championship game, as well their first playoff win as a team. The Tijuana Luchadores would face the DSFL North's champions, the Portland Pythons, who they would ultimately fall to, with a final score of Portland 24, Tijuana 17.
2023 DSFL Season 8
The Luchadores were hungry after their previous loss to the Pythons, because in 2023 they jumped out to a 2-0 start. Their defense was giving up only 16.6 points per game, which is less than what they were scoring per game Thanks to quarterback Sam Penner, who threw for over 1900 yards and running back Ricky Adams, who had 863 rush yards and 5 touchdowns, the Luchadores were able to score 19 points per game. Although the Luchadores had one of their best defensive seasons yet, including the best defense in the conference, they finished second in the DSFL South division, so they had to travel to San Antonio to play the 11-3 Marshals in order to advance to the Ultimini. In a very close, 14-13 game, Tijuana was able to pull off the upset on the road and advance to their second consecutive Ultimini, where they would face off against the Kansas City Coyotes. In yet another close game, the Tijuana Luchadores managed to edge out the victory, winning them their first-ever Ultimini, 21-20.
2024 DSFL Season 9
The Luchadores were hot in 2024 from last season's Ultimini victory over the Coyotes. They got out to their best start yet, winning 5 games before they lost one, and finished the regular season with a division best 10 wins and 4 losses. Despite the fact that Tijuana's defense gave up more than 20 points per game, they were still able to win games thanks to a high-powered offense who led the league with 24.7 points per game. Adriana Falconi, who was the backup for last year's Ultimini team, wanted to prove she was just as good as her mentor, Sam Penner. She threw for over 1800 yards and had 19 touchdowns in the regular season. When the playoffs came, the team continued to perform at a high level, beating the Marshalls in the divisional championship game 24-19, and beating the Portland Pythons in the 2024 Ultimini 30-24, giving them their second Ultimini championship in as many years.
Season-by-season records
Current roster
Tijuana Luchadores roster
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Running backs Wide receivers
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Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Current staff
Tijuana Luchadores staff
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