By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Walk into a La Joya Juarez-Lincoln girls wrestling practice and junior Leslie Oliva carries the presence of an assistant, helping coach Humberto Vela relay technique and form to her teammates.
Two years ago, Oliva wouldn’t have imagined she’d have that role. After all, she entered high school with little interest in sports. In fact, she knew so little about wrestling that she believed it was similar to boxing.
But looking for a challenge and a workout, she gave it a try after Vela, also her biology teacher, asked her to give it a shot.
“I told her, ‘We’re looking for a lightweight. Do you want to try it?’ She said yeah, and she’s been in the (wrestling) class ever since,” Vela said.
Recruiting wrestlers is hard enough, Vela said. Pitching it to girls is especially challenging.
“They say it’s a rough sport, and they don’t want to do it because they think they don’t belong,” he added. “I tell them, ‘You don’t really hit people. All you do is grab and push and hold. You use technique a lot and you use your weight to push people off.”
It wasn’t hard a sell once Vela put it that way, and Oliva went through her freshman year learning the sport. She took her lumps, finishing 8-6 and failed to make the cut to represent her team at district.
That summer, though, she worked on conditioning, dropping from 100 pounds to 95. She went from being fatigued quickly to developing some stamina. Her technique improved, as well. She developed a high crotch takedown, ideal for diminutive wrestlers, such as herself.
And in one of the turning points in her career, she beat one of La Joya Palmview’s top wrestlers as a sophomore, giving Vela hope that Oliva could perhaps develop into something special. Sure enough, she posted a 46-2 individual record that year, a run that ended in the state championship.
“For me, it was awesome because all I was hoping for was to be a state qualifier, never in the top 3 in state,” Oliva said. “From freshman year to sophomore, I thought ‘you have to win.’ It’s on my mind already. ‘You have to win. No matter what.’”
Oliva enjoyed the camaraderie at state. She went with two other seniors in Danae Sanchez and Mayra Becerra, picking their brain. But by the time state got under way, Oliva froze.
“I was more nervous than ever,” she said. “All I wanted to do was finish the match and go home.”
“That last match,” Vela added, “was more like no one wanted to do anything. It was a push-pull deal, trying to feel each other out and try to look for the first mistake. It was more strategy than anything else.”
Vela called the leap that year “a pleasant surprise,” but it also raised expectations for Oliva.
“He was disappointed because I didn’t get state champion, but he was proud because he didn’t think I’d make it that far,” the junior said.
So far this year, Vela is undefeated. She won both her matches in the 6A district duals this weekend, beating wrestlers from San Benito and Weslaco High.
Vela likens Oliva to Sanchez, her former teammate, a four-time state qualifier. It’s high praise for Oliva, who has ambitions of becoming the team’s first state champion.
“We had a very good chance with Danae. She was a great wrestler,” Vela said of Sanchez. “She had a lot of potential. (Oliva) is almost the same type of wrestler but lightweight. She loves to wrestle and I think she’ll go far.
“She’s got the skills already. All she’s got to do is keep working on it.”