By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
With an eye on regionals and state, Weslaco High coach Rolando Becerra is taking his team to the Big Horn Duals Invitational in Houston this weekend.
The Lady Panthers are coming off a season in which they won the District 16-6A title, returning state qualifiers Rulyanne Rodriguez and Mariah Torres, and the goal is to bring everyone else up to speed on that caliber of skill.
“We have tough competition in the Valley,” Becerra said, “but these are the kids they’re going to be seeing at the regional and state levels. So this is going to help them out in the long run. They say, ‘Hey, I’ve seen some of these schools before, I’ve seen some of these wrestlers before,’ and it puts them more at ease later in the season.”
Weslaco now is 4-2, having finished in second place at the Southern Scuffle recently. Becerra said he was impressed with the outcome, given they traveled with only five of 10 wrestlers. Sophomore Melissa Ibarra, who wrestles in the 102-pound weight class, is thriving in her first varsity season, boasting a 7-1 record.
Becerra said Ibarra was brought up from their JV team last year, and has shown more assertive in the early going. The biggest key, he said, is her understanding of weight distribution when pinning opponents.
The coming weeks should go a long way in Weslaco’s quest for a second straight district title, as senior captains Rodriguez (7-0) and Torres (6-1) take form.
MAKING STRIDES
Through 10 meets, Edinburg Vela’s girls are undefeated — an improvement from last year’s 8-2 mark around this time.
The biggest difference is the team’s confidence. Coach Jody Cantu said the Lady SaberCats are building on last year’s district runner-up finish, where they relinquished a Day 1 lead to fall behind the eventual champions, Rio Grande City. Vela avenged that loss recently, beating Rio Grande City in a quad meet following a tiebreaker.
“To defeat them, that was a pretty big deal for us, because they set the bar for wrestling in the RGV,” Cantu said.
Vela returns state qualifiers in Petra Felix, Miranda Meltor and Aylin Salinas, leading “laser-focused” practices. Where last year Cantu felt the Lady SaberCats were “nonchalant” through stretches, now he sees they’re determined to leave their imprint on the matches.
They placed first in the Edinburg CISD Invitational, and they’re hoping to continue that momentum when they compete in the upcoming Mustang Invitational.
“The goal is, we want to bring a state title to Vela in wrestling,” Cantu said. “That’s the goal year in and year out. I think last year they were wide-eyed, being it was their first time in the state tournament. But I think that quickly faded away, so now they kind of refocused and they’re ready to chase that goal.”
RANKED
Several Valley wrestlers opened the season ranked in the top 10 state list by WrestlingTexas.com.
In Class 5A, Rio Grande City’s Alex Islas was the top-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds. Sharyland High’s Joseth Suarez (sixth, 126), RGC’s Rupert Bautista (ninth, 126) and PSJA High’s Joe Montemayor (10th, 195) also made the cut. RGC’s Aloutte Gonzalez was No. 2 in the 95-pound class for girls, and teammate Mabel Villarreal came in fifth at 148. Mission Veterans Memorial’s Karime Flores (fifth, 128), Leslie Alaniz (third, 148) and Klarissa Blanco (sixth, 185) were also ranked. Grulla’s Yasmin Flores was sixth at 138.
Aylin Salinas (fifth, 185) and Miranda Melchor (fourth, 215) represented Edinburg Vela. Leslie Magdaleno (fifth, 165) was Donna North’s lone wrestler ranked.
In Class 6A, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Rene Bass was No. 7 in the 182-pound division. McAllen Memorial’s Sergio Trevino (fifth, 138) and teammate Gilbert Villarreal (fourth, 170) also made the list. For the girls, Leslie Olivarez (second, 95) and Angelica Hernandez (eighth, 128) represented La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
Keyla Gutierrez (fifth, 215), Steffany Rosas (second, 185) and Alyssa Salinas (seventh, 102) ranked for La Joya Palmview. Weslaco High’s Mariah Torres (sixth, 110) and Rulyanne Rodriguez (fourth, 119), McAllen Memorial’s Amanda Alvarado (fifth, 138) and Edinburg Economedes’ Kassandra Castillo (fourth, 148) rounded out the group.