By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
RIO GRANDE CITY — Jose Alonso didn’t so much pick up wrestling on his own whim as much as he felt “forced into it.”
As a seventh grader, Alonso’s older cousins, Valentin Cantu and Victor Treviño, insisted on taking him to Rio Grande City’s wrestling practice and using him as a sparring partner. Weighing 187 pounds at the time and showing hardly any interest in athletics, Alonso dreaded the experience.
But over the next couple of years, Alonso grew an appreciation for the sport, shedding 50 pounds and developing the type of competitive drive that has helped shape his athletic career.
“That kid, as a freshman, got his butt whooped everyday in practice by his cousins, and now it’s paying off two years later,” coach Ronald Pratt said.
Now a junior, Alonso is enjoying a breakout season, posting a 22-4 individual record. Much of that he attributes to his desire to out-do his cousins, both of whom were regional champions at RGC.
The sport he once felt overwhelmed in has provided an outlet for Alonso, who now finds himself the aggressor on the mat. Plenty of that frustration stemmed from his freshman year, when he was relegated to the junior varsity team. With only one wrestler permitted to represent the program per weight class, Alonso was left out of varsity competition because his older, more experienced cousins gave the Rattlers their best chance to win.
“If you wanted that spot, you had to challenge them,” Alonso said. “And, of course, I wasn’t going to do that.”
Frustrated by the situation, Alonso worked that summer on becoming a more technically sound wrestler. He went 30-15 his sophomore year on varsity, placing second at the district championship and sixth at regionals.
That summer he attended wrestling camps and worked out with members of the school’s football team. And he returned that fall with a better of understanding of how to use his leverage and strength against opposing wrestlers, Pratt said, after Alonso dedicated himself in the weight room.
It fueled Alonso’s 13-0 start this year, including wins at tournaments at McAllen Rowe and Weslaco East.
“I didn’t even expect that (type of success), honestly,” Alonso said. “It’s given me a real confidence boost, and I just want to keep it up.”
Having been to the state championship as a spectator, Alonso feels he has a firm understanding as to the type of competition he might face. He said he noticed wrestlers are less aggressive in their approach, instead focusing on the mechanics of wrestling, and that about “75 percent of competing is about mental toughness.”
It was after Alonso fell short of reaching state last year that he made a commitment to himself to not only return to regionals this year, but win in his weight class. He wants to prove that he’s skilled of a wrestler as his cousins once were.
“That’s what motivates me,” he said.
Alonso’s hope is that he reaches state this year and places fourth or higher, as his cousin, Treviño, once did.
“I think they did more for him than anyone else,” Pratt said. “He uses them as barameters. They’ll come over here during the Christmas break, and they’ll whip him. And I think he just wants to live up to what they did and surpass their goals.”
Alonso doesn’t interpret any of his experiences with his cousins as bullying. Even though they insisted he do lunges for 2-3 hours a day, everyday for a week, when he first started wrestling, Alonso understood that as just part of the process.
“They did it to make sure I was mentally strong,” Alonso said. “They taught me how to stand, how to take shots. They taught me how to defend myself when they’re throwing legs, how to use my length to my advantage.
“I learned basically everything I know from them, and I grew to like wrestling because of them.”