NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
RIO GRANDE CITY — Donna North’s girls were prepared for a good day at the District 16-5A wrestling tournament.
When all of the finalists re-entered the gym at Grulla High School on Thursday in the ‘Parade of Champions’ to announce the first-place matchups, five Donna North Chiefs lined up for their shot at a gold medal.
That didn’t lessen the excitement when they were presented with the trophy for their first district title in the program’s four-year history.
The Chiefs had two individual winners and scored 144 points for first place, followed by Rio Grande City with 137 points and Donna High with 136.
Monica Resendez started the finals strong for Donna North, pinning Irene Barrera of Rio Grande City in just 33 seconds to win the 95-pound division. Her coach, J.J. Ayala, recruited the approximately 4-foot-10-inch sophomore from basketball and watched her progress into a tough competitor who owns a 21-2 record.
“I had no idea I would make it this far,” Resendez said through excitement after her match. “I honestly wanted to cry. I was like, ‘OMG, I made this far. Now regionals.’ It’s a big thing you know — Austin!”
Donna North’s Ferralin Algeria also took first. Her medal came in the 148 division, over Daniela Roman from Sharyland Pioneer.
In the 119 division, Grulla’s Carolyn Villarreal put on a show in her home gymnasium as she earned a fall via pin over Sharyland Pioneer freshman Emily Trevino.
Villarreal acknowledge the motivation from the crowd and was proud to see her work pay off after a second-place finish at the district meet last season.
“It’s great motivation to know that I have people out there cheering for me,” Villarreal said. “You know you’re wrestling the best of the best out there. In working with them, they help me to become better as a person, and as a wrestler, as well. That means that I’m going to go far out there and place at regionals.”
Edcouch-Elsa’s Yesenia Saldana represented the first district champion in program history with her win at 165.
Rio Grande City’s Graciela Toscano won over Precious Hernandez of Donna North in the 185 division. Rio’s other winner was junior Samantha Rodriguez, who earned a third-round pin of Luisa Mendoza from Donna North.
On the boys side, Sharyland Pioneer proved that last year’s title was not a fluke. Rather, it represented the new pecking order in RGV 5A boys wrestling.
The Diamondbacks powered past the competition with 273 points — 97 more than Rio Grande City in second place with 176. Donna High came in third with 174 points, ahead of Edcouch-Elsa, which finished fourth in the program’s first season.
The Diamondbacks sent finalists to the mat in nine of the 13 weight classes. Diego Serna was a repeat champion after a 4-0 decision over Ivan Ozuna.
The bout was a familiar meeting. The two wrestled in the district and regional championships last season and numerous times this year. Thursday’s match was a methodical, defensive struggle.
“Seeing Ivan again, it’s kind of come to me that it’s going to happen eventually,” Serna said. “I guess I know his style now, since it’s always such a good matchup.”
Pioneer’s Brandon Pritchard, who won the 145 championship, thanked his teammates who wrestled at junior varsity and pushed for positions all season.
“It’s all about the people at practice that didn’t make it to district, the people that got beat out by better people,” Pritchard said. “Every single person that showed up to practice that isn’t here wrestling for a district weight class made us better. That’s what’s going right for Pioneer. We don’t worry about ourselves. There’s no individualism. We’re one big pack of goons, but we get stuff done.”
Dominique Rodriguez defeated Valley View’s Reymundo Colgua in just 14 seconds in the 182 championship match.
Angel Resio of Sharyland Pioneer was trailing Carlos Nascimiento of Edcouch-Elsa 10-6 with time expiring in the third round. Resio turned things around from near fall to a pin of his own.
The come-from-behind win was the first time that he beat Nascimiento after facing him in previous tournaments.
“My teammates helped me out to be aggressive and win the tournament,” Resio said. “I feel more accomplished now that I beat that opponent.”
Justin Barrera of Rio Grande City won gold in the 152 division. He and Raul Lopez were RGC’s two individual gold winners.
Sharyland High also had multiple winners. Gabriel Martinez won the heavyweight class (285 pounds) beating Eric Guzman of Donna High in an 8-3 decision.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the regional meet at the Delco Center in Austin next weekend.