EDINBURG — The Edinburg High Bobcats and the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies were in a heated tangle in the championship round of the District 15-6A wrestling dual championship Saturday.
The event marked the first team matchup tournament of the wrestling season. It was hosted at Edinburg North High on Friday and Saturday as each of the teams comprised of boys and girls and matched up against each other according to weight classes.
Juarez-Lincoln was undefeated going into the championship round. Edinburg High was carrying a single loss to Edinburg North.
And the defending District 15-6A champion Huskies proved to be too strong and defeated the Bobcats 46-30.
“There is a lot of competition and right now we are just excited that we are doing good day in and day out,” La Joya Juarez Lincoln head coach Armando Resendez said.
The Huskies defeated the competition ending the weekend with a 9-0 mark.
Juarez-Lincoln wrestler Carlos Doria was named the most valuable player of the event.
On their way to winning the championship, the Huskies defeated McAllen High 54-12, McAllen Memorial 58-9, McAllen Rowe 60-18, Mission High 60-18, Edinburg North 58-18, Edinburg Economedes 62-6, Edinburg Vela 60-17, La Joya High 48-28, and Edinburg High 46-30.
“The championship between us and Edinburg High boiled down to who had fewer mistakes and who had the most wins throughout the district dual,” Resendez said about winning the team matchup. “The tournament was a preview of what we will see in the District tournament.”
The district tournament will be held in January.
Edinburg High has a winning tradition. It is led by head coach Abel Saenz, and over the last two years it finished second in district. In 2017, it won the title.
“I look forward to see how much our team can improve as the season moves on,” Saenz said.
Each of the 10 teams in District 6A brought more than 10 wrestlers to compete. McAllen Memorial, Edinburg Economedes, Edinburg Vela, Edinburg High, Edinburg North, McAllen High, Mission High and McAllen Rowe participated.
Edinburg Vela freshman Maximilian Benavidez wrestled in the 106-pound weight class. Benavidez said it was his first year wrestling since joining the team.
“I enjoy executing the hip toss move to flip my opponents around,” Benavidez said.
Benavidez competed in 10 matches and won four over the course of the tournament.
“I felt good about the matches,” Benavidez added. “It gets your adrenaline pumping.”
WRESTLERS TO WATCH
Humberto Alcala, a senior at Edinburg Vela, went 9-0 in the district dual. Three of his wins were by forfeits, three technicals and two pins. He has been wrestling since the eighth grade and is currently ranked ninth in the state in his weight class of 160 pounds.
Alcala reached the regional competition his junior year ranked third.
“Honestly, I don’t think rankings mean a lot,” Alcala said. “Last year, I entered the state tournament ranked third and I didn’t place, so rankings don’t mean much to me. I’m just going to go out there and wrestle.”
Justin Garcia, a sophomore at McAllen Memorial, wrestled in two weight classes during the weekend event. He entered the competition in the 145 weight class Friday and 138 weight class Saturday. Garcia went undefeated 9-0 in the 138 class, winning his last match in less than one minute by taking advantage of his opponent’s lack of speed and using an ankle pick technique to end the match.
“Once I was on top of him, I held him down long enough for the referee to say I pinned him,” Garcia said. “I felt pretty good to get a win like that — efficiently.”
Garcia finished third in district his freshman year and advanced to the regional round.
“Unfortunately, I did lose twice,” Garcia said about his regional’s experience. “But at least I got the feel of the competition.”
He is ranked No. 18 in the state.
Javier Rodriguez, a junior at Edinburg High, wrestles in the heavyweight class. He is also ranked 16th in the state in the 285 weight class. He started the sport as a sophomore.
“Wrestling is a really good sport and I recommend it,” Rodriguez said. “It really tests you.”