Valley girls wrestlers once again were the highlight of the Texas UIL Region 4-5A wrestling championship Saturday at the AISD Delco Activity Center in Austin.
Valley boys also put on a show, and the RGV will be well represented Friday and Saturday at the Texas UIL state championships at the Berry Center in Berry, Texas.
A year ago, McAllen Memorial’s Serenity de la Garza and PSJA High’s Jessica Villanueva returned with state titles. De la Garza is set to defend her title after winning another regional title and has a lot of regional champions, runners-up and other Valley qualifiers as company.
Girls won the regional title in seven of the 12 Class 5A weight classes and three of those champions – La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Brooklyn Garza (126 pounds), and McAllen Memorial twin sisters Serenity de la Garza (138) and Eternity de la Garza (165) kept their undefeated seasons intact.
Garza improved to 41-0 with a pin over Comal Canyon’s Xen Reddell (29-16) at the 5:30 mark. Serenity de la Garza, the defending Class 5A state champion at 138 pounds, won a 16-0 technical fall over PSJA North’s Graciela Juarez to improve to 32-0. A senior, Serenity hasn’t lost a match since her sophomore season.
Eternity de la Garza upped her record to 38-0 with a pin in 4:33 over Rio Grande City’s Lia Gutierrez. It was the third time those two wrestlers have met in a tournament final at 165 this year. Eternity finished second in the state last year.
Other regional champions include Rio Grande City’s Vivien Canales at 107, Edinburg Vela’s Danielle Silva at 114, Juarez-Lincoln’s Yamilex Hernandez at 185 and Valley View’s Mia Diaz at 235. Mission Veterans’ Allie Salinas (132), McAllen High’s Arsyn Sadlier (145), Edcouch-Elsa’s Amaya Lopez as well as PSJA North’s Juarez and RGC’s Lia Gutierrez also advanced to the regional finals and earned their ticket to the state meet.
The top four wrestlers from each regional advance to the state tournament.
“This just shows that girls wrestling continues to get stronger,” McAllen Memorial wrestling coach Eddie Gonzalez said. “Ever since wrestling started with girls, the Valley has been competitive. These girls (like Brooklyn Garza, Serenity and Eternity) are inspiring the rest of them. They realize that being a champion is doable, and they are working harder and harder to emulate what these girls are doing.
“They are creating a powerhouse for the Valley.”
In Class 6A, Cassandra Medrano also remained undefeated, upping her record to 37-0 and capturing the 100-pound Region 4-6A title. Medrano, a sophomore, defeated San Marcos’ Jesyka Banda with an 8-6 decision. Banda, a senior, is now 41-2.
Edinburg Economedes’ Marla Jimenez claimed the 185-pound regional title with a pin of Los Fresnos’ Katie Reyes at the 6:16 mark to also remain with an unblemished record at 15-0. The Region 4-6A tournaments were being held at the Littleton Gym in San Antonio.
Five Class 5A boys also won their respective regional titles. Sharyland High’s Aiden Baker, a freshman, captured the 106-pound crown with a fall at 4:50 over Comal Pieper’s Ethan Cobarrubias. Grappling teammate Paolo Miranda improved to 39-3 at 126 with a 4-3 decision over PSJA Memorial’s Erik Duran, and Sharyland Pioneer’s Sebastian Contreras moved to 25-2 with a 12-8 decision over Corpus Christi Veterans’ Luis Morales-Vela.
The record of Rio Grande City’s Greg Vela is now 48-1 after pinning Comal Smithson Valley’s Carson Deike in 2:37 at 150 pounds, and McHi senior Salomon Arroyo won the 190 weight class with another all-Valley final against Mission Veterans’ Joaquin Cordero with a 43-second pin.