McALLEN — Angel Avila and Nayeli Hernandez have something in common.
Neither was very enthusiastic about wrestling at first.
“At first, I didn’t like it,” said Avila, a senior at Sharyland Pioneer. “My brother (who was a wrestler) would have to pay me to go to (his) wrestling practices.”
Hernandez, a senior at PSJA High, was a four-sport athlete in middle school when she was recruited to come out for wrestling in ninth grade.
“I never imagined myself in wrestling,” Hernandez said.
Now, both of them stand as The Monitor’s All-Area Lightweight Wrestlers of the Year.
Avila got into the sport thanks to his older brother Isidro. He started wrestling for the Diamondbacks as a freshman.
“Once I started trying it and once I had my first meet, I got a win so I felt pretty good and proud that all that hard work actually turned out pretty good,” Avila said. “So, ever since then, I’ve kept going and going. I love the sport.”
Despite starting with a win, Avila, who wrestles at 126 pounds, found it tough as the competition increased. He realized that going into a match with anger was not the right approach.
“My brother said don’t use your anger,” Avila said. “Because I would use my anger, I wasn’t mentally prepared. So, I was just like mad. I wasn’t doing anything right.”
Avila has done plenty right since, having won back to back district championships. He was also second in regionals both years and finished sixth in the state this year after finishing 11th at the state meet last year.
He went 85-19 in matches the past two seasons, an amazing winning percentage of .817.
Pioneer coach Richard Eckley describes Avila as a scrapper with an unorthodox style.
“Since we are kind of behind some of the kids up north when it comes to technique because they start younger, we just kind of work to find something that works for each kid and let them go with it,” Eckley wrote in an email. “Angel is comfortable in all sorts of weird situations, so he can take advantage when a more traditional wrestler isn’t too sure what to do.”
One good example happened at the state meet this year. Avila was tangling with an opponent from Katy in the quarterfinal.
“The other guy hesitated for a second on a single-leg and Angel locked up a cradle with his own leg stuck inside the cradle,” Eckley wrote. “Fortunately, Angel is comfortable in weird situations and was able to keep the cradle for the rest of the first period and was up 5-0. He ended up winning the match 9-5, which secured his spot in the state semifinals.”
Avila set school history by going 2-0 in his first-day matches at the state meet this spring. A 2-0 record on Day 1 automatically means one will compete on Day 2, when champions are determined.
“I was the first guy in my school (to do that),” Avila said. “I was proud of myself. The second day was different. It was harder. People were prepared. People wanted it more. The guy I wrestled (in the semifinals) was pretty good. We were both good. My coach said that, ‘I’m not mad at you losing because you guys both did an amazing job.’”
Down five points late in the match, Avila mounted a comeback but a last-second move by his opponent secured the victory.
“It was a super close match,” Avila recalled.
PRODUCING BIG FOR THE BEARS
Hernandez also had a big year for the Bears. She got off to an 18-0 start before suffering her first loss. She didn’t lose again until the regional meet.
The loss at regionals to an opponent from San Antonio Lee was a tough one because Hernandez thought she had it won.
“I was up 5-0 and I had her pinned, but they never called it,” Hernandez said.
At barely 110 pounds, Hernandez doesn’t look like a wrestler, but a combination of quickness and technique enables her to subdue most competitors. One of her signature moves involves sweeping out the legs of her opponent.
Hernandez has finished in the top six in Texas for two straight years.
As a junior, Hernandez won the district title and regional championship before placing sixth at state. This year, she again won district, took third at the region and earned the fifth spot at state.
As a sophomore, she went 33-10. That climbed to 43-7 as a junior and 30-4 as a senior. That’s 106 victories in three years. Not bad for someone who didn’t win a single wrestling match as a freshman.
“I practiced all my summers (to get better),” Hernandez said. “That’s all I ever did was practice, practice, practice.”
Coach Joseph Villanueva, who first recruited Hernandez into wrestling when she was in eighth grade, coached Hernandez at both PSJA High and in the All Valley Wrestling Club.
“It’s a story we use to motivate our kids,” Villanueva said. “Especially those that don’t do so hot. We don’t want them to lose confidence and (we want them) to stay with the program. Wrestling-wise, she had zero wins (except for byes). It’s an amazing turnaround.”
The club members would travel to USA Wrestling Tournaments. She took third place in a tournament in Fargo, North Dakota, last July and was fifth at the Pre-Season National Girls Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, in October.
“It’s the best of the best up there,” Villanueva, who coaches the All Valley Club with Coach Javier Rendon, said.
And now, through sheer dedication, the diminutive Hernandez stands above the rest on The Monitor’s All-Area superlatives.