McALLEN — McAllen High wrestler Jace Lyon patiently waited as he pushed and shoved his opponent around the ring.
He was looking for an opening as they locked each other up at the head, and in a blink of an eye they both dropped to the mat hard without losing their tight grip.
As they continued grappling on the floor, Lyon saw an opening and went for a finishing move known as the crucifixion.
He wrapped his opponent’s arm around his head and locked the other between his legs with a python-like grip at elbow as he stretched his opponent’s arms across his body with all his might.
That was just one of the many finishing moves executed by wrestlers at the day long Holiday Havoc individual wrestling tournament Tuesday at McAllen Rowe High School.
“I just saw it and went for it,” Lyon said. “He was strong, but I kept control and wanted him to follow my pace of wrestling.”
It was Lyon’s first match of the day, and he went on to finish the day 3-2.
Seventeen teams competed in the tournament that pitted teams from across the Valley with one another.
La Joya High and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s boys teams tied for first with 149 points.
Edinburg North led the girls competition with 135 points. McAllen Memorial and Sharyland Pioneer followed tied for second with 63 points.
The final match of the day featured Mission High’s Dante Lopez and Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High in the heavyweight championship in the 285-pound weight class.
Each of them had wrestled past three opponents each to get to the championship match.
They each traded blows on the mat one after the other.
“It was a tough match,” Lopez said. “He was very strong, very fast, he knew what he was doing.”
It was Lopez’s first tournament appearance of the season after a short break after finishing his football season.
“We’re knocking off a little rust of Dante, but he’s a guy that just loves wrestling, and working with his teammates,” Mission High head coach David Mann said.
Lopez is ranked No. 10 in the state in the 285 weight class by WrestlingTexas.com.
“It feels great to be back and to take the home the gold,” Lopez said.
Mission High senior Zenaida Vega dropped weight from 117 pounds to 102 pounds to get an edge over her opponents.
And her plan worked as she went undefeated on her way to a first place finish in the Havoc Tournament.
To reach the tournament semifinal, she defeated her opponent using what she described as a stack move by wrapping her legs over her opponents head and forcing a pin.
“She is just a ball of energy,” Mission High head coach David Mann said. “She’s got some fire.”
Vega was born with a congenital hand anomaly and malformation of her left hand, and only has two small fingers. Vega refuses to have it slow her down in the ring.
“It gives me a disadvantage honestly,” Vega said about her hand. “I’ve worked past it every day and my coaches have always guided me though it. “
“I’m going to give it my all, this is my last year,” Vega added. “I’m super dedicated to take it all the way to state.”