McALLEN – When Jerry Curl began the Texas Hunters and Sportsman’s Expo in 1992, there’s no way he could have imagined what type of big game/bigger name the show would morph into during the years.

When the 32nd annual event takes place beginning today at the McAllen Convention Center, every nook and cranny of the building — and much of the outside — will display products, entertainment and more that covers hunting, fishing, camping and the great outdoors.

“I like to call it a supermarket on steroids,” said Chris Curl who, along with the Curl family, directs, oversees and creates the annual event. “I like to tell people that hunting and fishing is a family tradition. The same goes for our show, entire families come out annually. To buy things, to learn about the outdoors and just have a good time.”

Curl said the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it a large outdoor awareness across the country as people looked for ways to entertain themselves and family.

“The last two years have been the best shows we’ve had, and we are always looking to outdo ourselves the following year,” Curl said. “People didn’t want to be locked up for a year or more where they couldn’t do anything because of COVID. It’s a family event where you can also buy beef jerky, smoked meats, homemade soup kits, educational outdoor books for kids. If you don’t like hunting I get it, but there’s also camping and archery and barbecues and so much more to do.”

Among the favorites returning this year are a live rattlesnake exhibit with shows throughout the day and Frank Addington Jr., known as the “aspirin buster” because of his archery trick shows that include splitting an aspirin in mid-air.

“Nobody wants to be stuck at home,” Curl said. “Spend a few hours here, learn something. You will be outdoors at some time, and being bit by a snake down here is a possibility. We have a show that says what to do, what are the steps, if that happens.

“Frank (Addington) is a modern day Robin Hood. He shoots an aspirin out of the sky but also has a good message — get off the computers, get outside with the family and spend time with the kids. Families that spend more time together are closer.”

There will be plenty of products — from fishing lures to exotic hunting and fishing trips available as well.

“There can be thousands of people come through here, but I want to make sure the vendors are happy. They make the show happen. The Curl family just coordinates. This is the first show on the circuit of Texas and many of the items are being seen earlier here, new products and services and things that you won’t see until the fall in stores. We’ve grown quite a bit.”

The event runs from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

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McALLEN – There’s something about Champion Lakes Golf Course, and especially the McAllen Amateur Golf Championship, that brings out the best in Luke Antonelli and Miguel Del Angel.

And, for the first time, the two were paired in the final group Sunday. Antonelli held off a furious charge from Del Angel and captured his third championship trophy in the past four events, finishing second last year to Del Angel who won the tournament on the final hole.

Antonelli, from San Antonio, fired a blistering 7-under-par 65 to finish his two-day total with a 71-65 136. Del Angel, from Mission, was seeking his sixth championship and finished in the top two for the 10th time. Del Angel shot a 4-under-par 68 for a 73-68-141.

Del Angel went on a run with birdies on Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 10 to pull within one stroke of Antonelli at the turn.

“It was something watching him rattling off birdies like that,” said Antonelli, who won the event in 2019 and 2021 (there was no event in 2020 due to the pandemic). “He’s a great player and I just had to keep making good swing. I know I can’t fo anything about what he’s doing but I felt as long as I kept making good swings, I’d be okay.”

Antonelli registered big putts on Nos. 12 and 15 to take control of the tournament lead and then knocked in a 45-foot birdie putt on No. 17 that put an exclamation point on his title run.

“Every shot counts out here and most of us don’t get to do this very often so it’s a lot of fun,” Del Angel said. “I was very impressed (with Antonelli). He’s a great player.

“After the birdie on 10, I thought, ‘OK, game on. Let’s go.’ Then I made a dumb bogey on 11 and he birdied it, so there was a two-shot swing. I birdied 14 and thought I might still have a chance but he had so many birdie putts and made ton of them. He deserved to be the champion this year and my hat’s off to him.”

Luis Chavez finished alone in third with a two-day 147 score. McLean Beckwith and Albert Ochoa, who was tied for the lead with Antonelli to start Sunday’s round, finished tied for fourth with 149s and Jose Luis Samar scored a 150 for sixth place.

There were 42 golfers in the championship flight and five total flights.

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McALLEN — Albert Ochoa and Luke Antonelli each registered a 1-under-par 71 to capture a tie for the lead Saturday at the 2023 Vantage Bank McAllen Amateur Golf Championship at Champion Lakes Golf Course.

Ochoa is looking for his first McAllen Amateur title while Antonelli has won the title twice, in 2019 and 2021. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Three other golfers, including five-time and defending champion Miguel Del Angel, are within two strokes of the leaders. Del Angel sits tied for fourth with Rafael Meza at 1-over while Mauricio Gamez is alone in third with a first round par-72.

Golfers in the championship flight, during the morning, played with temperatures in the mid-80s and a breeze, that often times reached a gust of 20-25 miles per hour. They finished their round with temps in the mid-90s, but before it reached 100 degrees and the afternoon flights hit the fairways.

Ochoa is a 1995 graduate of Edinburg High who hit his stride at the college level while playing for TCU. He was Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, a two-time All-American and was ranked second among collegiate golfers nationwide in 1997.

Ochoa joined the PGA in 1999 and he competed in the U.S. Open, alongside a young Tiger Woods. At one point, he and Tiger were using the same golf teacher, Butch Harmon. He regained his amateur status and the McAllen Amateur was the first competitive tournament he has played in more than 20 years, he said.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous,” Ochoa said. “Then I birdied the fourth hole and relaxed and got back into the swing of things.”

Ochoa was pulling away from the rest of the field with a 3-under through 15 holes after starting on No. 10. When he reached No. 7, a par-5 with the tee boxes moved up, he was looking at another birdie opportunity.

“I was running the tables on them today and hitting the ball well. The course is set up difficult and you have to be defensive most of the day,” he said.

He blocked his drive right and in fell into the water. He finished with his only double bogey of the round, shooting a two-over 7. Instead of 4-under, he moved back to 1-under.

“Number seven really dampened the day,” he said. “You just have to refocus but I was really mad for 10-15 minutes. I didn’t think I made that bad of a swing but it was demoralizing after everything was going so well all day, I hadn’t played a tournament for 23 years and to screw it up on one shot like that got to me.”

Del Angel, of Mission, defeated Antonelli during last year’s event on the final hole for a one-stroke victory. It was his fifth title and ninth top-two finish.

Three-time winner Ron Kilby and two-time champion Genaro Davila finished in a four-way tie for seventh, five strokes back, at 4-over-par.

The championship flight will tee off Sunday afternoon, with the leaders scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. The championship awards ceremony will be immediately after the tournament, approximately at 6 p.m.

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McALLEN – Miguel Del Angel will look to become the first back-to-back winner this weekend as the 2023 Vantage Bank McAllen Amateur Golf Championship takes place Friday through Sunday at Champion Lakes Golf Course.

It would only seem fitting for Angel, a Mission resident, to capture a second straight title. He has dominated the event en route to capturing five championships, competing against some of the best golfers from San Antonio to Monterrey. The event, which began in 2002, has crowned five different multiple-year champions. Following Del Angel, Ron Kilby won three events and Luke Antonelli, Genaro Davila and Kyle Marburger have each won two.

Del Angel’s victories came in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2022. Del Angel also finished second on four other occasions: in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2014. The championship was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The tournament is for amateur golfers with an established handicap of 12 or less who have not competed in high school or college golf tournaments during the 24 months immediately preceding the first round of the McAllen Amateur.

City of McAllen director of golf Carlos Espinosa said this year’s field is the strongest one since the tournament began with 62 players with a handicap index of 4.8 or less and 42 in the championship flight during a news conference Tuesday morning at the golf course. During the weekend, Espinosa was inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

Along with Del Angel, Kirby, Davila and Antonelli, other past champions in this year’s field are Ross Ledesma and Ricardo Samar. There is a record 168 golfers in the field.

The McAllen Parks and Recreation golf program also announced that 21 junior golfers would receive golf scholarships. The program’s purpose is to develop local youth to have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.

“These juniors are the future of golf,” Espinosa said.

Espinosa also announced that for the first time there will be an electronic scoreboard and live scoring for those to see at the tournament and online during the event.

A practice round will be held Friday followed by competition rounds Saturday and Sunday, culminating with the awards presentation at approximately 6 p.m. Sunday.

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McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza lost to Maggie Sandquist during the second round of the 2020-21 state wrestling tournament. Sandquist would win the state title that year – her second straight – at the 138-pound weight class.

Since that match, De La Garza didn’t lose. In fact, the then-sophomore still finished third in the state and with a 19-1 record before reeling off 67 straight wins (most of them by pins) the past two years and winning back-to-back state championships. During that time – where she compiled an 86-1 record – she also pinned eight of nine opponents in the state tournaments and won the other with a technical fall.

“I was a little nervous but said to myself I had nothing to lose, wrestling the returning state champ, and I respected her,” De La Garza said about her match against Sandquist. “I thought she should be more nervous than I was. I went out there positive and tried my best. I put up a good fight but she took me down and got me to my back.”

Arguably the most decorated and GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) girls’ wrestler in Rio Grande Valley history, De La Garza on Friday signed her national letter of intent to start another win streak with NAIA power Missouri Valley College.

“Talking to that school and other schools, I felt more comfortable with them and would fit in more with the people at that school, and the offer was a little better,” De La Garza said. “But I wanted to make sure I had that gut feeling and that’s really why I chose to go there.

De La Garza became the third Valley girls’ wrestler to sign with the Vikings in the past few weeks. Teammate Jazmine Hernandez also signed with Missouri Valley earlier Friday and Valley View’s Mia Diaz, a Region IV-5A champion joined the squad last month.

The Vikings compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference and are a top-15 NAIA program, landing two NAIA All-Americans and a 14th place at the national championships in March.

De La Garza said she plans to major in psychology and minor in criminal justice. She knows she’s going to have a busy schedule, but that’s nothing new for the wrestler who also played basketball, power lifted and ran some track for the Mustangs.

“I’ve been slacking right now but I feel that it will help me to be healthy when I go up there,” she said. “I’m going to be working on wrestling a lot more. That’s what I’m expecting, work on wrestling and school.”

De La Garza remembers being somewhat sad after her loss to Sandquist but took solace in the fight she showed during that match.

“After that I knew I could do better for my junior and senior years,” De La Garza said. “I knew then that I was good but never said anything to anyone. I just worked. I felt like I was good enough to wrestler anyone after that.”

Not only did she wrestle everyone and anyone, she also beat them all. It’s an accomplishment that will be hard to match but it also gives future wrestlers a bar to reach for.

“I just wanted to put in the work and see what I could do,” De La Garza said. “I did more than what I expected.”

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PHARR — Mia Diaz was first approached by Valley View girls wrestling coach Crystal Franz when Diaz was in junior high, and Franz asked her if she would like to wrestle.

“I thought at first it was a joke,” Mia’s mother said. “But it’s been a journey.”

Not far into her career, she showed promise. As a senior, however, she took all her experience and what she learned to the state tournament, winning the Region IV-5A championship before falling to the eventual state champion in the 235-pound weight division. She finished her senior season with a 26-7 record.

She pinned down another major accomplishment Friday, signing in front of family, friends, coaches and teammates to continue her studies and her athletic career at Missouri Valley College.

“We were at the state tournament and the (Missouri) coach was asking to meet up whenever we had the time, but I didn’t want to. I was too scared,” Diaz said. “Next day, coach said, ‘You’re going to go talk to him,’ and we want back and talked to him. He gave me the details, and it really interested me.”

Diaz said she didn’t really believe she would be able to take her sport to the next level until her senior year. One of her biggest confidence boosters was actually a loss that she said she learned a lot from.

“It was against my biggest competition in district,” said Diaz, who plans to study criminal justice in college. “We went all three rounds and I didn’t get pinned. I lost but it gave me more motivation and confidence.”

Her confidence, especially in a sport where it’s one against one, also gained a boost from her mother, coaches and teammates, she said.

“This year it really hit me that it was my last year, and so I worked harder,” she said. “I didn’t have any confidence last year, but my mom and coaches and teammates just kept telling me, ‘You’ve got this.’ I just kept pushing.”

Franz said Diaz has played a major role in a somewhat fledgling program that began in 2017 and was put on hold due to COVID-19 just a couple years later. She is the third girls wrestler to continue her academic and athletic careers in college.

“Mia has helped create a legacy here for herself and the school,” Franz said during the signing ceremony. “I’m so proud of her.”

Missouri Valley College is an NAIA program in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Earlier this year, the Vikings produced two NAIA All-American women wrestlers and finished in the top 15 during the national championships.

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McALLEN — McAllen Memorial golfers shot a blazing 4-over par as a team Thursday during the final 12 holes and qualified for the state tournament by finishing second at the Region IV-5A golf tournament at Champion Lakes Golf Course.

It’s the first time the Mustangs have advanced to the state tournament as a team in 21 years, when they beat out Austin Westlake for the region title.

“That laid the foundation for Mustang golf,” McAllen Memorial head coach Celso Gonzales said. “We’ve been successful since then.”

The Mustangs entered the tournament’s second day 10 strokes behind the eventual winner, Smithson Valley’s Navy team, and it didn’t look good early as the Mustangs were 12-over-par as a team during the first six holes.

“I know I had a little talk with them and told them this was the back nine at The Masters,” Gonzales said. “This is where it counts and they really pulled through. You don’t know which way this kids are gonna go and they went the right direction. You can lead them to water but can’t make them drink.

“The horses drank this time. They grind to the end.”

Dylan Villarreal and Esteban Gonzalez led the Memorial charge after the slow start. Villarreal shot 1-under through the final 12 holes and led Memorial with a 1-over 73 on the day. Gonzalez was 2-under, registering birdies on Nos. 7, 12 and 18. He finished with a 148 over the two days.

Smithson Valley Navy ended the two-day event with a 616 (306-310) to win the regional title, and Memorial finished with a 621 (316-305). The 305 was the lowest team score by any team during the two rounds. Gregory-Portland sealed the final team position to advance to state with a 633 (317-316). Smithson Valley White and Sharyland High rounded out the top five in the 16-team event.

The top three teams and top three individuals not on those teams advance to state. Boerne Champion’s Phoenix Guerra (70-73—143) and Cedar Park’s Jonathan Kim (74-73—147) took those two individual spots. Sharyland Pioneer’s Gabriel Guerrero, the District 31-5A champion, finished seventh overall and third for qualifying with a 75-74—149.

Gonzalez shot back-to-back 74s to tie for fifth, and Villarreal’s 80-73—153 propelled him to ninth. Rounding out Memorial’s scorers were Daniel Garza with 81-79—160 and Ryan Avila with an identical 81-79—160.

Gonzalez finished the regular season as the top male Valley golfer in all classes, averaging 72.22 strokes per 18 holes. Villarreal was fourth overall with a 77.22 average.

Sharyland High’s Octavio Cantu finished eighth for the Rattlers with a 72-80—152, and Alejandro Ramirez of Brownsville Veterans Memorial penciled in a 78-79—157.

The boys UIL Class 5A state tournament will take place May 22-23 at White Wing Golf Club in Georgetown.

“We’re just going to work on them in between their ears,” Gonzales said. “Their swings are pretty much set. The key is to get them to know that the game of golf is 100% mental. Once that sways a little, your gold will be effective. Once you get to state, everyone has a game, so it’s just managing the course. I think we’re going to be very competitive.”

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McALLEN — Esteban Gonzalez shot a 2-over-par 74 (38-36) to help the McAllen Memorial golf team finish second after the first day of the Region IV-5A golf tournament at Champion Lakes Golf Course.

The Mustangs are 10 strokes behind Smithson Valley, which shot 306 as a team. Gonzalez paced Memorial, Dylan Villarreal fired an 80 and Daniel Garza and Ryan Avila each tallied 81s for the Mustangs.

The top three teams and top two individuals not on those teams advance to the state tournament. Smithson Valley’s Navy team shot a 316 to pace all teams after the first day. Three Rangers shot in the 70s, led by Ryan Griff’s 71 and a pair of 77s from Cole Cantu and Rowan Rankin.

Sharyland High is tied for fourth, eight strokes behind third-place Gregory Portland and nine behind second-place Memorial.

Octavio Cantu penciled in a Valley-leading par-72 for the Rattlers, placing him third after the first day and two strokes behind Boerne Champion with a 2-under 70. Sharyland teammates Lorenzo Garza added an 83, and Nico Treviño and Pablo Treviño each shot 85.

Brownsville Veterans Memorial sits in ninth place with a 341. Alejandro Ramirez scored a 78 and Christian Ramirez came in with an 80 to lead Brownsville Vets. Harlingen South (356) was 11th, La Joya Palmview (363) was 13th and Mission Veterans (376) ended the day 15th.

Sharyland Pioneer’s Gabriel Gonzalez, who won the District 31-5A tournament to advance to the regional round, is ninth with a 77 and third among individual golfers not connected to a team at the event. He is two strokes behind the second-place individual golfer, Jonathan Kim of Cedar Park.

Gonzalez finished the day with 12 pars, second most of all golfers, a pair of birdies and four bogeys. Hayden Hardwick and Trey Cates each converted six birdies, but Hardwick had six bogeys, including a double bogey, while Cates had three bogeys and one double. Cates finished with a 71 for Gregory-Portland and Hardwick, also of G-P, is tied with Gonzalez and Kim.

“I was hitting my tee shots well but not my approach shots,” Gonzalez said. “I didn’t leave myself too many birdie attempts. It was tough. Hopefully something will change (tody), or it will be difficult for us.”

Sixteen teams are competing for a shot to advance to the state tournament. Final round play begins at 8 a.m. today at Champion Lakes.

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McALLEN — It seems the athletes who work the hardest are the same ones who find the hardest work to do.

At least that’s the case regarding Alicia Ziegler.

Ziegler, a standout volleyball and track star for the McAllen Memorial Mustangs, was first introduced to sports on a first-grade volleyball team. She went rogue after that, competing in everything and anything she could.

Then she found track.

“I remember her coming up to me and telling me, ‘I run the 400, the 800 and the two hurdles,’” Memorial track coach Cynthia Oyervides said. “But she did whatever we asked her to do. That’s just how Alicia is.”

On Wednesday, Ziegler signed her National Letter of Intent in the McAllen Memorial gymnasium in front of coaches, family, friends and more to run with the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals. Incarnate Word is a NCAA Division I school that competes in the Southland Conference.

Ziegler, the District 31-5A champion in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, will compete in those two events, as well as the mile relay today in the District 31-32 area track meet at PSJA Stadium in Pharr. The senior has dominated the hurdles this season, winning 11 times in 12 events in the 300, taking second the other time and capturing first place nine of 12 times in the 100, with three second places.

She has the second-fastest time in Region IV-5A in the 300 hurdles and fifth-fastest time in the region in the 100 hurdles.

Doing the difficult seems to be the norm for the student-athlete who also attends IB Academy, where the workload can be immense.

“Of course, I have to try the hardest things,” Ziegler said prior to signing. “(School) was all hard, especially with the time I was putting in for practice. It has definitely been a unique experience.”

Oyervides said that what separates Ziegler from many student-athletes is the work effort and dedication she brings. It has been apparent in the many events she has run for the Mustangs’ track and field team, including relays, middle distance and the high jump.

“Dedication is a big thing in college, and it can be difficult to adapt to,” Ziegler said. “Everyone’s mentality is different, and as a student-athlete you have to know what you want and what you’re doing. Hopefully it won’t be that hard for me.

“This does take some pressure off me, but there are still goals I want to achieve. It doesn’t end here at all.”

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PHARR — Sharyland Pioneer’s Evan Thompson broke the district meet record in the shot put and two other Diamondbacks finished in the top four to advance to the area meet during the field events portion of the District 31-5A track and field meet Tuesday at PSJA Stadium in Pharr.

Thompson also finished third in the discus to advance to the area meet in that event. Thompson, a senior, is the Region IV-5A leader with a throw of 60 feet, 10 inches, the only throw in the region more than 52 feet. He is second in Class 5A in the state. The top throw is 63-3.75 by Brandon Schirk of Friendswood.

Sharyland High’s Chukwubueze Ikondu captured the district title in the discus. The senior has the top throw in the district this season at 161-8. The throw is second overall in the region.

Jaylah Martinez won both the discus and shot put events for the girls. The PSJA North senior outdistanced PSJA Southwest’s Marcela Treviño in the discus by three inches and threw for one foot more in the shot put ahead of McAllen High’s Lauryn Menchaca.

Running event preliminaries also were held, and finals for those events will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, also at PSJA Stadium, the site of the area meet next week. The only running event that took place Tuesday was the 3,200-meter run. PSJA Southwest’s Yazmin Guerra won the event in 11 minutes, 2.31 seconds to break the district meet record ahead of Sharyland High’s Cecilia Cavazos and McAllen High’s Dana Vazquez Rojas. All three surpassed the previous district meet top mark of 11:15.58 set in 2018 by Laredo Nixon’s Alexa Rodriguez. McAllen Memorial’s Ayden Granados also set a new time for the district meet in the 3,200, taking first place by 17 seconds in 9:17.59. The old mark was 9:28.51.

McAllen High dominated the first day for the girls with 68 points through seven events, followed by McAllen Memorial with 32.66. The Bulldogs captured first, second and fourth in the pole vault, for 22 points, led by Jenai Martinez’s 10-foot vault.

Pioneer’s 20 points in the shot put helped them race out to a team lead on the boys side through seven events with 53 points. Sharyland High is second with 30 points, and McAllen Memorial is third with 28.

Thompson’s throw of 58-8.5 was nearly 10 feet farther than second place and eclipsed the record of 56-9.5 set by fellow Diamondback Johnny Howell in 2017. He said he can usually tell if he’s going to have a good day during warmups. That wasn’t the case Tuesday.

“Not at all, I was struggling in warmups. The distance just wasn’t there, so I didn’t throw as confident,” he said. “I can tell when I’m going to have a good day because I’m hitting my distances. That wasn’t happening.”

Before the qualifying throws, Thompson said he noticed something in his throw and made some technical changes. It made quite an impact. Now, the senior has his eyes set on a major goal as the “postseason” of track begins.

“I would love to hit 65 feet,” he said. “That’s a big goal of mine.”

Martinez, the district leader in both shot put and discus, accounted for 20 of PSJA North’s 22 points with her two first places. Her interest in the throwing events was sparked when her sister, 16 years her elder, would throw in school.

“She tells me to focus on myself and not worry about what everybody else is doing,” the senior thrower said, adding that she’s usually staying and warming up by herself, often listening to Metallica on her ear buds as she prepares. “It’s all mental. You have to forget about everything and just let it out.

“I’ve been focused on my sport more this year and have been putting in hard work. I’ve had a change in mindset, believing in myself more and not doubting myself.”

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