In Episode 3 of the Valley Volley Talk podcast, The Monitor’s Henry Miller talks with Sharyland Pioneer head coach Laura Cavazos and senior setter Natalie Reyes. They discuss, among many topics, the first RGVSports.com top 10 volleyball rankings of the season.
Three freshmen had more than just an impressive showing this year on the wrestling mat. Putting their youth and inexperience up against older, strong and more experienced wrestlers most of the year, McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza, La Joya Palmview’s Brooklyn Garza and Sharyland High’s Alberto Mendoza combined for 109 wins and just 35 losses.
They all advanced to the UIL state wrestling tournament and, because of their performances, have been named The Monitor’s Wrestling All-Area Newcomers of the Year.
SERENITY DE LA GARZA
Freshman, McAllen Memorial
40-7 record, 138 pounds
De La Garza distinctly remembers her 19th match of the year. The McAllen Memorial freshman phenom was 18-0 in her first year wrestling and her opponent was from city rival McAllen High.
With about a minute to go, she had a feeling she knew how the match was going to end.
“I knew I was going to get pinned,” De La Garza said. “The way she was holding me, I was trying to get out as hard as I could, but I knew I was never going to get out. I kept trying and trying but couldn’t move. I heard the ref call the pin and started crying when I went to my coach. He told me it was OK, because, ‘You’re going to get better because you’re seeing your mistakes.’”
De La Garza cracked he 40-win mark when she pinned San Antonio Madison’s Mia Padilla at the state tournament. It was the second time she had defeated Padilla, beating her in the regional finals, as well.
Her name comes from the Serenity Prayer — “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,” the well-known prayer begins — and when she’s not wrestling, the name defines who she is.
On the wrestling mat, however, she’s not the same.
“I see myself as aggressive,” said the 138-pound Region IV champion, who finished third in district. “When I’m not in wrestling mode, I’m nice when I’m with my friends, but I might get a little aggressive in a fun way. When I wrestle, I’m something else. When I watch my videos, I’m not the same. I’m more mean. I don’t see myself as the same person.”
Of her seven losses, just three were by pins and four were by points.
“I feel that was pretty good for a freshman,” said De La Garza, who was encouraged by her uncle, Isaac Bonilla to try the sport. Bonilla wrestled his senior year at PSJA North, where he also played football.
Before the season ended, however, De La Garza had a chance to redeem herself against the McHi wrestler who pinned her.
“I didn’t let her take me down, didn’t let her get on top of me,” she said. “I tried to take control of the match and I beat her by points. But I wanted to pin her so bad.”
De La Garza finished ranked No. 7 in the state at 138 pounds.
BROOKLYN GARZA
Freshman, La Joya Palmview
30-17 record, 128 pounds
Garza didn’t want to sit on the couch at home and do nothing.
But, it was gonna be a tough decision between that and playing basketball.
“I did not want to do basketball and a friend of mine said come and join wrestling with me,” Garza said. “I was like, ‘OK,’ so we tried out and the rest is history.”
Her history is looking like a star-riddled future as the freshman compiled a 30-17 record, winning two matches and advancing to the second day of the Class 5A UIL state wrestling tournament. She finished third in the Region IV tournament to advance to state.
Not a bad start considering how her season began.
“In my first match I got my butt beat bad,” the self-proclaimed ‘docile’ Garza said. “I was mad, very mad, but then realized that I’m just a freshman and they were all older than me during that first tournament.
“But I also knew that if I want to beat some of these girls, I’m going to have to practice and learn some techniques. I was going to have to work hard and decided to stick with it.”
Garza said that her first trip to the state meet was overwhelming at first. She lost her first match on Day 1 before winning her next two.
“I was very, very nervous and had to turn that nervousness into maybe a little bit of anger,” she said. “You’re gonna get tired of being pushed around some point.”
Garza, who finished ranked No. 7 in the state according to trackwrestling.com, said she’s planning to have a better sophomore year. She plans on working more on her attacks and shoots, something she said she didn’t utilize much this season, leaning toward counter attacks and just her brute strength to overcome her opponent.
ALBERTO MENDOZA
Freshman, Sharyland High
39-11 record, 106 pounds
Mendoza entered his freshman year with two advantages over many wrestlers he faced. One, he wasn’t a first-year wrestler, joining the sport in eighth grade.
Two, he had nearly five years of jiujitsu training under his belt.
“My dad put me in it and it was something I was good at and I started liking it,” Mendoza said. “I like using my techniques in wrestling and that training helped.
Mendoza finished second in the district tournament and second again in the regionals, falling both times to PSJA Memorial veteran wrestler Abel Alvarado. At the state event, the quiet Mendoza said he “didn’t do too well. It was a big difference. It wasn’t like the events I was used to and the people were stronger and had better techniques.”
Being a technical wrestler, Mendoza said his favorite move is a tilt with a bar.
“I like using my technique,” he said. “That’s a top move where you can get back points and it could transition from a bar where you run it for a pin.”
Mendoza was one of just three freshmen to advance to the state tournament. Now with two years of wrestling experience and one trip to the state tournament, he has his eyes set for a better sophomore campaign.
“I want to at least place at state next year,” said Mendoza, who finished ranked at No. 13 in the state in the 106-pound division. “I think I have the technique, but need to gain more muscle.”
EDINBURG — Seven girls across the Rio Grande Valley have recorded sub-20-minute times during this year’s cross country races.
Dayan Lozano is focused on being the next one to come in under that mark. Currently in eighth place when comparing each runner’s PR (personal record), Lozano, the only senior on the Edinburg Economedes team, figures now is the perfect time as the major portion of the season begins at 8 a.m. Saturday with the 12th annual Meet of Champions at Donna High.
More than 1,500 girls and boys runner are expected to compete in several divisions ranking from elite runners to the smallest of private schools at the final event of the season prior to districts, regionals and then state.
Lozano, who has been running since middle school, said now is the time to come in with peak performances.
“This is my senior year, this is it,” she said. “The only thing to do is give it my all — to give myself a shot at going to a good college, too. I want to keep running, so now’s definitely a good time to come in under 20 minutes.”
Lozano’s PR is 20 minutes, 3 seconds. Two other girls are bunched in with her — Sharyland High’s Carolyn Tudor (20:08) and Brownsville Veteran’s Sofia Ramirez (20:05).
Edinburg Economedes head coach Brenda Lozano, in her sixth year with the Jaguars, said she expects Dayan Lozano to break the 20-minute mark, adding that the team goal is to finish in the top three as a team, matching last year’s mark.
“She has really carried the team and now it’s her time to shine,” Brenda Lozano said. “We are expecting Dayan to get out strong and maintain the same intensity throughout the race.
“Our team has had some highs and lows, but the girls are really working hard every day to earn their spot on the team. There are eight girls fighting for the seven spots, so that helps with keeping the runners hungry each day. Our goal is to have no regrets and to pull together as a team.”
Sharyland High goes into the event as favorites based on the girls’ personal times. Other strong teams include Brownsville Vets, Edinburg Economedes, La Joya Palmview, Weslaco High and Weslaco East.
“We have some really tough teams here in the RGV and Sharyland has been the consistent No. 1 team followed by Weslaco, (which has) also (been) consistent at the second spot,” said Brenda Lozano, who also led the Valley View squad for two years and Agua Dulce for one. “Then, there is Brownsville Veterans that have really stepped up and dropped their times and our Economedes girls that have been fighting for the third spot then after that follows Weslaco East that has really shown improvements from previous years. This meet is definitely the meet of all meets, because it’s the top of the top going at it for one goal to be champions.”
Weslaco High’s Amity Ebarb started the season out at the top and remains the runner with the fastest time at 19:04. Chasing her as they have all season are Weslaco East’s Tessie Garcia at 19:30 and Sharyland High’s Danielle Salinas at 19:36, just one second in front of Brownsville Veterans’ Valeria Gamez.
2019 RGV Top 10 Girls
Cross Country Times
1. Amity Ebarb, Weslaco High, 19:04; 2. Tessie Garcia, Weslaco East, 19:13; 3. Danielle Salinas, Sharyland High, 19:36; 4. Valeria Gamez, Brownsville Veterans, 19:37; 5. Destinee Longoria, Weslaco High, 19:52; 6. Gissel Gonzalez,La Joya Palmview, 19:54; 7. Destiny Quintanilla, La Joya Palmview , 19:55; 8. Dayan Lozano, Edinburg Economedes, 20:03; 9. Sofia Ramirez, Brownsville Veterans, 20:05; 10. Carolyn Tudor, Sharyland High, 20:08.
It’s a big night for the two highest ranked volleyball teams in the Rio Grande Valley.
Two teams stand above McAllen High in the latest Texas Girls Coaches Association volleyball poll as the latest poll ranks the Bulldogs No. 3 in the state, one spot up from last week’s poll.
For the second straight week, five Rio Grande Valley teams were ranked in their specific classes — San Isidro (1A-2A), Mission Veterans (5A), Edcouch-Elsa (5A), Los Fresnos (6A) and McHi.
Byron Nelson remained the No. 1 team in Texas is Class 6A, followed by Flower Mound and then McHi. Los Fresnos dropped to a three-way tie for 25th with Ridge Point and El Paso Montwood.
The Bulldogs will face their stiffest test of the District 30-6A season as of this date at 7:30 tonight when they host cross-town rival McAllen Memorial in what is expected to be a standing-room only crowd.
The Mustangs are coming off a five-set victory over PSJA High on Saturday. McHi traveled to La Joya High and claimed a three-set win. The Bulldogs are on a 33-match winning streak following a five-set loss at Laredo Alexander, dropping the final set 15-13. Senior hitter Lexi Gonzalez is also closing in on McHi’s all time record for kills in a career. She goes into tonight’s game with 1,432 kills, 85 off the mark of 1,517.
Another big match tonight will be at Mission Veterans where a clash of two undefeated district squads will play beginning at 7 p.m. Sharyland Pioneer fell to the Patriots during the tournament portion of the season, dropping a four-setter to the Patriots during the Mission ISD tournament. The Patriots have not lost a district match in four-plus seasons, claiming the district title undefeated in those past four seasons. Mission Veterans is ranked No. 9 in Class 5A.
Edcouch-Elsa climbed to No. 16 in the 5A poll. The Yellow Jackets play tonight at 7 at Mercedes.
San Isidro remains firm at No. 21 in the 1A-2A poll and plays at 7 p.m. at San Perlita.
The day high school football players across the nation wait for anxiously every year is hours away — a little more than a day away for those unlucky enough to have to wait until Saturday to play under those lights that have become famous, especially on Friday nights.
But while the anxiety and excitement races through quarterback, cornerbacks and the rest of those who make up every high school football team in South Texas and beyond, it also rapidly flows through the veins of coaches, young and old, newbies and veterans.
“That’s why we coaches do what we do,” said Edinburg Vela head coach John Campbell, who is in his third year running the show with the SaberCats, a perennial District 31-6A power. Campbell has been a coach since 1995 and a head coach since 2004.
“It’s funny, I was thinking about this the other day,” he said. “It’s hot outside but there’s something about this time of year where I really enjoy it. I think if you ask some veteran coaches they may not react the same way as some young coaches, but the passion is still there and excitement for that first game.”
Coaches are big into consistency in performance; many agree consistency is the key to growth and improvement. Hidalgo head coach Monty Stumbaugh, who has coached for 40 years at some of the legendary schools in Texas, including Midland, Cuero and Port Isabel in the Tarpons’ powerhouse days, said he still “gets all fired up when it comes to this time of the year.”
Stumbaugh is in his third year with the Pirates and says his players are changing the culture that he and the coaching staff are trying to teach.
“That’s what it’s all about, changing that mindset,” he said. “The first year was a little tough and last year was 2-8, but we have fighters. This is their second offseason with me and things are coming along farther and faster. The kids have found they that they can compete and they are believing. Through consistency and hard work they are believing they can win and they are understanding what team is. We no longer have to go out and try to teach them that.”
Over the years, Stumbaugh has also found consistency away from the field leading up to game days. You can find him and his grandkids eating chicken wings somewhere every Wednesday night — he prefers barbeque sauce on the side (“no hot stuff,” he said) for dipping. And on Fridays, it’s a ritual — “a No. 2 Whataburger, with cheese of course.”
But the most important things are the rituals he and the team develop during practice leading up to game day.
“Right now, it’s the toughest few days, trying to get your final little part of the game plan in, trying to make sure that we are focused to be able to make sure the kids are focused. We are trying to get the final little parts of the game plan in and trying to make sure we are focused and keeping them focused on today, every day.
“You win games Monday through Thursday. Get in that mental state and get ready to play. As far as me, I’m ready to go get ‘em. I love this. When I don’t love this anymore, I won’t be doing it.”
Patrick Shelby is surrounded by excitement — both at school with his players and coaches, and at home with his children and family.
“My kids are always excited,” said the first-time head coach, who is se to lead McAllen High into a Saturday contest at Brownsville Lopez. “They are always excited and like sports and they can’t wait for the season. I come from a football family and they are a football family that loves everything about it. They’ve gotten close to some of the players and administration and can’t wait to get out there for games on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night and see what all the concessions have in store for them.”
Like the other coaches, Shelby’s main focus is making sure that his team is “locked in at the end of the day and they go out and perform at a high level.
“We have to make sure we as coaches don’t lose focus either. I try to stay calm and am pretty back calm and cool. I feel like if I worked up, everybody else will get worked up so somebody has to keep it pretty even — not too high and not too low.”
Even though it may be his first year running the show, Shelby is well aware of the importance and significance of consistency, from the game plan to following the outline every single day.
“I’m glad they are learning and understanding how important it is to keep the same routine,” he said. “For me, I have a lot of superstitions that are part of my routine and I keep that same routine every day leading up to game day, from how I put my sock on to how I put my shoes on. I even have to have the same pencil every single time because I don’t like to write with a pen.”
In the end, however, it comes to what Campbell at Vela calls a repeated cycle putting a premium on what it trying to get accomplished.
“My ritual is to get a normal cycle going and get in the groove as quickly as we possibly can,” he said. “It’s all about being consistent, trying to win each and every play in game that will have 160 or 170 snaps per game. When there is no execution, you see a lot of explosiveness in things like the kicking game. We all want minimal busts and that’s why we go out there every day — to try to develop these kids and these times and being efficient and putting in the effort every single time.
“I love this time of year.”
McALLEN — Omar Aguinaga was a bit shocked. The defending 195-pound Region IV Class 6A champion had almost seen defeat — something he hadn’t done all season, hadn’t even come close.
Here he was, though, in his first match back from a shoulder injury, and he needed triple overtime to keep his unbeaten streak alive.
While the shoulder was a concern, his conditioning is what worried him the most.
“I was really tired,” the McAllen Rowe senior said. “I immediately started working on condition right after that.”
Now, he hopes the giant that was awoken has prepared enough to defend his title as the UIL wrestling regionals take place beginning Friday. Four different Class 6A districts — 13, 14, 15 and 16 — will converge at the Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio to decide who will compete for a state championship.
The defending regional champ is different than the junior who won the title last year.
“He is the epitome of experience; there’s nothing new to him,” said first-year McAllen Rowe coach Jeff Moubray. “He’s gone through everything. He’s seen everything. And this year he’s a lot more confident. Last year, I think he was surprised he won regionals. This year, he’s going in with the expectation that it’s going to happen.”
Aguinaga agrees that in the past year, he’s become a different wrestler, a better one.
“I’m a lot smarter, and for sure strong and have more technique with our new coach,” the 22-0 grappler said. “I’m pretty confident in what I can accomplish and hopefully that’s a trip to state again.”
Aguinaga hurt his shoulder in a freak accident at school when a pipe fell and he reached out to grab the falling object. However, it was much heavier than he anticipated, and it pulled hard on his shoulder. He sat for a month.
“That was horrible,” he said. “The time off gave me some time to reflect on the little mistakes I would make, and how I would make them and how to better myself in those positions.
“But it was hard watching my teammates getting their hands raised while all I could do was sit during my senior year.”
If there’s one attribute that his coach praises, however, it’s his wrestler’s demeanor. He’s calm and extremely patient.
“He is always in the right position. If he’s going for a takedown, he doesn’t get out of position,” Moubray said. “If someone shoots in on him he, doesn’t get out of positions. He will work the hold that he’s using, and his takedowns are good takedowns.”
Based on the brackets, Aguinaga will likely face Nathan Alvarez in the semifinals. Alvarez went 37-1 for San Antonio Churchill this season and won the regional title last year at 182 pounds. The two are the top-ranked wrestlers in the region, with Alvarez ranked fourth by the UIL in the state and Aguinaga ranked fifth.
“We’ve watched him wrestle on YouTube, and obviously he’s a good wrestler,” Moubray said. “The weight class is a little skewed, because on paper these are your two best and they will face each other in the semis. The brackets may change or they may not. We will just wait and see.”
McAllen Rowe is bringing seven boys and four girls to the regionals. Because two of the four districts were from the Rio Grande Valley, both in the boys and girls districts, nearly half are Valley wrestlers looking to punch their ticket to the biggest mat of the season, the state tournament.
“I had a pretty good idea that Omar wouldn’t have trouble here, and he didn’t. But we wanted to push him for where he was going,” Moubray said. “We were always talking about going against real good wrestlers, countering their counters in regionals and state. He’s going to have to go a little deeper into that bag of tricks, and he’s been working on them from Day 1.”
McALLEN – Brianna Quesada had just 5.8 seconds to get off a shot. She actually took it a bit early, but that didn’t matter because the half-court heave just before the buzzer expired to end the half was nothing but net.
“That’s definitely not something we do in practice,” Donna coach Lori Pedroza said. “But it was such a big play to end a half on a high note. It definitely can deflate an opponent.”
That’s how the day went for the Donna Bravettes, who jumped out to a leads of 16-2 after one quarter and, thanks to the long 3-pointer by Quesada a 30-14 lead at the half en route to convincing and lop-sided 60-38 victory over Mission Vets in girls’ Class 5A bi-district playoff action Monday night at McAllen High.
The win sets Donna up with a game either Friday or Saturday against Victoria West in the area round of the playoffs. Victoria West defeated Corpus Christi Calallen in their bi-district matchup.
Donna came out with an extended 3-2 zone that the Patriots had difficulty with, especially in the first half, and didn’t score a field goal in the first period, just a pair of free throws and trailed 7-1 with 3:15 remaining in that first frame.
“That 1-2-2 high they were putting pressure on our shooters and we couldn’t get the ball with a good look and shots weren’t falling,” said Veterans coach Rafael Cantu Jr. “We made some adjustments to get the ball down low and play an in and out game, but we didn’t do it early.”
The Patriots made several mini runs and it looked like they would get back into the game, but Donna – led offensively by Quesada and Miranda Sandoval, with 24 and 19 points respectively, shut down any long runs that would close the gap significantly.
“We knew they were very aggressive and we would have to match or surpass their intensity,” said Bravettes coach Lori Pedroza. “We knew who their big guns were and we had to make sure we knew where they were at all times and that took a lot of communication on and off the court.”
While Quesada and Sandoval led the team on offense, there were big contributions throughout the day. Nicole Rodriguez got to the line for a pair of free throws and Campos, who was responsible much of the day for breaking the Mission Vets press, nailed a 3-pointer for the corner and it was already 5-0 early in the first period.
“We practiced against the press a lot and we knew they were going to come after us,” Campos said. “Coach told us that we had to stay calm and if we got through it that they would lay off us. We played some great teams during the season that helped prepare us for this.”
Quesada and Sandoval scored all 15 points for Donna in the third quarter as the Bravettes extended their lead to as many as 22 in the period. Jackie Howell did what she could inside, scoring seven of her team high 13 points in the period. The Patriots looked to play more of an inside out game and a drive and dish game in the second half. The inside play took some shape but wasn’t enough to overcome the large deficit or Quesada driving to the basket and Sandoval dominating post play. Mission Veterans didn’t hit a 3-pointer the entire game.
“You need to come our strong in a game like this,” coach Cantu said. “We didn’t do that, Donna kept their composure and it was just too much to come back from a deficit like that against them tonight.”
The time and place of the area round game for Donna against Victoria West will be decided today. Indications are that it will be played in Bishop.
LA JOYA — The hype was getting intense for the past two weeks or more.
The scenario was two top-10 ranked wrestlers battling it out for the district championship and a probable No. 1 seed at regionals.
Both wrestlers, McAllen Memorial’s Ozzy Trevino and McAllen Rowe’s Petey Lozano, talked of how much they admired one another and how they couldn’t wait to face each other in finals of Tuesday’s District 15-6A UIL Wrestling championships.
Trevino was ranked fifth in the state, the highest ranked wrestler in the region. Lozano was ranked sixth, the second-highest ranked wrestler in the region.
Trevino, the aggressor for most of the match, claimed a 14-5 major decision over Lozano for the district title at the 145-pound weight class in a match that had little to no stoppage or slowing down as the two wrestlers showed what made them some of the best in the state.
“It was a tough match, a well fought match,” said Trevino, who improved to 19-1 according to trackwrestling.com, while Lozano dropped to a 23-2. “He’s a competitor and I knew it would be a tough six minutes. I went out and was just more offensive than him, working my moves and attacking.”
Trevino had Lozano on his back early and with a 5-3 lead. He had a near fall but an impressive extended neck bridge and arch by Lozano held off ant pin.
“He was more defensive than me and that gave me the upper hand,” Trevino said. “I knew though he would get me in positions that would benefit him. That was expected and I think I fought well from those positions.
“I’m looking forward to regionals. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
There were high expectations for the match right before that, at the 138-pound weight class as Roberto Silva put his top seed and 33-1 mark against Mission’s Joe Resendez (21-6). Both wrestlers breezed into the finals and Silva edged Resendez 6-1.
The match wasn’t as high-flying or energizing as the following match at 145 but Silva was methodical in his moves, seemingly taking his time to move around a stubborn, a frustrated-looking Resendez, who wanted more action. Silva’s pace, however, dictated the entire match en route to his second district title, winning it at 132 pound last year.
“I was intense; I just wanted to go get the district title and fight for the gold,” Silva said. “I didn’t have too many concerns because I knew the work I put in over the four years would show. He had lost to a couple of wrestlers I had already beaten and I decided to go out there and put on pressure.
“I was watching him all day and saw a few things he did. The he had that unexpected burst of energy at the end and I just had to go with it.”
The top four wrestlers advance to the regionals next weekend, Feb. 15-16, in San Antonio.
La Joya’s Maria Hernandez dropped from 148 a year ago to 119 and had an exciting match against Edinburg North’s Eva Cerda with a pin at the 4:51 mark. Hernandez lost to Cerda earlier in the year, getting tossed and pinned in the first period. She said that was on her mind going into the match.
“I started thinking I probably wasn’t going to beat her,” Hernandez said. “But as we got into the match I felt more confident and I knew how badly I wanted it after all the work I did.
“I just needed a good mentality and to be aggressive.
Junior Stephany Juarez from McAllen High captured her 40th win of the season against nine losses with a pin over Edinburg North sophomore Kim Romo with a fall at the 1:33 mark.
Richard Eckley is from Iowa, where babies are put into singlets and wear headgear, some as early as their first birthday portraits.
It’s almost as similar as the Rio Grande Valley’s relationship with soccer. It starts at an early age.
That’s not exactly the case with wrestling in the Valley. It’s still a starter sport, for the most part. That’s what makes the 145-pound weight class so impressive. As of two weeks ago, there were several wrestlers who make 145 a special weight class in South Texas. On paper, it looks as if that weight class could send more wrestlers to state than any other.
Eckley, in his fifth year coaching the Sharyland Pioneer boys and girls wrestling programs, said he hasn’t seen a weight class with so much talent. In fact, he said, there’s going to be one extremely talented District 15-6A wrestler who won’t make it out of his own district.
Of course, that will be determined on the mat as the District 15-6A tournament takes place today, with weigh-ins starting at 7:30 a.m. and the competition following, approximately between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. at La Joya High.
Schools in that district include Edinburg Economedes, Edinburg High, Edinburg North, Edinburg Vela, La Joya High, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, McAllen Memorial, and Mission High.
While wrestling isn’t one of the most popular sports, Eckley said he’s noticed plenty of the wrestlers have the same mentality as those who come from great wrestling states, like Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
“These kids have the mentality that they don’t care so much about winning and losing, but improving and being the best they can be. They’d rather lose hard than win easy,” Eckley said. “That’s the way the good wrestlers are — they don’t mind losing, they don’t like it but they can learn from it and then they usually want to wrestle that kid again.
“Good kids never want to show up to a tournament and have three easy wins and get a gold medal.”
McAllen Rowe coach Jeff Moubray said that the competition in today’s district meet is going to be very similar to what regionals will bring. Two of the wrestlers competing today in the 145 class are ranked sixth and seventh in the state, according to WrestlingTexas.com, in McAllen Rowe’s Ozzy Trevino and Petey Lozano, respectively. There’s only one other competitor in the region ranked in the state, and he’s from San Antonio.
“This is a good weight class to have some kids from down here advance to state,” said Moubray, in his first year at the held at McAllen Rowe, after spending three years in Edinburg and eight in Mission. “We’ve talked about it all season, and very few of these kids at that weight class here have competed against one another.”
Both Trevino and Lozano said they hope to meet for the first time on the mat at districts. If they do, it means they would have already punched their ticket to regionals and will be competing for the district championship at that weight class.
District 16-6A — featuring Donna North, Los Fresnos, PSJA High, PSJA North, San Benito, Weslaco High and Weslaco East — will take place Friday morning at PSJA High. Shawn De La Rosa of Weslaco East is among the top wrestlers in 145 that has garnered some attention.
District 16-5A will be a two-day event Wednesday and Thursday at Sharyland High. The reason for the two days is because the district has 14 schools including Alamo Vanguard Academy Mozart, Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa, Grulla, La Joya Palmview, Mission Veterans, Pharr Vanguard Academy Rembrandt, PSJA Memorial, PSJA Southwest, Rio Grande City, Roma, Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer and Valley View.
“Our kids want to be good so bad, you can feel the desire to get over that hump. There aren’t many state placers from the Valley,” Eckley said. “We are inching closer and closer, though, and there’s a lot of pent-up energy. They’re not content at just being the best in the Valley, like some other sports and teams are. They want compete and be successful at the state and national level. They want to compete with the kids upstate and measure up with the most talented kids.”
Between his boys and girls teams, Eckley took nine wrestlers to the state meet last year. He described that as an “alpha barrier” for the Valley.
“It took thousands of years for us to fly, then 55 years we’re sending rockets to the moon,” he said. “We need to get to the core group of parents and people who love the sport at the youth level in a positive way. That’s what we are missing down here — the infrastructure. We have the kids and these kids are already setting a high standard for future years now. We just need those moms and dads that wrestled and get club groups going. Once that happens, we will have broken that alpha barrier and it will take off.”