McAllen Memorials Kayla Dow had injuries throughout her high school career that almost lost her drive to continue to play softball, with the help of her coaches, teammates and family – Dow continued to grow as both a person and an athlete, giving her the opportunity to play softball at a new level.

Dow committed to the University of Houston-Victoria on June 24th at the Susan P. Byrnes softball field, she will be advancing her education and softball career this upcoming fall.

“I never imagined myself going to college to play softball,” Dow said.

Dow was introduced to softball at the age of nine and started playing in outside leagues, “Sun Devils” and “Force”, at the age of 12, where she developed a love for the sport.

Dow was in varsity all four years of her high school career and started off in the short-stop position her freshman year, then transitioned to pitcher the next three years.

“It was an experience playing different positions,” Dow said. “I originally stopped pitching for almost a year so after I heard I was going to be a pitcher, I had to get back to it.”

Dow was awarded Honorable Mention short-stop for district 30-6A and Rookie Player of the Year for McAllen Memorial her freshman year, Honorable Mention pitcher for district 30-6A and Most Valuable Player for McAllen Memorial her sophomore year, 30-6A All-District defensive player of the year and Most Valuable Player for McAllen Memorial her junior year, and Most Valuable Player her senior year for McAllen Memorial.

The four-year letterman and three year MVP experienced injuries throughout her softball career that encouraged her to keep striving and to not give up no matter the circumstances.

“I had injuries every single year and each of them was different,” Dow said. “Instead of feeling bad for myself, I got up and used it as motivation.”

Dow strained her right hand freshman year, had a knee bone bruise sophomore year, and broke her left foot junior year in the first round of playoffs.

“It took me almost two months to heal from my broken foot,” Dow said. “Coming back and preparing for my senior year was different. It felt weird walking and running – I felt held back most of the time but with summer physical therapy and summer strength and conditioning, I was able to gain back my energy, muscles and motivation.”

The McAllen Mustangs softball team had a winning record of 12-4 before the 2019-2020 season was cut off short. The team made it to the first round of playoffs the past three years and were expecting to make it all the way this season.

“We had a very good team this year,” Dow said. “I am so sad that we were not able to reach our team goal, which was to go all the way and make it past the first round of playoffs. I can honestly say this season was one of the best teams we’ve had.”

Dow is looking at the early ending season in a positive way.

“I am going to use this time to develop myself to be a better player,” Dow said. “My personal goal is to work on strength so I will not have to experience the same injuries I had in high school. I worked very hard to get here without even knowing I was going to play in college, but my coaches from Force, Coach Johnny and Coach Rey really saw the potential in me.”

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McAllen Rowe’s Destiny Menchaca is set and stone when it comes to making decisions. Menchaca verbally announced her commitment to further her softball career at McLennan Community College.

Menchaca is an upcoming junior and has already accomplished her own personal goals as a player and a student. Menchaca has been in the varsity team since her freshman year and has received numerous awards. As a freshman she was awarded the teams Golden Glove Award for best defense and 30-6A 2nd team shortstop. Before the season got cut short, she was awarded with the teams Slugger Award, which is known for being a consistent hitter.

Menchaca started her softball career at the McAllen Boys and Girls Club between the ages of 6 and 7, where she played t-ball. She then transferred to traveling teams when she reached the 8U group. She was part of the Lady Dodgers, Fully Loaded, South Texas Venom and is currently playing for the RGV Heat.

“The RGV Heat team really helped me get noticed by this (McLennan) college,” Menchaca said. We (RGV Heat) are known to be a good team, our coach Kevin Kanipe is well-known by a lot of schools, so a lot of recruiters come see us because they know what type of team Coach Kanipe carries.”

Menchaca was approached by the McLennan College softball coaches, Christopher Berry and Jessica Smith during a showcase game in Plano, Texas last summer.

“They were originally there to recruit a teammate of mine, but I had such a good game that day and they came up to me and showed so much interest in me,” Menchaca said. “I stayed in contact with them ever since then and now I decided that I wanted to play in their team.”

Menchaca plans to keep practicing to improve her game.

“I have two more years left in high school,” Menchaca said. “I can only get better.”

Hidalgo Early College Senior, Melanie Salinas will be advancing her basketball and education career with Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama this upcoming fall. Salinas officially signed to Faulkner University on June 2nd at Harvest Christian Academy in Edinburg, where she was accompanied by her family and friends.

Salinas will be entering the university as a Junior due to her educational accomplishment of graduating with her associates degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from South Texas College while still attending high school.

“I am so excited and nervous to be going to a college that is out of state,” Salinas said. “I had options that ran from Central Methodist University (CMU) to this one (Faulkner University). But I decided to choose Faulkner because I wanted to make a name for myself and have it known that a valley kid can go all the way.”

Salinas began her basketball career when she was in eighth grade and did not get serious about the sport until her junior year in high school.

“I just joined basketball to spend more time with my friends,” Salinas said. “It was nothing serious until I started noticing that I have potential to be good.”

Salinas has been in varsity basketball since she was a freshman. She was moved to varsity from the JV team three games before the district season ended for the Hidalgo Pirates.

“They just wanted me for my height, since I am very tall,” Salinas said. “I was doubted a lot but I have the mentality that if I am doubted, I will prove myself and that is what I did.”

The 5’11 post was also a part of a traveling team that helped her improve her skills as an offensive player. She was a part of the Valley Rebels Elite team and was placed as a guard instead of her comfort post position.

“I think I was placed as a guard to help me improve my offense game,” Salinas said. “I really hated it because I had such a hard time dribbling the ball, I was used to rebounds and helping out inside the perimeter.” With the help of the Valley Rebels Elite team, Salinas was able to bring her practice to the Hidalgo Pirates, where she was named 4A Defensive Player of the Year her junior year and was named 4A Second Team All-District her senior year.

“Coach Arjona (Girls head basketball coach) was very hard on me,” Salinas said. “Without his help, I would not have been where I am at now. He (Coach Arjona) would get so mad at me because the ball would always slip my hands, but I wanted to show him that I can improve and that my height wasn’t the only good thing about me.”

The Hidalgo Pirates maintained their team effort by giving Coach Arjona a season record of 32-8 for the 2019-2020 season. The Hidalgo Pirates made it to the second round of playoffs in the 2020 season. The team defeated Robstown in the first round with a score of 36-31 at La Feria. Their season ended against Devine in the second round with a score of 44-37at Corpus Christi.

“Every coach is concerned with how coachable an athlete is,” Coach Arjona said. “Melanie came to our program with nothing in the bag, but very coachable. She wanted to win and be a well-known player. Hard work, dedication and commitment made Melanie an outstanding player and an even better teammate that made a big impact in our program.”

Salinas played in nine playoff games throughout her career.

“I know going to this university (Faulkner) will make me become a better athlete and a better person overall,” Salinas said. “I am excited.”

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Sharyland’s High, Arianna Gomez will be furthering her education and sports career with the United States Naval Preparatory Academy in Newport, Rhode Island, where she will be competing in cross-country and track and field. Gomez signed Thursday afternoon at the Sharyland High School field house accompanied by her family, friends and coaches.

“I am so excited and happy to be given this opportunity to go to college and continue doing what I love to do,” Gomez said.

Gomez began her running career when she was in fifth grade, following her dad’s footsteps in track and field, Gomez dedicated herself to the sport.

“My dad did a lot of running and he mainly did the pole vault in track,” Gomez said. “I wanted to be like him and just concentrate on the sport even though I was not that good at it at first.”

Gomez started off in the freshman team her first year of high school, where she slowly made her way up to junior varsity then eventually landed a varsity spot after a teammate from the varsity team got hurt. She transferred from Sharyland Pioneer to Sharland Rattlers her freshman year during the season.

“It was not really my best year (freshman year) but I was winning a lot of freshman races and that was when I realized that I could be really good at this,” Gomez said.

Gomez qualified to regionals all four years of high school in cross-country and qualified two times to state. She was awarded at Sharyland High School with Girls Newcomer of the year award in 2016, Most Improved award in 2017, co-MVP award in 2018 and Most Spirit award in 2019 – all in the girls cross-country program.

Not only did Gomez succeed in cross-country, but she also qualified to area in track her sophomore year in the 1600 meter race.

“It was very unexpected,” Gomez said. “But it was still a good feeling knowing that I made it to area, I was so close in reaching regionals but I was still very happy with what I had accomplished.”

Gomez’s junior year was a challenging year when it came to track season.

“I think I overtrained myself,” Gomez said. “I suffered a really bad injury in the middle of the season and was out for three months. I fractured my right hip, like a stress fracture – I was so behind and had to catch up with the rest of the team after being out for three months.”

Her senior year, Gomez decided to take a break from track and just concentrate in cross-country.

“This year (senior year) I decided to take care of myself and not run track because I did not want to get hurt and for the academy (college) to tell me no after all,” Gomez said. “So then COVID-19 happened so I just been training on my own until I got a call a couple of weeks back from the academy and got what I wanted, which was to get in to study and run.”

Besides cross-country and track, Gomez also dedicated herself to school. She is ranked 38th out of 341 students and was a member of the National Honor Society graduating with a GPA of 3.89.

“Without my parents’ support, none of this would have happened,” Gomez said. “They were the ones who would take me every morning to practice. Without them I wouldn’t have been here now.”

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Student-athletes all over the world got their sports season cut short due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. For some athletes, they will never get the opportunity to continue their sports career after high school, but this is not the case for Mission High’s Alondra Martinez and Leila Arriola. Both students have gotten the opportunity to continue to do what they love in sports plus continue their education efforts along the way.

Martinez will continue her soccer career in Huston-Tillotson University and Arriola will continue her track and cross-country career in Texas State University.

Both athletes signed to their college late May via zoom video chat due to social distancing practice. Friends and family members were able to participate and watch both of the athletes’ signings online.

“COVID-19 has obviously restricted everyone from living a daily lifestyle,” Martinez said. “And although it would have been nice to sign in front of my classmates and teammates, it’s nicer to know that they’re healthy and safe. So for that reason I’m happy that zoom exists and that I at least signed like that.”

Martinez started her soccer career in sixth grade. “I just played for fun, I never really got serious about it,” Martinez said. “I was never in outside clubs or leagues so all I did was play in school. As a matter of fact, I was in the robotics team and the coach in charge of the team was actually the head girls soccer coach, so he asked me if I could join the soccer team just to replace the girls that wouldn’t show up to the games and I ended up loving it.”

Martinez did not make the varsity team until she was a sophomore at Mission High School. She was named Most Improved Player her junior year and Defensive Player of the year her senior year for District 5-A.

“I’m really excited to be going to college to play and study,” Martinez said. “As a first-generation from my family to go to college to not only study but play is a really big deal, without my family’s support, I don’t know what I would be doing.”

Besides family, Martinez also had encouragement and motivation from friends and old teammates.

“Iveth Guzmán was a former teammate of mine who graduated two years ago and is also a soccer college athlete,” Martinez said. “Her along with family and friends were the ones who encouraged me to look for this type of opportunity and become a college athlete as well.”

Arriola is also excited to continue her sports career in the college level.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Arriola said. “I’m so happy I proved everyone wrong, I had a couple of injuries throughout my high school years and everyone thought I was done.”

Arriola started running in middle school, where her coaches had seen full potential in her.

“When I got to high school, I was going to stop running but my junior high coach talked to me and told me to keep doing it and that I had a shot to go to college,” Arriola said.

Arriola was in varsity cross country and track for four years of high school. She was not able to run both her sophomore and junior year. Sophomore year she suffered from shin splints and junior year she broke her ankle during a home soccer game.

“Everyone thought I was not going to be able to continue running my senior year, but I did and ended up having personal records in track before the season got cancelled,” Arriola said.

Arriol ran the 1600 meter with a PR of 5:20 and

800 meter with a PR of 2:20.

“I’m so blessed I can still continue running after high school and keep proving people wrong,” Arriola said.

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Edinburg High’s Jaime Maldonado is on his way to Austin to continue his education and baseball career hoping to make a home-run for Huston Tillotson University – where he committed to play baseball and signed in March.

“I’ve always loved the sport of baseball,” Maldonado said. “I started when I was four years old – my dad was a huge impact on me and motivated me to continue since he has been playing baseball forever.”

With the full support from his dad and their love for the game, Maldonado was part of different baseball traveling teams his youth years. He was part of three traveling teams, The Bad Boys between the ages of 10 to 13 years old, The Predators between the ages of 13 and 16 years old and is currently part of the ABC Force baseball traveling team, where he plays to practice while he waits for the college move in the fall.

Maldonado did not have the opportunity to play baseball his freshman year of high school, since he transferred schools during the season, from PSJA High to Edinburg High.

“Although I did not play my freshman year, it did not stop me from putting in my complete full effort to try out for the Edinburg baseball team my sophomore year,” Maldonado said. “I ended up making the varsity team.”

Sophmore year was just a practice run for Maldonado, it was not until his junior year when the team and himself started making changes and made it to the first-round of the playoffs. Maldonado made honorable mention 2nd baseman for District 6A as well his junior year.

“I was very excited to continue my baseball season my senior year, since we were just getting stronger as a team and our communication was there,” Maldonado said. “Last season (junior year) was one of the best seasons for us and we were looking into bringing last season’s energy to this one.”

The Edinburg High Bobcats baseball team was only able to attend three baseball tournaments this season before their season got cancelled because of the pandemic.

“We went to Houston, Laredo and did a tournament here in the valley as well,” Maldonado said. “It was fun while it lasted, the news was tough since we were doing good in the tournaments.”

The Bobcats started and finished the 2020 season with a record of 5-8.

“We had a good chance to make it to the playoffs this year,” Maldonado said. “This team was ready.”

Despite the fact that the season got cut short, Maldonado is still looking forward to continuing his baseball career in college. “I’ve come a long way, I am not going to let this discourage me,” Maldonado said. “My dad and Coach Joey Campos (head coach for ABC Force baseball traveling team) have been my biggest supporters and have always taught me to not let anything get in the way.”

Maldonado will launch his college career in the fall of 2020.

“I’ve always loved the sport of baseball,” Maldonado said. “I started when I was four years old – my dad was a huge impact on me and motivated me to continue since he has been playing baseball forever.”

With the full support from his dad and their love for the game, Maldonado was part of different baseball traveling teams his youth years. He was part of three traveling teams, The Bad Boys between the ages of 10 to 13 years old, The Predators between the ages of 13 and 16 years old and is currently part of the ABC Force baseball traveling team, where he plays to practice while he waits for the college move in the fall.

Maldonado did not have the opportunity to play baseball his freshman year of high school, since he transferred schools during the season, from PSJA High to Edinburg High.

“Although I did not play my freshman year, it did not stop me from putting in my complete full effort to try out for the Edinburg baseball team my sophomore year,” Maldonado said. “I ended up making the varsity team.”

Sophmore year was just a practice run for Maldonado, it was not until his junior year when the team and himself started making changes and made it to the first-round of the playoffs. Maldonado made honorable mention 2nd baseman for District 6A as well his junior year.

“I was very excited to continue my baseball season my senior year, since we were just getting stronger as a team and our communication was there,” Maldonado said. “Last season (junior year) was one of the best seasons for us and we were looking into bringing last season’s energy to this one.”

The Edinburg High Bobcats baseball team was only able to attend three baseball tournaments this season before their season got cancelled because of the pandemic.

“We went to Houston, Laredo and did a tournament here in the valley as well,” Maldonado said. “It was fun while it lasted, the news was tough since we were doing good in the tournaments.”

The Bobcats started and finished the 2020 season with a record of 5-8.

“We had a good chance to make it to the playoffs this year,” Maldonado said. “This team was ready.”

Despite the fact that the season got cut short, Maldonado is still looking forward to continuing his baseball career in college. “I’ve come a long way, I am not going to let this discourage me,” Maldonado said. “My dad and Coach Joey Campos (head coach for ABC Force baseball traveling team) have been my biggest supporters and have always taught me to not let anything get in the way.”

Maldonado will launch his college career in the fall of 2020.

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McAllen Rowe’s Janie Delgado will be joining her former classmate and teammate, Laurynn Alexis Garcia, in the track and cross-country team for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Delgado committed to UTRGV in early March to continue her running and education career.

“It all started when I was in middle school, when I tried out for the cross-country team,” Delgado said. “My coach told me I had potential so I decided to dedicate myself to it (cross country).”

Delgado dedicated herself during her time in middle school and throughout the summer before her freshman year, ultimately achieving her goal of being in both the track and the cross-country varsity teams all four years of high school.

Through her hard work, Delgado qualified to regionals all four years in cross-country and achieved a personal record of 18 minutes and 41 seconds her senior year.

Besides cross-country, Delgado was also able to excel in track.

Delgado ran the 3200-meter run, the mile run, the 800 and the 400 in track where she also achieved personal records (PR’S) her junior and senior year. She holds a personal record in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:40 and a time of 3:25 in the 800-meter run that were both achieved her junior year. Her mile run improved her senior year, with a personal record of 5:29.

During her junior year, Delgado placed second in both the mile and 3200-meter run, and third place in the 800 meter-run – having her qualify for the All-Area Meet.

Delgado extended her track season by placing third in the two mile run at the All-Area Meet that led her to qualify for Regionals, where she finished in ninth place.

“I did not get to finish my track season this year,” Delgado said. “Everything was cut short for me because of the coronavirus, but I was fortunate enough to have the chance to continue what I love to do in college.”

Despite the fact that her season was cut short, Delgado still finds motivation in herself. “I try not to think about it often,” Delgado said. “It is sad it happened but I am given another chance and I am looking forward to growing as both a runner and student – I never imagined to continue running out of high school, but I am glad I listened to my coach and continued running.”

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Laurynn Alexis Garcia does not let any obstacle get in the way when it comes to running, not even injuries that were almost unbearable to sustain. McAllen Rowe’s senior signed to the University of Rio Grande Valley for the upcoming school year to further her education and cross-country career, despite the fact of suffering from two major injuries her freshman and sophomore year of high school.

Garcia started competing in cross-country when she was in middle school. “When I got promoted from eight grade to ninth grade, I was so happy because it was going to be summer and I was finally going to be able to relax,” Garcia said. “And it was that Saturday the day after the last day of school when my dad woke me up really early and asked if I wanted to go to the flea market- I said yes right away, not knowing that I was being tricked.”

Garcia ended up in the McAllen Rowe high school field instead that morning. “My dad tricked me and took me to the high school cross country practice,” Garcia said. “I was forced to be there because my dad thought I was very good at running and told me that I should continue doing it (cross-country) in high school.”

After securing her spot in the varsity team her freshman year, Garcia suffered from a hip alignment that was out of balance early in the season, not letting her continue. “I remember still running after my injury – I was in so much pain,” Garcia said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore and decided not to finish the season.” Garcia was able to heal and continued to practice. “I did not let my injury put me down, I decided to take it as a way to practice more and prepare for my sophomore year.” Unfortunately, Garcia ended her sophomore season early suffering from shin splints injuries. “I was very upset that I couldn’t compete as much as I wanted to in my freshman and sophomore year, I still continued to practice and told myself it was going to be better the following year,” Garcia said.

Garcia set her mind that junior year will be her year. “I started doing more PR’s (personal records),” Garcia said. “I really got into it and got into this diet where I would not drink any coke or chips – I wanted to be ready for my last two years of high school.”

Garcia and the girls-cross country team achieved district champions and made it to regionals both her junior and senior year. “I was so happy I made it to regionals, there were around 300-500 girls and I placed in the 100’s, which was not bad for not finishing my freshman and sophomore season.”

Garcia was already getting offers from universities after her junior year district meet at La Joya. “This gentleman from CMU approached me after the meet and started giving me some papers and offers for their school,” Garcia said. “I was just a junior so I did not want to take any offers because that was not my concentration at that time.”

Apart from succeeding in cross-country, Garcia also participated in varsity softball all four years of high school. “It was hard maintaining two sports at once and having all these injuries keep you from playing what you love to do,” Garcia said.

Garcia accomplished All-district team 30-6A honorable mention outfielder in 2017, All-district team 30-6A 1st team outfielder in 2018, 30-6A District champions for softball in 2018 and two year 30-6A girls cross-country district champions 2018-2019.

Garcia will continue her cross-country career at UTRGV.

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After two days of wrestling practice, Donna High’s Precious Hernandez was ready to quit.

“I told my mom that this wasn’t for me,” she said. “She told me to give it a week.”

The week came and went. Nothing changed. Hernandez still wanted to quit. This time, her mom had a different response.

“She told me I couldn’t quit,” Hernandez said. “Since she was my ride home, I stayed with it.”

She stayed with it all four years and it paid off this season as Hernandez, a senior, captured the 2020 UIL state championship in the Class 5A, 215-pound girls division. Hernandez became just the third girls wrestler — and first heavyweight — from the Valley to return with a state championship. She is The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Wrestler of the Year.

Hernandez ran through the regular season undefeated before falling to Sharyland Pioneer’s Camila Flores in the finals of the district tournament. She met Flores again in the regional tournament, beating Flores by pin. In the state tournament, Hernandez peaked, winning all four matches, three by pins and the other in the semifinals against Northwest’s Autumn Bradley with a 4-1 decision.

She ended her high school wrestling career in an All-Region IV matchup against Corpus Christi’s Ray’s Mia Epps-Hicks, winning with a pin in 2 minutes, 17 seconds.

Hernandez had faced Epps-Hicks the previous year and pinned the then-sophomore in less than 20 seconds.

“I think that helped and hurt at the same time that I had beaten her before,” Hernandez said. “I knew she wasn’t impossible to beat, but it also hurt because I couldn’t be overconfident. I remembered the first time we met, I was pretty afraid. I didn’t take too many shots, but I did then and just took her down and pinned her.”

This time, however, Hernandez found herself down 1-0 and knew she had to do something about it. It all started when Epps-Hicks deferred the choice to be on top or bottom.

“I knew the smart thing to do was choose bottom and escape for the points,” Hernandez said.

She didn’t choose bottom, however. She went with starting on top.

“I remember the first period was really scary and she was a lot stronger than when we previously met; she dominated me and I needed to build up strength to make my move,” Hernandez said. “I chose top and that ended up being the best choice I could’ve made.”

The whistle blew to start the second period and Epps-Hicks tried to make her move. Instead, however, Hernandez quickly broke her down and flipped her on her back.”

“I’m not sure how long she was on her back but it was the longest time of my life, waiting for the referee to call it,” Hernandez said. “She was slipping and I was using all my strength. I got the three back points but was able to turn it into a pin.”

That’s when the words “state champion” were attached to “Precious Hernandez.”

She started hearing those words as a junior as head coach Raul Cardenas and assistant coach Marcus Bowen kept telling her that she was a future state champ. She had already shocked the district by winning the district title as a freshman against a much more experienced and higher ranked wrestler. But a state champion was a long way away.

“It happened in 1961,” Cardenas said about the Valley’s only state championship football team. “And there have been other state champs from Donna. Coach Bowen preaches it more than anyone. The kids are believing more and she comes home with one and others are believing. Precious has been a breath of fresh air and getting kids to believe in themselves.”

Hernandez even spoke to the Donna High boys basketball team before their bi-district playoff game. The Redskins won the game 52-47 to earn their first playoff win since the 2014-2015 season. Cardenas said that Hernandez is more than just a state champion. She’s also a vocal leader that’s highly respected by teammates — both girls and boys.

“Captains on the boy’ team respected her leadership,” Cardenas said. “If she saw one boy doing something wrong, she would say something and get then to pick it up. Even as coaches, if we would lose focus, she would get on us and keep us on track.”

Wrestling is still a fledgling sport in the Valley but growing at a rapid pace. The Donna program just completed its sixth season, five under the tutelage of Cardenas.

Cardenas remembers walking through P.E. class and seeing how flexible Hernandez was as a freshman. She had participated in the drill team and had learned several dances and credits that flexibility to the dance training. That footwork came in handy in both the regional and state finals. Knowing her strengths help as well, Cardenas said.

“She plays multiple games. She knows her strengths and how to break you down, it’s something we work on daily,” Cardenas said. “Usually we would choose bottom in the position she was in, but she chose top. She broke her down, used that footwork and jumped over her to walk it around. And she knows how to finish. She had to readjust when she felt the girl slipping, and she did it.

“She knows what she wants to do, control the head, control the action and she will work to finish you quickly. She’ll let you make your mistake though, too. In the state final the mistake came when her opponent deferred. That gave her the opportunity to choose top. And she finished her.

While the state championship means a lot to Hernandez personally, she said she’s even happier about the bigger picture and the statement it brings back to the community.

“The first tournament I wrestled in as a freshman, I ended up winning. I had gone 8-0 before I lost and took that one really hard; I was a freshman and thought, ‘I’m invincible, I’m the best.’ I was very overconfident. I started crying, and threw a tantrum,” Hernandez said. “That loss changed everything for me. That loss is why I became a better wrestler.

“When the coaches would tell me I would be a state champ, I just thought they were crazy,” she said. “I could never do that, I’m just a kid from Donna. What can I do? Kids from Corpus and bigger cities were bigger and stronger. They were the ones who won state championships.

“But I did it and others can, too. They just have to believe first.”

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McALLEN — When Emmanuel Duron told Edinburg High wrestling head coach Abel Saenz that he was coming out for the wrestling team this season, Saenz wasn’t sure what to say.

“I didn’t know if he was kidding with me or not,” Saenz said. “But I asked him, ‘What about soccer?’ He said, ‘We’ll figure it out.’”

That, they did.

In fact, they figured it out so well that Duron’s performance this year at the 220-pound weight division earned him The Monitor’s All-Area Boys Wrestler of the Year award. The junior finished with a 44-8 record, going 4-2 at the state tournament. His two losses at state came to the eventual state champion Rylan Bonds of Prosper High School, and then to the third-place finisher, Fadelellah Moounshed of Arlington Bowie.

Duron finished fifth overall at the state meet, the highest placing boys wrestler from the Rio Grande Valley this year. In the 220-pound bracket there were 14 seniors and just two juniors. Duron defeated the other junior, Johrdan Howard, by a pin in 1:20 to capture fifth.

“He should be ranked No. 1 next year when the preseason ranks come out,” Saenz said. “He has a great chance to win a state title next year, but it’s not guaranteed.”

Saenz was highly interested in the District 31-6A football defensive player of the year and three-year varsity soccer starter when he first saw him as a freshman, during Saenz’s first year as the Edinburg wrestling head coach. Quiet in stature, he’s absolutely the opposite in competition, letting his work on the pitch or the gridiron or the mat say all that needs to be said.

“He’s just so athletic,” Saenz said. “He just has these fast-twitch muscles and he’s very sudden and explosive. He’s already aggressive. In football, he’s moving non stop and that helps in wrestling.”

Duron had been thinking about joining wrestling since his freshman year but finally made that commitment as a junior. Since he hadn’t wrestled before — the first time he heard terms like “reversal” or “cradle” was during his first practice — no one knew who the new kid was.

They know now. Among the many wins, Duron defeated the Class 5A defending state champion, doing so by points in a tiring, full six-minute battle.

“Coach Saenz had been asking me since my freshman year to join and I would tell him that when I do I bet I get to state,” Duron said. “So, this year I decided to join and try it out. I like the sport. I like throwing people.”

He had plenty of chances to do that this year. The junior’s signature move is a blast double, when he shoots at his opponent and lifts them up by both legs, dropping them hard on their back for a double leg takedown. Many wrestlers will stop the move as soon as they hit their opponents who, more than likely, will sprawl so they can’t be lifted up.

“Yeah, that did not stop him,” Saenz said. “He drives through. There were many times when he would blast double and they would end up on the next mat.”

“Or a table,” Duron joked.

“All I know is that Coach would tell me to put this guy down on his back,” Duron said. “In those early practices, I had no idea what he was telling me, just that I gotta put this guy on his back. That’s what I tried to do.”

Duron put his opponents on their back enough to end his season standing on the podium in fifth place.

“It felt amazing, being on the podium for the first time,” the football defensive tackle and soccer defender said. “Next year I want to learn more moves and how to pin people from different situations.”

Saenz returned to the Rio Grande Valley where his parents are originally from, after an athletic career in Oregon. He coached at Corpus Christi King for eight years before making it all the way back and taking on the Edinburg High position. He said he’s ready to train Duron in more advanced wrestling techniques, excited to be able to see how he wrestles when he knows more devastating moves and combinations.

“I’m hoping to build off what he did this year. He wrestled a lot of times this year,” Saenz said. “Now we can get into other moves and situations, what we zoned in on after district. You get humbled in wrestling. Most people when you come in, you will get humbled right away. I don’t care how great you were in another sport — you will take your lumps in the beginning.”

“For him to finish in fifth place in Class 6A in that weight division is amazing. But it doesn’t mean any guarantees next year. Nobody knew where he came from and there’s always somebody like that every year. We have to be ready. We have to understand.”

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