NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR

EDINBURG — The Edinburg High boys used a late push to come from behind against defending champions Weslaco High and win the District 16-6A team championship for the first time in school history on Saturday at Edinburg North High School.

Edinburg High began to take hold of the tournament in the 138-pound championship match, when Ramon Lopez defeated Oziel Trevino of McAllen Memorial. The two were locked in a tight contest in which Trevino forced overtime just before time expired.

Lopez regrouped in extra time and earned the sudden victory after turning on Trevino.

“I just couldn’t grasp any words,” Lopez said. “My emotions were all over the place. I was just shocked how much hard work pays off in the end. I’m not the only one that puts in all the work. We have a lot of guys that put in extra work after practice. To be a part of that is outstanding.”

Edinburg High picked up an important win from Genaro Emiliano, who pinned Angel Torres of Weslaco High in 53 seconds. At the time, the Bobcats were still chasing the Panthers in the standings.

Jose Carillo finished as a silver medalist, runner-up to Deon’dre Gonzalez of Los Fresnos.

The Bobcats also had third-place finishes from Angel Villanueva (195), Miguel Olan (145), Evan Ruiz (220) and Athen Villanueva (182).

Weslaco High’s Manlio Medellin was a champion in the 126 division after his opponent couldn’t compete in the final due to injury. At 145, Christian Garcia defeated Weslaco East’s Shawn De La Rosa in an all-Weslaco championship.

Caleb Muniz was the final Panther to win individual gold, in the 160 division over Leo Villegas of McAllen Rowe.

One of the most exciting matches during the final day was at 113 pounds. Alberto Juarez of Mission High was trailing Weslaco High’s Joshua De Hoyos 3-2 with time expiring. With six seconds remaining on the clock, Juarez got behind his opponent for two points and a buzzer-beating win.

In the final round, the match was stopped to treat De Hoyos’ bleeding. During that time, Juarez said he locked in to win the rematch of last season’s district championship, when he finished second to the same opponent.

“It felt amazing. I was ecstatic. Longest six seconds of my life,” Juarez said. “Throughout the whole thing, I was thinking of my game plan, but that went out the door when the whistle blew. It was just instincts.”

Edinburg Vela 132-pounder Robby Silva had a successful day. In the morning, he won his semifinal match to reach 100 career wins as only a junior. He was presented with a trophy for the milestone.

“As soon as the match ended, it was just an emotional win,” Silva said. “All the hours of training, all hours of weightlifting, everything I’ve done finally paid off. It was great to see everybody there, all my friends, all my family, everybody there just cheering me on.”

Silva made the day even sweeter when he won the 132 district championship with a pin of La Joya High’s Jacob Gonzalez. He went to his family to celebrate his first district title saying, “Third time’s the charm.”

On the girl’s side, La Joya High defended its 2017 championship with another first-place team finish. The Coyotes didn’t have an individual winner in the tournament, but they had silver medalists earn valuable points.

La Joya had 160 points to claim first place, Weslaco High had 122 points in second place and PSJA High followed with 113 points.

“Our girls have been working hard all year,” Coyotes coach Christopher Hernandez said. “They have that mentality where they’re not going to give up. They know if they are an inch away from getting pinned, they still have a chance to come back and win. We had that situation a couple of times today.”

Estephany De la Rosa lost a 15-7 decision against Los Fresnos’s Mayeli Chaidez in the 95 class. Veronica Montes finished silver behind state-ranked PSJA High wrestler Destiny Baltierra in the 165 division.

Haylee Guzman received silver after a defeat at the hands of McAllen High’s Serena Cervantes. The McHi senior was the lone Bulldogs wrestler to earn gold but was the most one-sided winner in the girl’s competition without getting the fall. Cervantes led 6-0 after one round, 10-1 after two rounds and eventually won the match 14-2.

In the 102 division, Juarez-Lincoln senior Vanessa Doria was off to a slow start for much of the match against Sidney Quintanilla. The score was 3-1 heading into the third round, but the Huskies wrestler turned up the intensity and finished with the 7-1 win to earn her first district gold medal.

“At the very beginning, it was a close match. It was all because I ate, and I was kind of feeling like throwing up,” Doria said. “I was like, ‘I wake up really early to run, to cut weight, to do everything. I need to suck it up and do my best to try to win district champ.’ That was my goal since sophomore year.”

Weslaco High’s Melissa Ibarra won her second district title in the 110 weight class, defeating Nayeli Hernandez of PSJA High with a second-round pin.

PSJA High had three individual winners: Baltierra in 165, who won via 6-4 decision; Nancy Saldana, who pinned Ashley Leos of Weslaco High at 138; and Ashbby Alvarado, who won the 119 district title.

“It was super overwhelming,” Alvarado said. “I went in nervous, because I didn’t want to make a small mistake that could cost my match. I was just hoping for the best. My defense put me over the top.”

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VALLEY HS WRESTLING RESULTS

District 16-6A Wrestling Tournament

Saturday, Feb. 10

At Edinburg North High School, Edinburg

Boys

Team Results

1, Edinburg High, 194; 2, Weslaco High, 172.5; 3, McAllen Rowe, 143.5; 4, Edinburg Vela, 136; 5, Los Fresnos, 124.5; 6, PSJA High, 124.5; 7, Edinburg North, 111.5; 8, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 111; 9, La Joya High, 108; 10, Mission High, 87.5

Individual Regional Qualifiers by Weight Class

106 — 1, Abel Alvarado, PSJA Memorial; 2, Victor Sanchez, PSJA High; 3, Alejandro Rodriguez, San Benito; 4, Steve Juarez, PSJA Southwest

113 — 1, Alberto Juarez, Mission High; 2, Joshua De Hoyos, Weslaco High; 3, Jaden Trevino, PSJA High; 4, Brandon Escobedo, Edinburg North

120 — 1, Alexis Villegas, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; 2, Aaron Cuevas, Mission High; 3, Isaac Ramirez, McAllen Memorial; 4, Isaias Galvan, Edinburg North

126 — 1, Manlio Medellin, Weslaco High; 2, Julio Morales, Edinburg Vela; 3, Gaudencio Tavarez, La Joya High School; 4, Johnithyn Salyers, PSJA Memorial

132 — 1, Roberto Silva, Edinburg Vela; 2, Jacob Gonzalez, La Joya High; 3, Ahram Solis, Los Fresnos; 4, John Arriola, McAllen Rowe

138 — 1, Ramon Lopez, Edinburg HIgh; 2, Oziel Trevino, McAllen Memorial; 3, Petey Lozano, McAllen Rowe; 4, Humberto Alvala, Edinburg Vela

145 — 1, Christian Garcia, Weslaco High; 2, Shawn De la Rosa, Weslaco East; 3, Miguel Olan, Edinburg High; 4, Mark Pease, McAllen High

152 — 1, Genaro Emiliano, Edinburg High; 2, Angel Torres, Weslaco High; 3, Abelardo Gomez, Edinburg North; 4, Jose Luis Tovar, La Joya High

160 — 1, Caleb Muniz, Weslaco High; 2, Leo Villegas, McAllen Rowe; 3, Jan Vela, La Joya High; 4, Mauro Rodriguez-Hernandez, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln

170 — 1, Joshua Alaniz, Edinburg Vela; 2, Michael Solis, PSJA High; 3, Taly Cano, McAllen Rowe; 4, Juan Bolanos, Edinburg Economedes

182 — 1, Alberto Alcala, Edinburg Vela; 2, Victor Gutierrez, Mission High; 3, Athen Villanueva, Edinburg High; 4, Hector Lopez, McAllen Rowe

195 — 1, Omar Aguinaga, McAllen Rowe; 2, Brandon Rich-Avalos, Edinburg North; 3, Angel Villanueva, Edinburg High; 4, Tomas Garces, Weslaco High

220 — 1, Jeremiah Gonzalez, Los Fresnos; 2, Erick Espinoza, Edinburg Economedes; 3, Evan Ruiz, Edinburg High; 4, Mark Gutierrez, PSJA Memorial

285 — 1, Deon’dre Gonzalez, Los Fresnos; 2, Jose Carrillo, Edinburg High; 3, Jose Ceja, PSJA High; 4, Jesus Lozano, Weslaco East

Girls

Team Results

1, La Joya High, 160; 2, Weslaco High 122; 3, PSJA High, 113; 4, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 105.5; 5, Edinburg North, 98; 6, San Benito, 93; 7, Edinburg High, 78; 8, Los Fresnos, 65; 9, Edinburg Economeds, 59.0; 10, McAllen High, 58.5

Individual Regional Qualifiers by Weight Class

95 — 1, Mayeli Chaidez, Los Fresnos; 2, Estephany De la Rosa, La Joya High; 3, Krisol Cornejo, Edinburg Vela; 4, Jerilyn Abby Peralez, Edinburg North

102 — 1, Vanessa Doria, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; 2, Sidney Quintanilla, McAllen Memorial; 3, Natalee Guzman, La Joya High; 4, Amanda Solorio, Edinburg Vela

110 — 1, Melissa Ibarra, Weslaco High; 2, Nayeli Hernandez, PSJA High; 3, Destiny Garza, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; 4, Jaqueline Ortiz, Edinburg Vela

119 — 1, Ashbby Alvarado, PSJA High; 2, Guadalupe Chavez, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln; 3, Lesly Ramirez, La Joya High; 4, Stephany Juarez, McAllen High

128 — 1, Serena Cervantes, McAllen High; 2, Haylee Guzman, La Joya High; 3, Viviana Torres, San Benito; 4, Eva Cerda, Edinburg North

138 — 1, Nancy Saldana, PSJA High; 2, Ashley Leos, Weslaco High; 3, Iris Alanis, La Joya High; 4, Alejandra Hernandez, McAllen Rowe

148 — 1, Hannah Martinez, Edinburg North; 2, Maria Rangel, Edinburg High; 3, Maricela Alvarado, McAllen Rowe; 4, Maria Hernandez, La Joya High

165 — 1, Destiny Baltierra, PSJA High; 2, Veronica Montes, La Joya High; 3, Isabel Rodriguez, PSJA Southwest; 4, Mariana Garza, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln

185 — 1, Dulce Arena, Edinburg Economedes; 2, Britney Zuniga, Edinburg High; 3, Paola Espinoza, Weslaco East; 4, Ana Santana, Edinburg North

215 — 1, Alexis Lopez, Weslaco High; 2, Brianna Gomez, Mission High; 3, Elisa Varela, Edinburg Economedes; 4, Leslie Peralta, Edinburg High

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER SCHEDULE
Friday’s Games
District 30-6A
McAllen Rowe 5, Mission High 0
McAllen High 4, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2
McAllen Memorial 5, La Joya High 1
District 31-6A
PSJA Memorial 4, PSJA High 3, PKs
Edinburg North 1, Edinburg High 0
Edinburg Vela 7, PSJA North 0
Edinburg Economedes 1, PSJA Southwest 0
District 32-6A
Harlingen South 2, Weslaco High 0
Brownsville Rivera 3, Weslaco East 0
Brownsville Hanna, San Benito, not reported
Harlingen High, Los Fresnos, PPD
District 31-5A
Laredo Martin 2, Sharyland Pioneer 1
Sharyland High 3, Mission Veterans 0
Roma, Laredo Cigarroa, not reported
Valley View, Laredo Nixon, not reported
District 32-5A
Donna North 5, Donna High 0
Brownsville Lopez 3, Mercedes 2
Brownsville Pace 4, Edcouch-Elsa 0
Brownsville Veterans 2, Brownsville Porter 0
District 32-4A
Edinburg IDEA Quest 2, Grulla 1

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER BOX SCORES
District 31-5A
SHARYLAND HIGH 3, MISSION VETERANS 0
Mission Veterans 0 0 — 0
Sharyland High 1 2 — 3
SHARYLAND HIGH (3): Kaitie Watson 2, Xochitl
RECORDS: Sharyland High 6-1;

District 30-6A
McALLEN ROWE 5, MISSION HIGH 0
Mission High 0 0 — 0
McAllen Rowe 4 0 — 5
McALLEN ROWE (5): Sabina Sanchez (2), Emily Morin, Leann Noriega, Chloe Lopez
RECORDS: McAllen Rowe (3-0); Mission High (0-3)

McALLEN MEMORIAL 5, LA JOYA HIGH 1
La Joya High 1 0 — 1
McAllen Memorial 3 2 — 5
McALLEN MEMORIAL (5): Carolina Guerrero (2), Mia Perez, Viviana Cruz, Andrea Sanata
RECORDS: McAllen Memorial (3-1); La Joya High (0-3)

Tuesday, Feb. 13
District 30-6A
McAllen Rowe at McAllen High, 6 p.m.
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at La Joya High, 6 p.m.
District 31-6A
PSJA North at Edinburg Economedes, 6 p.m.
Edinburg Vela at PSJA High, 6 p.m.
Edinburg North at PSJA Memorial, 6 p.m.
District 32-6A
Weslaco High at San Benito, 7:30 p.m.
Weslaco East at Harlingen High, 7:30 p.m.
District 31-5A
Sharyland High at Rio Grande City, 7 p.m.
Roma at Sharland Pioneer, 7 p.m.
District 32-5A
Brownsville Veterans at Donna North, 5:30 p.m.
Mercedes at Brownsville Porter, 5:30 p.m.

VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE
Friday’s Games
District 30-6A
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2, McAllen High 0
Mission High 3, McAllen Rowe 2
La Joya High 4, McAllen Memorial 2
District 31-6A
PSJA Southwest 2, Edinburg Economedes 1, PKs
PSJA North 4, Edinburg Vela 1
Edinburg High 1, Edinburg North 0
PSJA Southwest 2, Edinburg Economedes 1, PKs
District 32-6A
Brownsville Rivera 3, Weslaco East 0
Brownsville Hanna 3, San Benito 1
Los Fresnos 3, Harlingen High 1, OT
Harlingen South 1, Weslaco High 0
District 31-5A
Valley View 8, Laredo Nixon 4
Roma 3, Laredo Cigarroa 1
Mission Veterans 1, Sharyland High 0
Sharyland Pioneer 2, Laredo Martin 1, PKs
District 32-5A
Donna North 2, Donna High 1
Brownsville Lopez 3, Mercedes 2, OT
Brownsville Veterans 3, Brownsville Porter 1
Brownsville Pace 2, Edcouch-Elsa 1
District 32-4A
Progreso 3, Zapata 0
Grulla 14, Edinburg IDEA Quest 0
Hidalgo 5, Monte Alto 0

VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER BOX SCORES
District 30-6A
LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 2,
McALLEN HIGH 0
McAllen High 0 0 — 0
LJ Juarez-Lincoln 0 2 — 2
LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN (2): Gerado Reyes, Manuel Castrejon
RECORDS: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 3-1; McAllen High 0-3

MISSION HIGH 3, McALLEN ROWE 2
Mission High 1 2 — 3
McAllen Rowe 2 0 — 2
MISSION HIGH (3): Allen Palafox (2), Anthony Martinez
RECORDS: Mission High (2-2); McAllen Rowe (1-2)

Tuesday, Feb. 13
District 30-6A
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at La Joya High, 8 p.m.
La Joya Palmview at Mission High, 8 p.m.
McAllen Rowe at McAllen High, 8 p.m.
District 31-6A
Edinburg Vela at PSJA High, 8 p.m.
Edinburg North at PSJA Memorial, 8 p.m.
PSJA North at Edinburg Economedes, 8 p.m.
PSJA Southwest at Edinburg High, 8 p.m.
District 32-6A
Harlingen South at Weslaco East, 5:30 p.m.
Weslaco High at San Benito, 5:30 p.m.
District 31-5A
Mission Veterans at Valley View, 7 p.m.
Rio Grande City at Sharyland High, 7 p.m.
Sharyland Pioneer at Roma, 7 p.m.
District 32-5A
Brownsville Veterans at Donna North, 7:30 p.m.
Brownsville Pace at Donna High, 7:30 p.m.
Mercedes at Brownsville Porter, 7:30 p.m.
District 32-4A
Edinburg IDEA Quest at Progreso, 7:30 p.m.
Hidalgo at Grulla, 7:30 p.m.

NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR

DONNA — Donna North used timely goals to come from behind and defeat rivals Donna High 2-1 on Friday night at Bennie LaPrade Stadium.

Just two minutes into the second half, the Chiefs found the equalizer. Christopher Flores attempt a shot that that doubled as a pass to junior forward Rigo Escobar, who finished inside the near post.

“The intensity of our players — they never step down,” Escobar said. “They always keep their head up, and they wanted to win.”

His goal was the spark his team needed to play its best soccer and overtake hosts Donna High.

With eight minutes gone in the second half, Donna North’s aggressive play was rewarded when a harmless ball that seemed to be controlled by Donna High goalie Cristian Luna wasn’t corralled. Luis Olivas capitalized on the mistake with a goal that stood as the game-winner.

North coach Andres Sanchez said his team wasn’t overwhelmed by trailing at half.

“This team has been in that situation before against other great teams,” Sanchez said. “They always find a way. We always rely on that. It’s been proven before, and it was definitely proved today.”

The game was important not just because of the obvious crosstown meeting, but because both teams came into the game with individual 2-2 records in a strong District 32-5A.

“(Donna High) Coach (Guadalupe) Reyes used to be my assistant, so we have a good friendship,” Sanchez said. “We start the rivalry between 80 minutes we play here, and after that, we are the same community. I try to not put any more fire there. I try to keep them calm and tell them it’s important, like any other game. Whether it’s Donna, Mercedes or the Brownsville schools, we just have to come out there and do our job.”

During the first half, neither team had constant time on the ball. Instead, both sides sent long ball forward to look for cracks in the back line.

Donna High grabbed an early edge when forward Hector Torres took a low, hard shot with his left foot just 6 minutes and 17 seconds into the match.

The home side had chances to extend its lead, including multiple shots on goal from defender Victor Bravo.

Jorge Salinas and Angel Rodriguez were important pieces of Donna High’s runs toward goal. Many times, the duo provided beautiful service on long balls from the midfield, but their forwards couldn’t complete the fine plays.

Chiefs goalie Jose Luis Mares had to put the conceded goal behind him and come up big to keep his team within a single strike. The home side sent four shots on target after the opening goal.

On two occasions, those swinging centers turned into an adventure for Mares when he didn’t cleanly secure the ball. The first rebound opportunity was blown dead because of a foul. The second chance was also a foul, and play only resumed when the goalkeeper and attack got back to their feet after a hard play.

Mares, a sophomore, said that he had to start thinking positive to make better saves and help his team.

“At times, (I) was not sure that it was going to be possible to come back,” Mares said through an interpreter. “The team came with a good attitude and (I) was happy to come back.”

Escobar praised his goalie’s strong play in key moments as the game progressed and Donna High pushed to try to force overtime.

“He’s a really good goalie,” Escobar said. “He’s a (sophomore), and he’s the best goalie I have ever seen. That gave us the energy to keep playing hard.”

In the first half, Donna North’s Flores was creative with his runs. But once the team got into the final third, the offense had trouble executing and finishing.

North’s best two chances in the first half went just over the crossbar. First, a header after a corner kick that narrowly missed. Then, a screaming free kick by Escobar.

With two minutes to play in the first half, North forced Flores into action for the first time. The keeper was tested by a powerful free kick by Juan Perez, and he came up with a sprawling save to preserve the lead at the time.
Both teams are in action against stiff Brownsville competition next week. Donna North hosts Brownsville Veterans, and Donna High will welcome Brownsville Pace.

[email protected]

NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR

RIO GRANDE CITY — Donna North’s girls were prepared for a good day at the District 16-5A wrestling tournament.

When all of the finalists re-entered the gym at Grulla High School on Thursday in the ‘Parade of Champions’ to announce the first-place matchups, five Donna North Chiefs lined up for their shot at a gold medal.

That didn’t lessen the excitement when they were presented with the trophy for their first district title in the program’s four-year history.

The Chiefs had two individual winners and scored 144 points for first place, followed by Rio Grande City with 137 points and Donna High with 136.

Monica Resendez started the finals strong for Donna North, pinning Irene Barrera of Rio Grande City in just 33 seconds to win the 95-pound division. Her coach, J.J. Ayala, recruited the approximately 4-foot-10-inch sophomore from basketball and watched her progress into a tough competitor who owns a 21-2 record.

“I had no idea I would make it this far,” Resendez said through excitement after her match. “I honestly wanted to cry. I was like, ‘OMG, I made this far. Now regionals.’ It’s a big thing you know — Austin!”

Donna North’s Ferralin Algeria also took first. Her medal came in the 148 division, over Daniela Roman from Sharyland Pioneer.

In the 119 division, Grulla’s Carolyn Villarreal put on a show in her home gymnasium as she earned a fall via pin over Sharyland Pioneer freshman Emily Trevino.

Villarreal acknowledge the motivation from the crowd and was proud to see her work pay off after a second-place finish at the district meet last season.

“It’s great motivation to know that I have people out there cheering for me,” Villarreal said. “You know you’re wrestling the best of the best out there. In working with them, they help me to become better as a person, and as a wrestler, as well. That means that I’m going to go far out there and place at regionals.”

Edcouch-Elsa’s Yesenia Saldana represented the first district champion in program history with her win at 165.

Rio Grande City’s Graciela Toscano won over Precious Hernandez of Donna North in the 185 division. Rio’s other winner was junior Samantha Rodriguez, who earned a third-round pin of Luisa Mendoza from Donna North.

On the boys side, Sharyland Pioneer proved that last year’s title was not a fluke. Rather, it represented the new pecking order in RGV 5A boys wrestling.

The Diamondbacks powered past the competition with 273 points — 97 more than Rio Grande City in second place with 176. Donna High came in third with 174 points, ahead of Edcouch-Elsa, which finished fourth in the program’s first season.

The Diamondbacks sent finalists to the mat in nine of the 13 weight classes. Diego Serna was a repeat champion after a 4-0 decision over Ivan Ozuna.

The bout was a familiar meeting. The two wrestled in the district and regional championships last season and numerous times this year. Thursday’s match was a methodical, defensive struggle.
“Seeing Ivan again, it’s kind of come to me that it’s going to happen eventually,” Serna said. “I guess I know his style now, since it’s always such a good matchup.”

Pioneer’s Brandon Pritchard, who won the 145 championship, thanked his teammates who wrestled at junior varsity and pushed for positions all season.

“It’s all about the people at practice that didn’t make it to district, the people that got beat out by better people,” Pritchard said. “Every single person that showed up to practice that isn’t here wrestling for a district weight class made us better. That’s what’s going right for Pioneer. We don’t worry about ourselves. There’s no individualism. We’re one big pack of goons, but we get stuff done.”

Dominique Rodriguez defeated Valley View’s Reymundo Colgua in just 14 seconds in the 182 championship match.

Angel Resio of Sharyland Pioneer was trailing Carlos Nascimiento of Edcouch-Elsa 10-6 with time expiring in the third round. Resio turned things around from near fall to a pin of his own.

The come-from-behind win was the first time that he beat Nascimiento after facing him in previous tournaments.

“My teammates helped me out to be aggressive and win the tournament,” Resio said. “I feel more accomplished now that I beat that opponent.”

Justin Barrera of Rio Grande City won gold in the 152 division. He and Raul Lopez were RGC’s two individual gold winners.

Sharyland High also had multiple winners. Gabriel Martinez won the heavyweight class (285 pounds) beating Eric Guzman of Donna High in an 8-3 decision.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the regional meet at the Delco Center in Austin next weekend.

[email protected]

VALLEY HS WRESTLING RESULTS

District 16-5A Wrestling Tournament

Thursday, Feb. 8

At Grulla High School, Rio Grande City

Boys

Team Results

1, Sharyland Pioneer, 273.0; 2, Rio Grande City, 176.0; 3, Donna High, 174.0; 4, Edcouch-Elsa, 141.0; 5, Donna North, 120.0; 6, Valley View, 113.0; 7, Grulla, 109.0; 8, Sharyland, 90.5; 9, Mission Veterans, 75.0; 10, Roma, 68.0

Individual Regional Qualifiers by Weight Class

106 — 1, Diego Serna, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Ivan Ozuna, Grulla; 3, Raul Gonzalez, Edcouch-Elsa; 4, Max Diaz, Donna North

113 — 1, Justin Perez, Donna High; 2, Andres Martinez, Rio Grande City; 3, Joshua Salinas, Sharyland Pioneer; 4, Anikan Vera, Grulla

120 — 1, Raul Lopez, Rio Grande City; 2, Jaime Guzman, Donna High; 3, Rolando Flores, Grulla; 4, Jahziel Noyola, Donna North

126 — 1, Juan Colegio, Sharyland High; 2, Juvel Castillo, Sharyland Pioneer; 3, Roy Cavazos, Grulla; 4, Rene Trevino, Rio Grande City

132 — 1, Jose Rodriguez Jr., Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Mauricio Vela, Mission Veterans; 3, Mauricio Alvarado; 4, Adrian Martinez, Edcouch-Elsa

138 — 1, Marcos Gonzalez, Donna North; 2, Victor Canales III, Rio Grande City; 3, Oziel Guerra, Donna High; 4, Daniel Huerta, Sharyland Pioneer

145 — 1, Brandon Pritchard, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Guadalupe Torres, Donna High; 3, Juan Alegria, Valley View; 4, Matthew Maldonado, Edcouch-Elsa

152 — 1, Justin Barrera, Rio Grande City; 2, Jay Cardenas, Edcouch-Elsa; 3, Antonio Gomez, Donna North; 4, Adan Reyes, Donna High

160 — 1, Angel Resio, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Carlos Nascimiento, Edcouch-Elsa; 3, Carlos Gonzalez, Valley View; 4, Santino Pascual

170 — 1, Manuel Almanza, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Marcos Flores, Mission Veterans; 3, Leonel Pena, Roma; 4, Pedro Ramirez, Donna High

182 — 1, Dominique Rodriguez, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Reymundo Colgua, Valley View; 3, Erasmo Uresti, Edcouch-Elsa; 4, Jorge Lozano, Rio Grande City

195 — 1, Emmunel Huerta, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Elder Manuel, Roma; 3, Joel Garza, Edcouch-Elsa; 4, Joshua Armendariz, Rio Grande City

220 — 1, Jesus Costilla, Donna North; 2, Ethan Garza, Sharyland Pioneer; 3, Robert Cervantes, Edcouch-Elsa; 4, Darien Cardenas, Donna High

285 — 1, Gabriel Martinez, Sharyland High, 2, Eric Guzman, Donna High; 3, Jorge Gomez Carranza, Valley View; 4, Miguel Trevino, Rio Grande City

Girls

Team Results

1, Donna North, 144.0; 2, Rio Grande City, 137.0; 3, Donna High, 136.0; 4, Sharyland Pioneer, 131; 5, Edcouch-Elsa, 92.0; 6, Rio Grande City, 82.0; 7, Mission Veterans, 58.0; 8, Sharyland High, 44.0; 9, Valley View, 19.0; 10, Roma, 6.0

Individual Regional Qualifiers by Weight Class

95 — 1, Monica Resendez, Donna North; 2, Irene Barrera, Rio Grande City; 3, Monique Castillo, Valley View; 4, Leilani Garcia, Edcouch-Elsa

102 — 1, Alejandra Briere-Segovia, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Michelle Zavala, Edcouch-Elsa; 3, Valeria Delgado, Rio Grande City; 4, Alethea Maldonado; Mission Veterans

110 — 1, Samantha Rodriguez, Rio Grande City; 2, Luisa Mendoza, Donna North; 3, Miranda Peralez, Donna High; 4, Macie Saenz, Sharyland High

119 — 1, Carolyn Villarreal, Rio Grande City; 2, Emily Trevino; Sharyland Pioneer; 3, Leslie Meza, Rio Grande City; 4, Teresa Meza, Rio Grande City

128 — 1, Yamile Vilchis, Sharyland High; 2, Janelle Sandoval, Donna North; 3, Sara Neal, Sharyland Pioneer; 4, Arlette Castillo, Donna High

138 — 1, Mia Padilla, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Maida Ortiz, Donna High; 3, Ashley Garza, Grulla; 4, Mia Sanchez, Grulla

148 — 1, Ferralin Alergia, Donna North; 2, Daniela Roman, Sharyland Pioneer; 3, Karla Cruz, Donna High; 4, Daiyanara Gloria, Rio Grande City

165 — 1, Yesenia Saldana, Edcouch-Elsa; 2, Kayla Yanez, Donna High; 3, Zabrina Montalvo, Grulla; 4, Angela Navarro, Mission Veterans

185 — 1, Graciela Toscano, Rio Grande City; 2, Precious Hernandez, Donna High; 3, Vianni Dominguez, Mission Veterans; 4, Dulce Perez, Donna North

215 — 1, Camila Flores, Sharyland Pioneer; 2, Jackelyn Gomez, Donna North; 3, Rachel Villarreal; 4, Rachel Canche, Donna High

NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR

SAN JUAN — Joseph Villanueva wrestled for PSJA High 10 years ago. Now in his second season as the school’s head wrestling coach, his team is on the right side of a rebuild.

He returned to campus in 2014 as an assistant coach. Ashbby Alvarado was a freshman that year who joined the team after her sister showed her some moves she learned in the school’s wrestling class.

“I wasn’t anything about wrestling. I was a dancer before, so this is a totally different thing,” Alvarado said.

Villanueva said it’s usually a stroke of luck when a sibling pushes students to his wrestling mats. Even then, most of the time the potential wrestlers are raw — strong individuals who can turn into studs with training and technique.

“My freshman year, I would win some and lose some, but mostly lose some,” Alvarado admitted about her early days. “But now it’s more like, ‘Oh, you’re going to go against Ashbby from Bears.’ They know what’s coming.”

She qualified for regionals as a freshman but didn’t return to that level until her junior season, giving her plenty of motivation for her final year.

As a senior, Alvarado won gold in the South Texas Throwdown in McAllen. At the Craig T. Grace CenTex tournament, one of the state’s biggest non-district tournaments of the season, she earned silver, falling to Devin Patton of Coppell High, who is ranked No. 8 in the state according to TexasWrestling.com.

“I’ve never really had a full girls team, so we’re sharing all these memories together,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado has been an important part of the team’s growth as a whole, recruiting teammates like fellow senior Jaden Trevino.

“When I started my freshman year, the program wasn’t really that big,” Alvarado said. “We wouldn’t have that much support. Now that we have new coaches, it’s been totally different. Last year, I started to notice. But this year, it’s been a really good season for us.”

Alvarado also has an uncanny ability to recruit classmates and peers to the sport. Her brash approach might be the secret.

“First I ask them, ‘Hey, how much do you weigh?’” Alvarado said. “(If) I see they’re kind of aggressive, they’re not shy or anything, I tell them, ‘Come try it out.’”

Trevino needed some extra convincing.

“My friends encouraged me. My coaches encouraged me,” Trevino said. “I joined for a few matches, I liked it, and then over the years I fell in love with it, and it just became a passion to me.”

Trevino is taking on the challenge of wrestling at 110 pounds as a senior after spending most of his time at 106, where he won a district title as a junior.

He said he owes the success and improvement to his coaches.

“I learned everything by them,” Trevino said. “All the techniques, all the hard work — they helped me a lot. Since freshman year, through my senior year.”

Destiny Baltierra, a junior, is another athlete who has taken off in the past few seasons. As a sophomore, she finished third in the 165 division during the district meet. This season, she’s turned up the heat. Baltierra earned first place at the prestigious CenTex after beating DeUndria Anderson of Beeville Jones 3-0.

Now, she’s ranked fifth according to WrestlingTexas and represents the Bears’ best shot at a state medal.

“When I first began, I thought I was pretty in shape. But when I joined I was like, ‘Whoa, this is something different, something new, something exciting,’” Baltierra said.

She went on to explain why wrestling is a good teacher of bigger lessons in life.

“It’s not about being physically strong,” Baltierra said. “It’s actually about being mentally strong. That’s been my quote all along from wrestling.”

Like Trevino, Villanueva got into wrestling via perseverance.

In 2007, Abel Saenz, the current head wrestling coach at Edinburg High, convinced some of the football players to give it a shot.

He said he was the only one from his group of friends to stick with wrestling. Ten years later, as the sport grows in popularity in the region, he still acknowledges the struggle to get numbers but says the results are worthwhile.

“We don’t get the jocks, the popular kids. We get whatever we can find,” Villanueva said. “It’s an amazing feeling when they go all throughout the four years and you see them progress little by little. They start off as this little tiny fish, and they become this big ol’ shark.”

District wrestling is underway in the RGV. Today, District 16-5A will hold championship matches at Grulla High School. On Friday and Saturday, the District 16-6A tournament will unfold at Edinburg North High School.

[email protected]

NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR

WESLACO — Fans of Weslaco East may have found a new favorite college football program to root for on Saturdays. Senior quarterback Richard LeFevre made his next move official and signed his national letter of intent (NLI) to the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.

The 6-foot-4-inch quarterback is used to towering over his linemen but might see more teammates around his size at the Division I level.

Prior to the Cardinals full-ride scholarship offer, the phone had been ringing from established Division II programs like West Texas, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

“The recruiting process was a hard choice, because I had to pick the best fit for me,” LeFevre said. “The best college I’m going to go to and the coaches, how the environment was going to be. They just offered me when I went up, which was last Friday through Sunday.”

He was joined at the signing in the Weslaco East fieldhouse by his teammates and coaches, who have been part of his football career since he came to East alongside his father at the start of his sophomore season.

Speakers at the podium, from head coach Mike Burget to WISD administration, talked about the family values at East and why LeFevre was such a good fit to lead.

He helped guide the Wildcats to playoff appearances in each of his seasons, bringing the school streak to 11 straight seasons in the state playoffs.

During his senior year, LeFevre threw for 1,687 yards — more than 900 yards better than his next best passing campaign. He was also an integral part of four Wildcats playoff victories.

Burget said he felt LeFevre was the best QB in the Valley because of the weight he had to lift with RB Roy Pedraza and other offensive weapons going down with injury during the 2017 season.

Jeff LeFevre, Richard’s father and East’s quarterback coach last season, was a comedian at the podium when he was called to speak, joking about the recruiting trip and the coaching staff’s taping abilities.

He was serious, however, about the work Richard has put in to improve his craft while not listening to any doubters who were skeptical about his size at the position.

“I’m starting to see that more and more today, (that) everybody is a little more negative than they are positive,” Jeff LeFevre said. “He has tools. He’s a big kid already. The thing about playing quarterback, it’s a skill you can develop. He worked hard to develop the skill. The sun’s gonna come out the next day, so either get on the field to work harder to perfect it, or you start believing in the nonsense.”

The elder LeFevre, who was a quarterback at Sul Ross University, passes along his knowledge about the game’s intensity after high school.

“He’s going to have to grow up and become a man, because when you go up to the next level, playing football, it’s a job,” Jeff LeFevre said. “It’s a fun job, but it’s a job. You have to take care of your studies. I like to tell Richard it’s a 24-hour job. It’s eight hours of school, eight hours of football and eight hours of sleep.”

Richard was up for the challenge.

“UIW, they came out with an offer I couldn’t resist, I couldn’t give up,” he said. “It was an opportunity I had to take.”

[email protected]

VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE
Tuesday’s Games
District 30-6A
Mission High 3, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0
McAllen Rowe 2, La Joya Palmview 1
McAllen Memorial 2, McAllen High 1
District 31-6A
PSJA Memorial 3, Edinburg Vela 2, PKs
Edinburg Economedes 2, Edinburg North 1, PKs
Edinburg High 3, PSJA High 1
PSJA Southwest 1, PSJA North 0
District 32-6A
Weslaco East 2, Harlingen High 1
Brownsville Rivera 2, Weslaco High 0
Brownsville Hanna 2, Los Fresnos 0
Harlingen South 3, San Benito 1
District 31-5A
Valley View 6, Sharyland Pioneer 0
Mission Veterans 3, Rio Grande City 2
Sharyland High 3, Laredo Nixon 1
Laredo Martin 5, Laredo Cigarroa 0
District 32-5A
Brownsville Porter 2, Donna High 0
Donna North 2, Brownsville Pace 0
Mercedes 2, Edcouch-Elsa, 1, OT
Non-district
Hidalgo 2, La Feria 1

VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER BOX SCORES
District 30-6A
MISSION 3, LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 0
LJ Juarez-Lincoln 0 0 — 0
Mission High 2 1 — 3
MISSION (3): John Cortez, Aaron Ramirez, Anthony Martinez.
RECORDS: Mission (1-2, 3 points,) ; La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (2-1, 6 points)

Friday’s Games
District 30-6A
McAllen High at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 8 p.m.
Mission High at McAllen Rowe, 8 p.m.
La Joya High at McAllen Memorial, 8 p.m.
District 31-6A
PSJA North at Edinburg Vela, 8 p.m.
Edinburg High at Edinburg North, 8 p.m.
Edinburg Economedes at PSJA Southwest, 8 p.m.
PSJA Memorial at PSJA High, 8 p.m.
District 32-6A
Brownsville Rivera at Weslaco East, 5:30 p.m.
Weslaco High at Harlingen South, 5:30 p.m.
District 31-5A
Valley View at Laredo Nixon, 7 p.m.
Sharyland High at Mission Veterans, 7 p.m.
Laredo Martin at Sharyland Pioneer, 7 p.m.
District 32-5A
Donna North at Donna High, 7:30 p.m.
Brownsville Lopez at Mercedes, 7:30 p.m.
District 32-4A
Progreso at Zapata, 6 p.m.
Grulla at Edinburg IDEA Quest, 6 p.m.
Monte Alto at Hidalgo, 7:30 p.m.

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER SCHEDULE
Tuesday’s Games
District 30-6A
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 6, Mission High 0
McAllen Rowe 3, La Joya Palmview 0
McAllen High 4, McAllen Memorial 1
District 31-6A
Edinburg North 2, Edinburg Economedes 0
PSJA Memorial 2, Edinburg Vela 1
Edinburg High 3, PSJA High 2
PSJA North 2, PSJA Southwest 1
District 32-6A
Harlingen High 7, Weslaco East 0
Los Fresnos 5, Brownsville Hanna 2
Weslaco High 1, Brownsville Rivera 0, PKs
District 31-5A
Sharyland High 5, Laredo Nixon 1
Sharyland Pioneer 6, Valley View 0
Mission Veterans 4, Rio Grande City 0
District 32-5A
Brownsville Pace 4, Donna North 3
Brownsville Veterans 3, Brownsville Lopez 1
Edcouch-Elsa 3, Mercedes 1
Brownsville Porter 4, Donna High 1

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER BOX SCORES
District 31-5A
SHARYLAND PIONEER 6, VALLEY VIEW 0
Valley View 0 0 — 1
Sharyland Pioneer 4 2 — 6
SHARYLAND PIONEER (6): Amanda Tyrrell, Kate Padilla, Andrea Reyes, Jocelyn Boyle, Olivia Vasquez, Abby Martinez
RECORDS: Sharyland Pioneer 6-0 (17 points)

SHARYLAND HIGH 5, LAREDO NIXON 1
Sharyland 2 3 — 5
Laredo Nixon 0 1 — 1
SHARYLAND HIGH (5): Kaitie Watson 3, Aneli Pena, Marcela Jarvis
RECORDS: Sharyland High 5-1 (16 points)

District 30-6A
McALLEN ROWE 3, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 0
McAllen Rowe 0 3 — 3
LJ Palmview 0 0 — 0
McALLEN ROWE (3): Veronica Dougherty (2), Larissa Menezes
RECORDS: McAllen Rowe (2-0)

District 31-6A
PSJA NORTH 2, PSJA SOUTHWEST 1
PSJA Southwest 1 1 — 1
PSJA North 0 2 — 2
PSJA NORTH (2): Kimberly Garza 2
RECORDS: PSJA North 1-2-Tie; PSJA Southwest 0-4.

EDINBURG HIGH 3, PSJA High 2
PSJA HIgh 2 0 — 2
Edinburg High 2 1 — 3
EDINBURG: Leah Sanchez, Debanhi Rodriguez
Records: Edinburg High (1-3, 4 points)

Friday’s Games
District 30-6A
Mission High at McAllen Rowe, 6 p.m.
La Joya High at McAllen Memorial, 6 p.m.
McAllen High at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, 6 p.m.

District 31-6A
Edinburg Economedes at PSJA Southwest, 6 p.m.
PSJA North at Edinburg Vela, 6 p.m.
Edinburg High at Edinburg North, 6 p.m.
PSJA Memorial at PSJA High, 6 p.m.
District 32-6A
Weslaco High at Harlingen South, 7:30 p.m.
Brownsville Rivera at Weslaco East, 7:30 p.m.
District 31-5A
Mission Veterans at Sharyland High, 7 p.m.
Shayland Pioneer at Laredo Martin, 7 p.m.
District 32-5A
Donna North at Donna High, 5:30 p.m.
Brownsville Lopez at Mercedes, 5:30 p.m.