MISSION — Edinburg North’s Ashley Sierra had to wait three hours for her championship match at the Sharyland Pioneer Grapefruit Bowl boys and girls wrestling tournament.

It was worth every minute.

The two-day tournament Friday and Saturday showcased more than 500 matches on nine mats held at Sharyland Pioneer that pitted 33 teams from the Valley and from Corpus Christi.

Sierra’s victory, along with teammates Stephanie Garza’s (128-pound) first-place and Eva Cerda (119-pound) and Kim Romo (110-pound) third-place helped lift the Edinburg North Cougars to a team victory, earning 359.5 points.

Trailing behind Edinburg North at the tournament were Corpus Christi King in second with 311 points, McAllen Memorial in third with 238 points, San Benito was fourth with 278 points and Sharyland Pioneer rounded out the top five with 245 points.

“As a team, we’re doing good and we’re are just focusing on the district meet. In the end, district is what counts,” Edinburg North head coach Rene Garcia said. “It’s always nice to have the Corpus schools here to throw a little mix to the technique and stuff. It’s good exposure to having long tournaments, getting them prepped for regionals and state where it’s a two-day tournament and both days are going to six or seven o’clock. So a tournament like this prepares them for long days and it’s been a good experience.”

After plowing through her first three matches by fall to reach the final, Sierra said she planned going in to her last match with the same plan.

“ In this sport you can be pinned at any second and you have to keep on going and you’re there for a reason and you just have to finish the whole challenge,” Sierra said. “I do it for the people that can’t do it (wrestling) and that don’t have the strength and want to do it.”

Heading into the championship, Sierra defeated Corpus Christi Carroll’s Laryssa Sanders, PSJA High’s Jessica Villanueva and Corpus Christi King’s Milana Vega.

Not only was the championship medal on the line, but Sierra needed a victory to gain the points necessary to help lift the Edinburg North girls to an overall team triumph in girls competition at the Grapefruit Bowl.

Waiting for her was PSJA Memorial’s Lorena Torres. The win would not come easy as Torres nearly pinned Sierra twice in each of the waning seconds of the first and second period but she was saved by the bell.

“ There was a point where I was going to give up, but I bridged for my life and told myself I can do it, I can do it and I finished at the end,” Sierra said. “I stayed calm and relaxed. She was strong and was good competition, but all I had to do is work hard and not give up until the end,” Sierra said.

With Torres leading 11-6 in the third period, Sierra managed to reverse out of Torres’ grip, came up from under her and applied her signature move, known as the clamp, that led to the pin and victory late in the third period.

“ It was tough, because you had to compete right away, but it was also fun because wrestlers got good matches against some of the better kids in the district,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Richard Eckley said.

Sharyland Pioneer won the boys division with 491 points. Los Fresnos followed in second with 467 points, Edinburg High finished third with 423 points, Edcouch-Elsa finished fourth with 404 points and Corpus Christi Ray rounded out fifth with 394 points.

Sharyland High Alberto Mendoza (29-5) defeated Thiago Almeida (17-4) in the final by fall in 5:44 in the 106 weight class.

Edinburg High’s Josiah Sloss (31-4) defeated Sharyland Pioneer Austin Saenz for third place in the 106 division.

Sharyland Pioneer’s Ethan Garza (14-5) defeated Los Fresnos’ Leeroy Guerrero (11-2) in the 220 division final.

Mission High’s Dante Lopez (31-2) defeated Corpus Christi Carroll Devin Agado (26-5) in the 285 weight class final.

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McALLEN — PSJA High took the upper hand in their contest with a header chip-in against McAllen High to lift the Bears to a 1-0 lead at 14th Annual Copa La Frontera boys soccer tournament Friday.

This was the fourth game of the day at McAllen Memorial’s Hernandez Field and there were eight more to go while eight other games were taking place at Hidalgo Stadium to complete the second group of eight teams to round out the 16 team weekend tournament that continues today.

PSJA High’s Anthony Barrera Guererro converted the head shot off a corner kick from his teammate Artemio Hernandez.

“It’s a team play we do during practice, and I told him (Hernandez) lets do the play right now, and I put it in,” Guererro said.

The score came near the seven minute mark of the first period, but they would not hold on to the lead for long.

Near the two minute mark of the first period the Bears were called for a tripping violation near their goal that lead to a Bulldogs penalty kick that Javi Perez kicked in to tie the game 1-1.

The rest of the game played out like a chess match as each team worked to shift the momentum of the game in their favor, and to no avail the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

More Friday game results:

McALLEN MEMORIAL 1, EDINBURG VELA 0: senior Jorge Torres scored on a penalty kick to lift the Mustangs to its third win of the tournament over the SaberCats on Friday morning during the first game of the day.

On Thursday, against IDEA Quest Academy, the Mustangs won 7-1 in a contest that had multiple scorers for the Mustangs. Cesar Tineo led the way with a pair of goals. Pedre Arispe, Farid Robles, Marcos De La Cruz, Bernat Bonilla, Maximiliano Alaniz each scored one.

Omar Salazar netted another to lift the Mustangs to their first victory during their first game of the tournament against Weslaco East on Thursday.

WESLACO EAST 2, IDEA QUEST 0: Gilbert Garza and teammate Adrian Zuniga scored one goal each to lift the Wildcats to victory in their first match of the day Friday.

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MERCEDES — The heat was on soon after the sound of the starting gun at the Mercedes track and field dual meet against Progreso.

The two teams went toe-to-toe in several events to gauge where they measure up heading into the season

The season officially kicks off the first week of February.

“We’re just getting started and we wanted to see where everyone is at,” Mercedes head coach Pete Martinez said.

The meet started with the one-mile race. It pitted state cross country qualifiers from both squads.

Mercedes’ Guadalupe Reyes finished 75th overall in Class 6A at the state cross country meet. Progreso’s Jonathan Vega, Alex Pecina and Gerardo Gallardo were part of the Red Ants’ state championship cross country team in Class 4A.

The runners didn’t waste any time breaking out of the starting line at the sound of the gun.

And just over four minutes later, Reyes finished the mile race in 4 minutes and 45 seconds followed by Vega at 4 minutes and 54 seconds.

“In the first event I wanted to go for a 440 pace. I took off really fast and I just kept telling myself don’t let anybody catch you,” Reyes said.

Other than Reyes’ teammate, Isaiah Hernandez, who finished third, the only other runner close behind was Vega, who finished second in the heat.

“Lupe (Reyes) went out fast, and he hung on to the lead,” Vega said. “It feels good to get back on the track, and the challenge opened up my eyes that I need to get on ball.”

Progreso displayed some big jumps at the meet leading with Luis Garcia’s 45 feet and 8 inches triple jump, besting his personal record of 43 feet 3 inches he marked at the Meet of Champions last season.

“The boys have been working hard and we are excited to see to see what we can do in the season,” Progreso head coach Ivan Gonzalez said. “At this point I’m pretty impressed on what I see coming off the preseason. We still have about three and half weeks to sharpen everything up before our first meet February 7.”

Mercedes High will be the site of the District 32-5A meet scheduled March 31, and area meet slated April 16.

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All the big names in wrestling from the Valley and Corpus Christi will meet at Sharyland Pioneer to take part in the two-day first annual Grapefruit Bowl beginning today.

Nine mats will showcase 750 boys matches and 500 girls matches between 32 schools who will be participating in the weekend event. Championship matches are slated to run Saturday into the afternoon and evening.

The tournament used to be called the All-Valley Championship, but was renamed the Grapefruit Bowl to expand the tournament and attract more teams from outside of the Valley. It is the largest wrestling tournament in the region and will take place in two of three gymnasiums at Sharyland Pioneer.

“We are trying to get teams to come to us, instead of us going to them,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Richard Eckley said. “We have five out of the six Corpus Christi High Schools who will be here.”

Participating schools are Corpus Christi Carroll, Corpus Christi King, Corpus Christi Miller, Corpus Christi Moody, Corpus Christi Ray, Donna High, Donna North, Edcouch-Elsa, Edinburg High, Edinburg North, Edinburg Vela, Grulla, La Joya High, La Joya Palmview, Los Fresnos, McAllen High, McAllen Memorial, McAllen Rowe, Mission High, Mission Veterans, PSJA High, PSJA Memorial, PSJA North, PSJA Southwest, Rio Grande City, San Benito, Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer, Valley View, Weslaco East and Weslaco High.

The nonstop action will show wrestlers executing throws, arm locks, ankle picks and more of their array of wrestling moves to score points or pin their opponent.

Many of the wrestlers will also be in the hunt for payback and to gauge the Corpus Christi competition they may encounter at regionals.

“The light weight boys are going to be exciting,” Eckley said. “They are always going at it in the fight, they scrap and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

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McAllen Rowe and McAllen Memorial boys and girls wrestlers traveled 230 miles to tangle on the mat and get a taste of the competition they may encounter at regionals.

Both teams traveled together to San Antonio over the weekend and showcased their might at the 2020 Lee High School Invitational and matched up against top state teams and ranked wrestlers.

The wrestling tournament was held Jan. 11.

“We knew it was going to be a blood bath, and they proved they are getting better,” McAllen Memorial head coach Eddie Gonzalez said about the competition and McAllen wrestlers. “It would have been nice if we would have been able to win more.”

Both schools had wrestlers place in both boys and girls divisions against the stiff competition.

McAllen Rowe’s Petey Lozano (10-1) placed first in the 145-pound division. Lozano defeated Cibolo Steele’s Olija Alexander 22-10.

And McAllen Memorial’s Justin Garcia (18-6) finished second in the 138-pound division. Garcia was defeated by Schertz Clemens’s DeShawn Crosby (23-2).

Other area wrestlers who finished in the top four in their division from McAllen were McAllen Rowe’s Juan Garcia (8-7). He finished fourth in the 160-pound division and was defeated by San Antonio Madison’s Tommy Smith (18-10).

McAllen Memorial’s Amaya Marroquin (12-2) finished fourth in the 148 weight class. She was defeated by San Antonio Brooks Academy Rose Scotello (10-14).

The two Valley schools competed against 21 San Antonio-area wrestling teams.

The top five boys teams were San Antonio Johnson, Schertz Clemens, San Antonio Churchill, San Antonio Madison and San Antonio Roosevelt, respectively.

The top five girls teams were Cibolo Steele, San Antonio Madison, Comal Smithson Valley and San Antonio Lee, respectively.

“We were their to make a showing, prove to people that our wrestlers are getting better and for our wrestlers to see what level they are at, so when they get to regionals they know what to expect from the competition,” Gonzalez said.

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DONNA — PSJA Memorial defeated Edinburg High 2-0 to capture the gold cup trophy at the first Heart of the Valley Boys Soccer Tournament championship Saturday at Bennie La Prade Stadium.

“ It was a pleasant surprise for us since we are in the process of building a new identity for the team since we lost a lot of guys from last year,” PSJA Memorial head coach Alejandro Cruz said. “This year is basically a new team that I am coaching right now.”

PSJA Memorial senior Diego Hernandez scored both goals in the first period to lift the Wolverines to victory.

The championship match was a fierce battle between speedy forwards on both sides of the ball and strong defenders as both the Wolverines and the Bobcats were unable to score in the second period.

“ It was a tough game, but we fought through it and it feels great bringing the trophy home,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said he capitalized off an Edinburg High mistake around the right corner of the field near their goal to slip in his first of two scores.

The second goal came off an assist from teammate Robert Balderrama over the top to Hernandez to chip in their final point.

Hernandez is a first-year member of the Wolverines team.

“He showed up this year and he wanted to join us and he’s done extremely well,” Cruz said. “The team has accepted him as a team leader.”

PSJA Memorial completed the Heart of the Valley Tournament 6-0-1, tying Donna North on the final day of pool competition. Memorial’s overall record is now 11-1-1.

PSJA Memorial shut out McAllen High 2-0 and Hidalgo 6-0 on Thursday and on Friday only gave up two goals in two games against, Mercedes 6-1 and San Benito 3-1 en route to the title.

“ The championship match was the toughest game since it was for all the marbles like they say,” Cruz said.

The Heart of the Valley Boys Soccer Tournament pitted 12 teams during a three-day competition.

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VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER SCORES

HEART OF THE VALLEY TOURNAMENT

Thursday’s Games

Group A

At Bennie La Prade Stadium

Donna High 1, Harlingen High 0

Edinburg High 5, Grulla 0

Edinburg Economedes 1, Eagle Pass 0

Edinburg High 2, Donna High 0

Harlingen High 2, Eagle Pass 1

Edinburg Economedes 4, Grulla 0

Pool B

At Donna North Stadium

Donna North 2, Mercedes 1

McAllen High 2, San Benito 1

PSJA Memorial 6, Hidalgo 0

Donna North 1, San Benito 0

Mercedes 2, Hidalgo 1

PSJA Memorial 2, McAllen High 0

Friday’s Games

Pool A

At Bennie La Prade Stadium

Eagle Pass 1, Edinburg High 0

Edinburg Economedes 1, Harlingen High 0

Donna High 5, Grulla 0

Edinburg High 1, Edinburg Economedes 0

Eagle Pass 1, Donna High 1

Harlingen High 3, Grulla 0

Pool B

At Donna North Stadium

Hidalgo 2, San Benito 0

PSJA Memorial 6, Mercedes 1

Donna North 0, McAllen High 0

PSJA Memorial 3, San Benito 1

Donna North 2, Hidalgo 0

McAllen High 3, Mercedes 0

Saturday’s Games

Pool A

At Bennie La Prade Stadium

Edinburg Economedes 0, Donna High 0

Edinburg High 2, Harlingen High 1

Eagle Pass 7, Gurlla 1

Pool B

At Donna North Stadium

PSJA Memorial 0, Donna North 0

McAllen High 3, Hidalgo 0

Mercedes 0, San Benito 0

Championship Games

At Bennie La Prade Stadium

Bronze Cup Final

Donna High 1, Donna North 0

Silver Cup Final

McAllen High 3, Hidalgo 0

Gold Cup Final

PSJA Memorial 2, Edinburg High 0

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER SCORES

ECISD GIRLS TOURNAMENT

Thursday’s Games

Pool 1

At Edinburg Vela

Edinburg Vela 4, Rio Grande City 0

Harlingen South 4, PSJA High 0

Edinburg Vela 7, Santa Gertrudis 0

Harlingen South 8, Rio Grande City 0

Santa Gertrudis 1, PSJA High 0

Pool 2

At Richard Flores Stadium

Edinburg North 0, Brownsville Lopez 0

Edcouch-Elsa 3, Progreso 0

Weslaco High 1, Edinburg North 0

Edcouch Elsa 2, Brownsville Lopez 3

Weslaco High 5, Progreso 0

Pool 3

At Edinburgh High

Edinburg High 2, PSJA North 0

Sharyland 4, Mercedes 0

Valley View 2, Edinburg High 0

Sharyland 3, PSJA North 0

Valley View 2, Mercedes 0

Pool 4

At Edinburg Economedes

Los Fresnos 3, Edinburg Economedes 0

Roma 8, Alice 0

Edinburg Economedes 2, Donna High 0

Los Fresnos 6, Roma 0

Donna High 5, Alice 0

Friday’s Games

Pool 1

At Edinburg Vela

Edinburg Vela 2, Harlingen South 1

PSJA High 1, Rio Grande City 0

Harlingen South 3, Santa Gertrudis 0

Edinburg Vela 4, PSJA High 0

Rio Grande City 1, Santa Gerturdis 0

Pool 2

At Richard Flores Stadium

Edcouch-Elsa 3, Edinburg North 1

Brownsville Lopez 2, Progreso 1

Edcouch-Elsa 1, Weslaco High 0

Edinburg North 7, Progreso 0

Brownsville Lopez 4, Weslaco High 0

Pool 3

At Edinburgh High

Sharyland 1, Edinburg High 0

PSJA North 5, Mercedes 0

Sharyland 2, Valley View 1

Edinburgh High 4, Mercedes 0

Valley View 3, PSJA North 1

Pool 4

At Edinburg Economedes

Edinburg Economedes 2, Roma 1

Los Fresnos 10, Alice 0

Donna High 1, Roma 1

Edinburg Economedes 4, Alice 0

Los Fresnos 2, Donna High 1

DONNA — Time on the clock was winding down as Donna High trailed Eagle Pass 1-0 in their second game of Day 2 at the Heart of the Valley Boys Soccer Tournament.

When Donna High midfielder Jordan Mondragon was passed the ball, Donna High head coach Guadalupe Reyes yelled as loud as he could against the 29-mile per hour wind, “Echale, Jordan!”(“Put it in Jordan!”)

And with the wind at his back, Mondragon drilled the ball from the right side at midfield over his defender with six seconds left in the game.

The ball sailed though the air and evaded Eagle Pass defenders, bounced in front of the goalie, over his head, between his finger tips and the top of the goal post then fell into the net to tie the game with two seconds left in regulation.

“I just saw the ball and I kicked,” Mondragon said. “It was our last chance and it went in. I feel proud, and our team did really good. It was a tough game.”

With the win, Donna High has positioned itself in third place with 21 points and is still not out of the hunt for making out of Pool A to play for the championship at 6 p.m. today against the winner of Pool B, where PSJA Memorial leads with 36 points. Donna North follows with 28 and McAllen Memorial trails in third with 21.

Competition continues at 9 a.m. today with Donna High and Edinburg Economedes, who are in second place with 26 total points. Edinburg High leads Pool A with 27 points.

In Pool B, Donna North and PSJA Memorial will clash at 9 a.m. followed by Mercedes and San Benito at 10:30 a.m. and McAllen High and Hidalgo at noon.

In other Day 2 matches:

Eagle Pass 1, Edinburg High 0: Eagle Pass striker Uriel Gonzalez scored midway through the first period to lift the Eagles to a 1-0 win over Edinburg High.

Edinburg Economedes 1, Harlingen High 0: Economedes and Harlingen High battled against each other in a hard fought match that saw the Jaguars score off a corner kick from Kevin Mendez to Chris Garcia for the only score of the game.

Donna North, 0 McAllen High 0: It was a physical game each teams was able to stop each other. Both teams had scoring opportunities and were not able to capitalize.

McAllen High 3, Mercedes 0: The Bulldogs jumped to a 1-0 lead over the Tigers in the first period off a score by Sergio Davila.

The Bulldogs were able to score on both sides as Christian Liscano and Javi Perez scored in the second period against the wind to lift the Bulldogs to the win.

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McALLEN — The McAllen High girls soccer team has made a national top 50 ranking.

“It’s pretty amazing,” McAllen High head coach Pat Arney said. “I was telling the girls this is two years of hard work.”

The Bulldogs are sitting at the No. 10 spot nationally on the Top Drawer Soccer website (topdrawersoccer.com) Winter 2020 rankings that also include schools from Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. They are also ranked No. 3 in Texas.

“We’ve got to keep it going and make sure this isn’t a fluke,” Arney said. “When I started here 24 years ago I would have never dreamed somebody from the Valley would have been ranked that high in girls soccer.”

The Bulldogs, so far this season, have two Division I verbal commits in Ana Alaniz and Westyn Henderson. Goalkeeper Lexi Gonzalez could very well be in line for one.

They were ranked based off their 3-0 performance at the McAllen Soccer Showcase and are now riding a 7-1 record.

The Bulldogs rolled through the showcase, shutting out their opponents with a combined 15-0 score, beginning with their 3-0 win against Corpus Christi King that earned the team, and Arney, their 500th win.

“We’ve come such a long way,” Arney said about the national ranking. “You look at some other programs in the Valley and they are not far behind us, if at all.”

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McALLEN — Viviana Cruz connected with Andrea Santana on an over-the-top pass and Santana followed with a goal to set the tone for McAllen Memorial Mustangs as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first minute of play Saturday during the final day of the McAllen ISD Soccer Showcase.

“We are always looking to capitalize and jump on teams early,” McAllen Memorial head coach Mathew Kaiser said. “It’s a mental edge for you. It builds confidence for the girls early on and that was the game plan.”

The quick score was the first of the four goals in the first half leading to a 4-1 win over Donna North at McAllen Memorial’s Hernandez Field.

“To get that advantage quickly really changes the whole mentality of the team and puts a burden on the other team to try to come back,” Kaiser said. “I think that went a long way, it also made for a long game to hold on to the lead and not let them come back, and we were able to do that.”

Memorial’s first score seemed to awaken Donna North as it regrouped and worked to regain control. Donna North positioned itself for a shot on goal to tie the game, but McAllen Memorial’s goalkeeper Paulina Gomez stopped the shot from Gabby Aviles with a dive to the left of the goal and cupped the ball centimeters from the line.

Also scoring for McAllen Memorial were Mia Perez and Viviana Cruz. Andrea Santana scored twice in the first half.

“It was a very good match,” Donna North head coach Tony Garcia said. “We competed very well. We scheduled this tournament with a purpose of growing and gelling and I believe we did that.”

Later, Donna North attempted to take control of the ball in center field, attacking the goal with quick passing and it led to their only score in the 21st minute of the first half with a shot from Gabby Aviles to get on the board, trailing 3-1.

Not even two minutes went by from the time of their first score bfore Aviles scored once more, only to have it called back on an offside violation.

The Mustangs scored once more in the first half off a rebound that bounced off Donna North’s goalie and near Memorial’s Cruz who scored to lift the Mustangs to a 4-1 lead.

Memorial went on to control the second half defensively holding off every effort of Donna North’s scoring attack.

“Our girls are go-getters and they are tough and I love their style of play and they get after it,” Garcia said.

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