McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza lost to Maggie Sandquist during the second round of the 2020-21 state wrestling tournament. Sandquist would win the state title that year – her second straight – at the 138-pound weight class.
Since that match, De La Garza didn’t lose. In fact, the then-sophomore still finished third in the state and with a 19-1 record before reeling off 67 straight wins (most of them by pins) the past two years and winning back-to-back state championships. During that time – where she compiled an 86-1 record – she also pinned eight of nine opponents in the state tournaments and won the other with a technical fall.
“I was a little nervous but said to myself I had nothing to lose, wrestling the returning state champ, and I respected her,” De La Garza said about her match against Sandquist. “I thought she should be more nervous than I was. I went out there positive and tried my best. I put up a good fight but she took me down and got me to my back.”
Arguably the most decorated and GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) girls’ wrestler in Rio Grande Valley history, De La Garza on Friday signed her national letter of intent to start another win streak with NAIA power Missouri Valley College.
“Talking to that school and other schools, I felt more comfortable with them and would fit in more with the people at that school, and the offer was a little better,” De La Garza said. “But I wanted to make sure I had that gut feeling and that’s really why I chose to go there.
De La Garza became the third Valley girls’ wrestler to sign with the Vikings in the past few weeks. Teammate Jazmine Hernandez also signed with Missouri Valley earlier Friday and Valley View’s Mia Diaz, a Region IV-5A champion joined the squad last month.
The Vikings compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference and are a top-15 NAIA program, landing two NAIA All-Americans and a 14th place at the national championships in March.
De La Garza said she plans to major in psychology and minor in criminal justice. She knows she’s going to have a busy schedule, but that’s nothing new for the wrestler who also played basketball, power lifted and ran some track for the Mustangs.
“I’ve been slacking right now but I feel that it will help me to be healthy when I go up there,” she said. “I’m going to be working on wrestling a lot more. That’s what I’m expecting, work on wrestling and school.”
De La Garza remembers being somewhat sad after her loss to Sandquist but took solace in the fight she showed during that match.
“After that I knew I could do better for my junior and senior years,” De La Garza said. “I knew then that I was good but never said anything to anyone. I just worked. I felt like I was good enough to wrestler anyone after that.”
Not only did she wrestle everyone and anyone, she also beat them all. It’s an accomplishment that will be hard to match but it also gives future wrestlers a bar to reach for.
“I just wanted to put in the work and see what I could do,” De La Garza said. “I did more than what I expected.”