Three freshmen had more than just an impressive showing this year on the wrestling mat. Putting their youth and inexperience up against older, strong and more experienced wrestlers most of the year, McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza, La Joya Palmview’s Brooklyn Garza and Sharyland High’s Alberto Mendoza combined for 109 wins and just 35 losses.
They all advanced to the UIL state wrestling tournament and, because of their performances, have been named The Monitor’s Wrestling All-Area Newcomers of the Year.
SERENITY DE LA GARZA
Freshman, McAllen Memorial
40-7 record, 138 pounds
De La Garza distinctly remembers her 19th match of the year. The McAllen Memorial freshman phenom was 18-0 in her first year wrestling and her opponent was from city rival McAllen High.
With about a minute to go, she had a feeling she knew how the match was going to end.
“I knew I was going to get pinned,” De La Garza said. “The way she was holding me, I was trying to get out as hard as I could, but I knew I was never going to get out. I kept trying and trying but couldn’t move. I heard the ref call the pin and started crying when I went to my coach. He told me it was OK, because, ‘You’re going to get better because you’re seeing your mistakes.’”
De La Garza cracked he 40-win mark when she pinned San Antonio Madison’s Mia Padilla at the state tournament. It was the second time she had defeated Padilla, beating her in the regional finals, as well.
Her name comes from the Serenity Prayer — “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change,” the well-known prayer begins — and when she’s not wrestling, the name defines who she is.
On the wrestling mat, however, she’s not the same.
“I see myself as aggressive,” said the 138-pound Region IV champion, who finished third in district. “When I’m not in wrestling mode, I’m nice when I’m with my friends, but I might get a little aggressive in a fun way. When I wrestle, I’m something else. When I watch my videos, I’m not the same. I’m more mean. I don’t see myself as the same person.”
Of her seven losses, just three were by pins and four were by points.
“I feel that was pretty good for a freshman,” said De La Garza, who was encouraged by her uncle, Isaac Bonilla to try the sport. Bonilla wrestled his senior year at PSJA North, where he also played football.
Before the season ended, however, De La Garza had a chance to redeem herself against the McHi wrestler who pinned her.
“I didn’t let her take me down, didn’t let her get on top of me,” she said. “I tried to take control of the match and I beat her by points. But I wanted to pin her so bad.”
De La Garza finished ranked No. 7 in the state at 138 pounds.
BROOKLYN GARZA
Freshman, La Joya Palmview
30-17 record, 128 pounds
Garza didn’t want to sit on the couch at home and do nothing.
But, it was gonna be a tough decision between that and playing basketball.
“I did not want to do basketball and a friend of mine said come and join wrestling with me,” Garza said. “I was like, ‘OK,’ so we tried out and the rest is history.”
Her history is looking like a star-riddled future as the freshman compiled a 30-17 record, winning two matches and advancing to the second day of the Class 5A UIL state wrestling tournament. She finished third in the Region IV tournament to advance to state.
Not a bad start considering how her season began.
“In my first match I got my butt beat bad,” the self-proclaimed ‘docile’ Garza said. “I was mad, very mad, but then realized that I’m just a freshman and they were all older than me during that first tournament.
“But I also knew that if I want to beat some of these girls, I’m going to have to practice and learn some techniques. I was going to have to work hard and decided to stick with it.”
Garza said that her first trip to the state meet was overwhelming at first. She lost her first match on Day 1 before winning her next two.
“I was very, very nervous and had to turn that nervousness into maybe a little bit of anger,” she said. “You’re gonna get tired of being pushed around some point.”
Garza, who finished ranked No. 7 in the state according to trackwrestling.com, said she’s planning to have a better sophomore year. She plans on working more on her attacks and shoots, something she said she didn’t utilize much this season, leaning toward counter attacks and just her brute strength to overcome her opponent.
ALBERTO MENDOZA
Freshman, Sharyland High
39-11 record, 106 pounds
Mendoza entered his freshman year with two advantages over many wrestlers he faced. One, he wasn’t a first-year wrestler, joining the sport in eighth grade.
Two, he had nearly five years of jiujitsu training under his belt.
“My dad put me in it and it was something I was good at and I started liking it,” Mendoza said. “I like using my techniques in wrestling and that training helped.
Mendoza finished second in the district tournament and second again in the regionals, falling both times to PSJA Memorial veteran wrestler Abel Alvarado. At the state event, the quiet Mendoza said he “didn’t do too well. It was a big difference. It wasn’t like the events I was used to and the people were stronger and had better techniques.”
Being a technical wrestler, Mendoza said his favorite move is a tilt with a bar.
“I like using my technique,” he said. “That’s a top move where you can get back points and it could transition from a bar where you run it for a pin.”
Mendoza was one of just three freshmen to advance to the state tournament. Now with two years of wrestling experience and one trip to the state tournament, he has his eyes set for a better sophomore campaign.
“I want to at least place at state next year,” said Mendoza, who finished ranked at No. 13 in the state in the 106-pound division. “I think I have the technique, but need to gain more muscle.”