Mission’s Lopez, La Joya’s Rivas earn top-five finishes at 6A State Wrestling Championships

Uncategorized
by Andrew McCulloch

CYPRESS — Mission High’s Dante Lopez stepped on the mat for his second match of the day with odds stacked against him.

He was pitted against Richmond George Ranch’s Austin Stubbs, the unbeaten Region III champion, with a trip to the semifinals of the UIL’s Class 6A State Wrestling Championships and a spot on the podium at stake.

Lopez fired out of his stance before locking up Stubbs in the clinch, sidestepping and hurling his opponent to the mat.

Mission’s senior star secured an air-tight pin in 31 seconds, the fastest win of the day, to secure a victory that sparked a run to a fourth-place finish, as Lopez led a group of three 6A Rio Grande Valley wrestlers to medal at the state championships Saturday at the Berry Center in Cypress.

“With my performance today, I feel I can compete with anybody,” Lopez said. “The rest of the game is mental. Like I showed in my first two matches, one vital mistake (for anybody) can cost a match. … I gave it what I had, was able to win and put myself in the position I was.”

Lopez’s day began with another pin victory over Northwest Nelson’s Zach Tubbs, giving him two signature victories in only 2 minutes and 5 seconds of competition.

His back-to-back wins powered him into the semifinals of the 285-pound division, which made him the only non-regional champion to advance that far into the state tournament and improved drastically upon his results during his first trip to state as a junior.

Lopez faced Allen’s Emmett Bivens, the undefeated Region II champion, for a spot in the championship match and raced out to an early 6-0 lead after landing a takedown and tallying two near-falls, but was pinned with only 11 seconds to go in the first period of the bout.

The Eagles’ senior then faced a shot at redemption against Comal Smithson Valley’s Ryan Benca, who topped him in the Region IV championship match.

He and Benca battled back and forth in a bout that came down to the final seconds when Lopez lost his balance and Benca was awarded points for a takedown as the clock expired.

“I’m honored to make it back here,” he said. “It’s a big improvement from last year. … The outcome wasn’t what I wanted — there were a few mental mistakes that cost me — but overall it was a pretty good day.”

Lopez was one of three Valley wrestlers to earn spots on the podium Saturday, joining La Joya High’s Judith Rivas and PSJA High’s Damian Aguilera.

Rivas, another senior who entered as the Region IV champion with a 7-0 record, also fought her way to a fourth-place finish in the 185-pound division.

She found herself in early trouble after falling in a 7-0 hole during her first match of the tournament against Klein Cain’s Tess Cleary.

In a stunning comeback, however, Rivas managed to flip her opponent from her back and pin Cleary with only 4 seconds to go in the first period to seal a dramatic comeback win.

“I was thinking, ‘I need to win this in order to stay in the game,’” Rivas said. “I was just trying to think about something else.”

Rivas ended her day with back-to-back defeats after being pinned by Katy Tompkins’ Nicole Blinn in the semifinals and Weatherford’s Kaylynn Green in the third-place match, but medaled for the first time at the state championships in her fourth consecutive appearance.

“It feels awesome,” she said. “There are a lot of other schools that don’t get this opportunity to come and bring the Valley to state.”

Aguilera, meanwhile, dropped his first match of the day in a narrow 11-8 decision loss to Rockwall’s Dylan Milster, which put the rest of his tournament run in jeopardy.

The Bears’ junior delivered a strong rebound performance and won back-to-back bouts in close decisions to advance to the fifth-place match in the 106-pound division.

Aguilera held off a late surge to down Ivan Lopez of South Grand Prairie in a 13-7 decision and eked out a 7-6 decision victory over San Antonio Roosevelt’s Christian Wood where he was nearly overtaken as time ran out to guarantee himself a spot on the podium.

“It was really fun and definitely a learning experience,” Aguilera said. “I just wanted to go out there, do my best and try to place. … I feel very lucky and I’m so appreciative of this opportunity.”

Aguilera wrestled Houston Westside’s Juan Cantu to a tie before falling behind down the stretch in his final match, but guaranteed himself a spot on the podium in his first trip to state behind a large group of PSJA High supporters in the stands.

“It feels real awesome and amazing. I couldn’t have done it without any of them and I’m really thankful for them all,” he said. “Next year, I want to come back and get to the semifinals.”

Lopez and Rivas were appreciative of the opportunity to return to the state championships one more time to close out their high school careers. Both remarked that qualifying this time carried extra significance after having fewer chances to compete amid a wrestling season in the Rio Grande Valley was nearly derailed altogether.

“It takes a toll on you. … We couldn’t go anywhere and even then, the UIL wouldn’t let us wrestle until March and our area wouldn’t allow us to travel to different places and competitions,” Lopez said.

“It hasn’t been easy since the pandemic started back in March (2020). This season, and the whole year, have been filled with obstacles and luckily we were able to come out, participate and compete.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch