Joseph Villanueva remembers seeing Nayeli Hernandez in seventh grade.
“She was always athletic and fast and I told her then I was a wrestling coach and I thought she should join. I never really thought about it after but you could see she was just a natural athlete,” Villanueva said.
Then, while coaching at the high school level for the PSJA High Bears, a then-freshman Hernandez approached Villanueva.
“Hey, Coach, you still want me to join?” Villanueva recalls.
Four years later, the senior, who has had to work her way up the ranks after a rough start, is eyeing a return to the UIL state wrestling tournament.
Nayeli will be one of six ranked PSJA High Bears girls wrestlers (along with the rest of her team) and boys wrestlers, with four ranked wrestlers, to compete in their first local wrestling tournament beginning today at the Rattler Invitational at Sharyland High School.
Nineteen teams from across the Valley are listed in competing at the two-day event that begins at approximately 11 a.m. today with the finals scheduled for Saturday.
Hernandez is currently ranked No. 6 at the 119 weight class, according to wrestlingtexas.com. She is 10-0 on the season after tournaments in Corpus Christi and San Antonio. The Bears’ girls team is also tied for No. 9 in the state in dual meets.
The senior didn’t start her career the same way.
“I don’t think she won a match her first year — maybe she won one or two other than forfeits, but she didn’t quit,” said Villanueva, in his fourth year at the helm of the Bears.
Instead, Hernandez showed up to the Valley Wrestling Club, a club wrestling program, and worked all year. Her sophomore year she progressed to sixth at regionals, then she blossomed last year, earning a district championship and a regional title. She stood on the podium at the state meet with a sixth-place finish.
“The juniors and seniors that were here then told her not to worry about her freshman year; everyone goes through that. She believed in what they told her. She just kept training all summer, all the time,” Villanueva said. “We knew that if she wrestled the way we believed she could that she could accomplish a lot. Now she’s a living testament to the young ones coming up.”
It was during a tournament in Austin that a breakthrough came — in a loss. Hernandez advanced to the championship match, then got caught in a basic move called “a head and arm,” where she was hip tossed and eventually lost the match.
“She hates that move now and the whole team works hard on defending it,” Villanueva said. “They’ve worked on being able to wrestle through it and not get lazy. That’s what happens: you need to go on the offense. That loss really motivated her and pushed her to do better.
“We have high expectations and she has drive. She wants to be in the state finals.”
Other PSJA girls ranked include Karen Marroquin (No. 14, 102 pounds), Teresa Solis (No. 4, 119), Priscilla Luivano (No. 20, 128), Nancy Saldana (No. 6, 148) and Jessica Villanueva (No. 20, 215). Solis will be making her season debut after recovering from leg surgery.
“We won district last year and finished second in the region,” Villanueva said. “So the team goal for the girls is not district. The true goal is to win a regional title as a team; that’s what the girls have set.”
PSJA boys ranked include Max Barrera (No. 12, 120), Daniel Lopez (No. 11, 126), Jesus Ceja (No. 20, 160) and Joshua Sanchez (No. 11, 285).
Edcouch-Elsa brings the highest-ranked boys team into the event. The Yellow Jackets are listed at No. 15 in Class 5A. PSJA Memorial senior Abel Alvarado is the highest-ranked individual in the tournament, listed at No. 2 in the state at the 113-pound weight category.