Four Rio Grande City girls remain on the path toward the state wrestling tournament after the first day of the UIL Region IV wrestling meets held Friday and concluding today.
The Rattlers lead the Region IV-5A team competition going into today’s final round at the AISD Burger Activity Center in Austin with 45 points. Leander Glenn is second with 30 and Corpus Christi King is third with 29 points.
Seniors Elizabeth Gonzalez (13-1) and Emma Benavides (14-0) will compete in the 95- and 110-pound semifinals, respectively, while freshmen Vivien Canales (15-4) and Lia Gutierrez (17-2) will battle in the 128- and 185-pound semis. Gutierrez, who finished third in the District 16-5A tournament, defeated the District 14-5A champion, Gina Guerrero of San Antonio Burbank by a pin at the 3:32 mark.
The 185-pound semifinals include three Valley wrestlers — the top three from District 16-5A including PSJA Memorial junior Lorena Torres (7-0), the district champion, and McAllen Memorial’s Ashton Burris (12-3), a sophomore who defeated the District 13-5A champion by a fall at 2:26 of their match.
Ron Pratt has coached the program since it began in 2004. As in other sports, this year offered its challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially because of the full contact nature of the sport.
“You won’t find anybody to tell you that wasn’t a challenging season,” Pratt said. “I had a roster of 62 but only had 33 showing up to practice. We had all kinds of protocols in place, but we didn’t quarantine even once.
“We set goals of getting zero cases of COVID and winning district and it’s all a testament to the kids. I told them last week, this week and everything else is icing. UIL moved out season from November to March, made it five weeks long and said here is what you can do and our kids got up every morning at 6 and got through it.”
The top three wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state meet next weekend in Houston. That means any wrestler who wins their semifinal match today automatically punches their ticket to the next level. One other wrestler, coming up through the consolation bracket, will also move on.
Other Class 5A girls semifinalist today include Sharyland High’s Andrea Rubio (senior, 10-3, 95 pounds) and Yarisbeth Zarate (So., 11-2, 165), PSJA Southwest’s Graciela Reyes (senior, 7-2, 102), Sharyland Pioneer’s Alejandra Briere (senior, 13-2, 110), Emily Treviño (senior, 18-0, 119) and Camila Flores (senior, 6-0, 215), La Joya Palmview’s Brooklyn Garza (sophomore, 8-0, 128) and McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza (sophomore, 17-0, 138).
Region IV-6A girls semifinalist’s include PSJA High’s Karen Marroquin (junior, 6-0, 102), Priscilla Luevano (senior, 5-0, 138) and Jessica Villanueva (junior, 7-0, 165), La Joya High’s Natalie Rosas (senior, 3-0, 165) and Judith Rivas (senior, 4-0, 185), La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s Yamilex Hernandez (sophomore, 3-2, 185) and Edinburg North’s Maria Luisa Navarro Gaytan (senior, 3-0, 215).
Region IV-6A boys semifinalists include PSJA High’s Damian Aguilera (junior 7-1, 106) and Gabriel Gonzalez (senior, 10-0, 138), Weslaco High’s Gabriel Quiroga (Fr., 6-1, 113) and Roman Saldana (junior, 8-0, 285), Edinburg Vela’s Nicholas Silva (junior, 10-0, 126) and Mission High’s Dante Lopez (senior, 13-0, 285).
Region IV-5A boys semifinalists include Sharyland High’s Pablo Miranda (senior, 20-0, 106), Frederico Rodriguez (senior, 20-3, 132), Noel Torres (junior, 4-0, 138), Marcelo Navarro (senior, 18-5, 152) and Moses Rodriguez (So, 22-0 170), PSJA Southwest’s Steve Juarez (senior, 7-1, 113), Rio Grande City’s Rene Treviño (senior, 20-0, 126), Sharyland Pioneer’s Kenny Briere (junior, 19-1, 132), PSJA Memorial’s Alberto Elizondo (junior, 9-0, 145) and Valley View’s Alberto Gonzalez (senior, 10-1, 152).