CYPRESS — Cassandra Medrano remembers falling in love with wrestling while watching her brother, Ramon, compete in the sport. In fact, she would emulate him to the extreme while watching him.
“I would watch him in the corner and mock every move that he did,” Medrano said. “Now, this year is going to be my year. I haven’t worked all this time and put in all this effort for nothing.”
“I want to be a champion.”
The fiery 100-pound sophomore wrestler took two steps closer to that goal Friday, winning both of her matches, including a 13-7 decision over fellow sophomore Yarelin Tavera to advance to today’s semifinals in the UIL girls Class 6A state wrestling championship at the Berry Center in Cypress.
Medrano,who improved her record to 39-0, will face off against freshman Jubilee Rendon of El Paso Franklin. Rendon is 46-3 and the Region 1-6A champion. Medrano is the Region 4-6A champ.
Medrano was the first female to advance to today’s semifinals and several others followed suit, including Danielle Silva at 114. Silva earned a pin and followed that with a tight 5-4 decision to move on and will meet undefeated Region 3 champion senior Alexis Hanks.
None of the 17 boys across the Valley who qualified for the state tournament won their first two matches and were eliminated from championship contention. Several, however, can reach the podium and capture third through sixth by winning through the consolation brackets today.
It was another impressive performance on the mat from from the Valley girls. Seven girls advanced to today’s semifinal round, up three from last year’s four semifinalists. Two of those semi wrestlers — Serenity De La Garza and PSJA High’s Jessica Villanueva — continued on to capture state titles in their respective weight classes.
And, of course, Serenity is back there again. The defending state champ at 138 is 34-0 and advanced to today’s semifinals. Her sister, Eternity, got her first loss of the season by pin and will wrestle in the consolation bracket. Eternity is 37-1.
Serenity allowed her opponent no room to move, even squirm, as she kept the pressure on her until she earned a pin at the 4:15 mark. In fact, it didn’t look like her opponent wanted to move, falling very rigid midway through their match. Afterward, Serenity said she felt her opponent was stalling, even though being behind. Possibly looking for one shot to strike. It never arrived.
“She didn’t do anything, she didn’t move,” De La Garza said. “That was frustrating. I was worried the ref would call stalling on me.”
Another undefeated wrestler who just added to her win total was Juarez-Lincoln senior Brooklyn Garza. The senior improved to 41-0 with a pair of pins. She will face the Region 2 champion, Burleson Centennial’s Maritza Martinez, with a 48-12 record.
The Valley has a pair of wrestlers still alive for a state title and in the semifinals. Juarez-Lincoln’s Yamilex Hernandez will square with Northwest’s Trinity Washko (42-3), and Edcouch-Elsa’s Amaya Lopez won her quarterfinal match in sudden victory to reach the semis.
La Joya Palmview’s Yvette Rojas, the No. 4 seed in Region 4 at 235, earned a pair of pins to qualify for today’s semifinals as well.