LA JOYA — The hype was getting intense for the past two weeks or more.
The scenario was two top-10 ranked wrestlers battling it out for the district championship and a probable No. 1 seed at regionals.
Both wrestlers, McAllen Memorial’s Ozzy Trevino and McAllen Rowe’s Petey Lozano, talked of how much they admired one another and how they couldn’t wait to face each other in finals of Tuesday’s District 15-6A UIL Wrestling championships.
Trevino was ranked fifth in the state, the highest ranked wrestler in the region. Lozano was ranked sixth, the second-highest ranked wrestler in the region.
Trevino, the aggressor for most of the match, claimed a 14-5 major decision over Lozano for the district title at the 145-pound weight class in a match that had little to no stoppage or slowing down as the two wrestlers showed what made them some of the best in the state.
“It was a tough match, a well fought match,” said Trevino, who improved to 19-1 according to trackwrestling.com, while Lozano dropped to a 23-2. “He’s a competitor and I knew it would be a tough six minutes. I went out and was just more offensive than him, working my moves and attacking.”
Trevino had Lozano on his back early and with a 5-3 lead. He had a near fall but an impressive extended neck bridge and arch by Lozano held off ant pin.
“He was more defensive than me and that gave me the upper hand,” Trevino said. “I knew though he would get me in positions that would benefit him. That was expected and I think I fought well from those positions.
“I’m looking forward to regionals. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
There were high expectations for the match right before that, at the 138-pound weight class as Roberto Silva put his top seed and 33-1 mark against Mission’s Joe Resendez (21-6). Both wrestlers breezed into the finals and Silva edged Resendez 6-1.
The match wasn’t as high-flying or energizing as the following match at 145 but Silva was methodical in his moves, seemingly taking his time to move around a stubborn, a frustrated-looking Resendez, who wanted more action. Silva’s pace, however, dictated the entire match en route to his second district title, winning it at 132 pound last year.
“I was intense; I just wanted to go get the district title and fight for the gold,” Silva said. “I didn’t have too many concerns because I knew the work I put in over the four years would show. He had lost to a couple of wrestlers I had already beaten and I decided to go out there and put on pressure.
“I was watching him all day and saw a few things he did. The he had that unexpected burst of energy at the end and I just had to go with it.”
The top four wrestlers advance to the regionals next weekend, Feb. 15-16, in San Antonio.
La Joya’s Maria Hernandez dropped from 148 a year ago to 119 and had an exciting match against Edinburg North’s Eva Cerda with a pin at the 4:51 mark. Hernandez lost to Cerda earlier in the year, getting tossed and pinned in the first period. She said that was on her mind going into the match.
“I started thinking I probably wasn’t going to beat her,” Hernandez said. “But as we got into the match I felt more confident and I knew how badly I wanted it after all the work I did.
“I just needed a good mentality and to be aggressive.
Junior Stephany Juarez from McAllen High captured her 40th win of the season against nine losses with a pin over Edinburg North sophomore Kim Romo with a fall at the 1:33 mark.