By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
As many as 22 Valley programs and 88 wrestlers will be on hand today for the start of the two-day UIL state tournament in Garland.
Scheduled to compete are wrestlers from 12 6A Valley schools, with an additional program (McAllen High) porviding four alternate wrestlers. In 5A, there’s seven Valley schools in the mix, with two others (Donna High, PSJA Southwest) adding an alternate apiece.
The 6A Valley schools have 28 wrestlers who qualified at last week’s regional tournament, with 16 alternates. Among 5A Valley schools, there’s 25 qualifiers and 19 alternates.
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln tied in qualifying the largest number of wrestlers (five) of any Valley program last week, in addition to its three alternates. Their 6A counterparts, Weslaco High (one alternate) and McAllen Memorial, locked in four wrestlers apiece, as well.
The Valley produced only three 6A first-place finishers at last week’s regional meet, including two girls from Weslaco High in Rulyanne Rodriguez (119-pound weight class) and Vanessa Ibarra (148). McAllen Memorial’s Pedro Eguia (182) won on the boys side.
For Weslaco High, it’s the largest number of wrestlers it has taken since the program’s inception.
“We’re ready to get this going. We’re revved up,” Weslaco High coach Rolando Becerra said. “We’ve had a whole season of practice and it comes down to this. I’ve been preaching it since I first got here. There’s three steps — district, regionals and state. And we want to get some gold and take it back to the Valley.
“This is one of the only sports that we’ve been successful in (at the state level) because here it’s one-on-one. It’s going to boil down to who’s better and who wants it more. The Valley kids — not just my own, but other schools — we’re already up there. These kids are at the state level. Sometimes we’re scared of the name — Dallas, San Antonio — but when it comes down to it, one-on-one, the (Valley) kids are the same or better (than the competition).”
In 5A, Rio Grande City is sending the largest batch to Garland with 14 wrestlers, though only five qualified, tying 6A Juarez-Lincoln. Edinburg Vela, Grulla, Mission Veterans and PSJA High secured four wrestlers each.
For PSJA High, it marks the first time it sends a boy to state since 2009, and 2013 for a girl. In fact, PSJA’s Victoria Villarreal (138) and Joe Montemayor (195) both finished in fifth place in their respective classes, before qualifying via wrestle-back wins.
Of Rio Grande City’s five qualifiers, two won their respective weight classes in Alouette Gonzalez (95) and Mabel Villarreal (148), both of whom make a return trip to state.
Grulla also had a pair of wrestlers finish first at regionals with Safira Perez (102) and Yasmin Flores (138). Mission Veterans’ Klarissa Blanca (185) won, as well, anchoring a Lady Patriots team (93 points) that finished second at regionals behind San Antonio Brooks Academy (94.5 points).
“Once you get to the state level, a lot of these people we’ve never seen before,” Mission Vets coach Ben Yzaguirre said. “We’re talking about the Amarillos or the Houstons. But I tell them, don’t worry about it. You do the same dance that got you here in the first place and you’ll be fine.”