CYPRESS — With each match, the crowd grew. The story of the De La Garza twins had grown to near-legendary status at the Berry Center during the UIL state wrestling championships. Coaches and fans in the stands both meandered toward that side of the auditorium to get a glimpse of the sisters, who won their respective weight class Region V-5A titles on the birthday they share.
Girls high school wrestling in the Rio Grande Valley is growing the same way, especially after one of the best performances in recent memory, according to several Valley wrestling head coaches.
McAllen Memorial juniors Serenity De La Garza and Eternity De La Garza, and PSJA High’s Jessica Villanueva all advanced to the state championship match in their respective weight classes Saturday. PSJA Memorial’s Lorena Torres also advanced to Saturday’s semis as well before falling and ended up in a match for third place.
By the end of the day, Serenity De La Garza and Villanueva had claimed state titles, Eternity De La Garza captured second and Torres took third
While Torres was clearly disappointed after her match, her high expectations of winning a state championship alone is something thousands of student-athletes in the Valley never came close to experiencing — before Torres.
Several coaches said it was possibly the best performance for Valley girls at the state tournament since girls wrestling was first sanctioned by the state in 1999. The girls’ results this weekend are something coaches hope bode well for the sport’s future in the Valley.
“This has been a long-time coming,” McAllen Memorial head coach Eddie Gonzalez said. “We have been working at it forever. These girls have raised the bar higher than expected.”
The weekend story is nearly a movie-waiting to happen with the twins holding the lead role. There’s even drama. During Serenity’s first-round victory Friday she heard, and felt, something pop in her collarbone. After the match she immediately went to the hospital, knowing that a doctor could have told her, “No more wrestling.”
Instead, she made it back in time for her quarterfinals match, which she won by pin in 2 minutes. Then she won her seminal showdown in 1:28. Her sister won her semifinal match with a dominant 12-3 decision and Villanueva pinned her opponent — who had a 41-9 record — in just 29 seconds. Villanueva and Serenity De La Garza also pinned their opponents in their championship matches.
The cliché success breeds success, however, isn’t as true for wrestling as some of the more common stick-and-ball sports. Throwing a ball is something more innate than shooting in on someone defending themselves and trying to slam one’s face and head into the mat.
“We get a lot of non-athletes,” Gonzalez said. “Those who have never played a sport so we need to teach them how to be an athlete before how to wrestle.”
Edinburg Economedes’ Marla Jimenez just completed her first year wrestling, winning her way to the Class 6A Region IV-6A regional title and a state tournament appearance. She remembers how unprepared she was during the early part of the season.
“I didn’t know many moves,” she said. “I went to put a cross-face on this girl and she moved. I punched her right in the head and gave her a concussion. I felt so bad.”
Long-time Rio Grande City head coach Ron Pratt is Starr County’s face of wrestling, carrying a passion that hasn’t left in his tenure there. He remembers one of his star wrestlers this year, Velia Canales, had no idea what she was getting into last year when she decided to join her sister in the sport.
“She couldn’t catch on to a lot of things,” Pratt said. “Maintaining weight was a concept she couldn’t grasp as well as the technical aspect of the sport.”
Something caught on over the summer and Velia joined her sister Vivian as regional champions, and earned a trip to state.
Wrestling’s learning curve can be extremely difficult, and exhausting, two factors that can keep inquiring minds from inquiring. Strength, speed and smarts are just some of the qualities needed to be a serious wrestler. Desire, will, a next-level toughness and a bit of animal-like predatory characteristics — those things that can’t be taught — are also helpful for those wanting to reach an elite level.
“Girls wrestling is getting better and strong,” said Villanueva, a senior who compiled a 39-0 record and dominated her way into the 185-pound finals against a 50-0 opponent. “But I want to see if we grow more. We’re all one team when we get here.”
Prior to Saturday’s finals, the last girls state champ was in 2020 when Donna High’s Precious Hernandez captured the heavyweight title. Before that it was Rio Grande City’s Lisa Gonzalez in 2013, and before that it was McAllen Rowe’s Sara Gonzalez, who captured a title in 2013.
Now, the Valley lays claim to two new champions and looks to continue raising the bar, and state champs.
