BY HENRY MILLER
STAFF WRITER
The UIL wrestling state meet begins today at the Berry Center in Cypress. Here is a glance at the seven girls wrestlers from the Rio Grande Valley who qualified for state by winning the regional title in their weight class.
CLASS 5A REGIONAL CHAMPS
Celeste Exiga
Edcouch-Elsa
Junior
Record: 36-3
Weight class: 119
Hype Song: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica
Celeste Exiga exploded onto the wrestling scene and that’s exactly how she describes her style of wrestling.
“I just want to pin my opponent as fast as I can,” Exiga said. “I like to shoot in quick or do a quick arm drag.”
Her hobbies outside of wrestling are not quite as explosive. She enjoys knitting and crocheting and has made sweaters and other gifts for family members.
Exiga is another wrestler who took a year off due to COVID-19, and her freshman year “wasn’t very good,” she admits.
“But now I’m at state,” she said. “I worked a lot on cardio and worked on trying to gain muscle mass and add technique.”
It didn’t take long for her to realize that this year wasn’t going to be a repeat of her freshman year.
“I think it was my first tournament, the Grapefruit Bowl,” she said. “I took third but I did well and I started to believe in myself and it gave me a confidence boost.
The youngest of five siblings, Exiga said she was impressed during the wrestling photo shoot, seeing seven Valley girls as regional champs.
“It was amazing being there,” she said. “Now, I’m aiming for the top four.”
Lorena Torres
PSJA Memorial
Senior
Record: 24-2
Weight Class: 185
Hype Songs: “Lift me Up” by Kanye West, “Now or Never” by Kendrick Lamar
Torres is making her third appearance at the state tournament, going “two and done” during her sophomore year but then reached the podium and with sixth place as a junior.
“That was very exciting. I felt like a little kid who got a lollipop right then,” she said. “I’ve learned that when you set goals and try your hardest you can achieve things. That’s the mindset I have going in. I’m going to leave everything on the may.”
Torres wants to not only bring a state championship home for her and her community, but for her head coach Joe Clark, who is retiring after this year, she said.
“I want him to be able to add state champion coach to his title,” she said. “And make the Valley proud.”
Even though this is her third time around at state, Torres said she still gets nervous and nauseous before the big matches.
“Last year I was in the bathroom crying because I was nauseous, but a nervous excitement,” she said. “There was a lady in there who came over to me and asked if I was ok and ended up praying over me and giving me a big hug. She said, ‘God gives the biggest nerves to His biggest champions. I’ve remembered that since then.’”
Eternity De La Garza
McAllen Memorial
Junior
Record: 28-1
Weight Class 165
Hype: “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor
Eternity De La Garza learned a lot from one match — the only one she lost this season.
“I learned I need to be smart about everything I do,” she said. “I was winning the match when I lost focus. I got reversed and got pinned.
“It was really bad, I got lazy and I let her go. It taught me to stay focused and keep going.”
The best way to stay focused is to stay in control of the match, something Eternity excels at and it is how she cruised her way to today’s state tournament.
“When I’m in control now, I know I’m able to do it,” she said.
Eternity suffered an injury last year as a sophomore after the district tournament and prior to regionals, thus ending her season. This year, she wasn’t sure how she would react on the mat and had concerns about getting injured again.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to get on track with how I was last year,” she said. “When I was able to get back on the mat and think about nothing but wrestling and winning, that’s when I was able to focus on the match more than on me and do whatever it took.”
Serenity De La Garza
McAllen Memorial
Junior
Record: 27-0
Weight Class: 138
Hype: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem
Confidence exudes from Serenity De La Garza, the state’s top-ranked girls Class 5A wrestler in the 138-pound category. It’s not a massive ego; she doesn’t fit that mold, even though nobody could blame her. It’s a tangible air that surrounds her from the moment she’s on the mat. It’s more akin to a sharpshooter who has the target locked in his sights.
There’s no escape.
The same could be said this year for De La Garza’s opponents. All 27 of her wins have come by way of pin. All 27 pins have taken less than two minutes.
“My confidence is very high now,” Serenity said.
Last year as a sophomore she compiled a 16-1 record during a COVID-19 shortened season. Her only loss came in the state semifinals and she came back to capture third place. It doesn’t hurt that her sister, Eternity, and teammate, Maya, have created a triumvirate of sheer power and authority on the mat, using each other for strength and motivation.
“Having two teammates here is better,” she said. “It feels like it’s going to be a great next two days. I started realizing it once we started practicing together. We were talking more about wrestling and we came to district and regional and felt like something good is going to happen.”
Serenity is a hyped up maestro on the mat, totally in control, dictating her opponent’s moves, or lack of moves, and being in control. Compared to the past two years, she’s stronger, faster, more technical and, maybe most important, more calm.
“I’m more confident now (compared to two years ago) and I’m not scared of anything,” she said.
Maya Marroquin
McAllen Memorial
Senior
Record: 27-2
Weight Class: 148
Hype Song: “Outta There” by Moe
Maya Marroquin missed the wrestling season last year and was worried she may have lost a step during that extended break. Doubt seeped into her head.
She’s 27-2 and the Region IV-5A champion at 148 pounds.
It doesn’t look like any steps were missed. Her physicality and technical skills may have needed sharpening, but that took little time. So she focused on her mental preparedness.
“With my mindset, I have a habit of getting in my head and doubting myself and I have to challenge myself,” she said. “So I’ve been practicing with my brother, who reassures me that I know what I’m doing and he will drill the moves with me. It helps because he knows a lot about wrestling. Then I listen to a lot of music (to keep thoughts out).”
Marroquin also shows animal — a heifer, a steer and a breeding goat — for Future Farmers of America. Her day begins before wrestling, getting up at 5:30 a.m. to take care of her animals, and ends well after the mats are rolled away.
Somewhere in between school, wrestling and FFA, she also gets in a mile run to help with her endurance.
“I feel like what we’ve done as a team is a big accomplishment,” she said. “To be able to push each other and get to the state level as a team shows all the work we’ve put in.”
CLASS 6A
Jessica Villanueva
PSJA High
Senior
Record: 36-0
Weight Class 185
Hype Song: “Stay On Your Grind” by SPM
Jessica Villanueva is in her fifth year wrestling, starting as an eighth grader. This is her third trip to the state tournament and is one of two RGV wrestlers with an unblemished record.
“I want to make myself and my family proud,” she said of this weekend’s state championship meet. “That’s everything.”
Villanueva won the Region IV-6A title with a hard-fought and entertaining 9-4 decision over Isabella Alva (38-7) of San Antonio Churchill.
“We were both on top of it,” said Villanueva, who is also a cheerleader, in orchestra and part of a club wrestling program. “We were just moving and moving. It was a non-stop match.”
Villanueva is wrestling for herself, her school and community but also for her mother and her mother’s co-worker. Every time she gets ready for a match, she is reminded of who the season is really for.
“I usually pray before a match, and wear my lucky socks, these specific socks when I have a finals match or anything like that,” she said. “I have a meaning behind it, too. One of my mom’s co-workers was diagnosed with breast cancer and I know her pretty well too so I’m dedicating my season to her.”
Like the others, Villanueva was part of the girls regional champions photo shoot. The event gave her a different perspective of where her place is in the sport.
“I felt very honored. I’ve never been a part of that,” she said. “It was a room full of championship and girls a – it was a roomful of champions and the girls who are at the top right now. Now the goal is to get on the podium and win it all if I can. I’m going to put up a fight and see where it gets me.”
Marla Jimenez
Edinburg Economedes
Sophomore
Record: 17-2
Weight Class: 215
Hype Song: “Dying Dog” by Gizmo, “Pulse of the Maggots” by Slipknot, “Experiment on Me,” by Halsey
Marla Jimenez decided to wrestle this year, after her mother said she’d rather her not play high school football.
After a few practices, Jimenez was hooked, and good.
“Mostly in practice I realized I wasn’t that bad, going to the other schools and winning made me think, ‘OK, I’m good at this,’” Jimenez said. “I’m happy I checked out wrestling.”
Wrestling isn’t easy, with extreme physical demands. For Jimenez, however, it was an escape a hiding place from the dark reality she dealt with during the past seven months has made the wrestling mat a safe haven.
In August, her 24-year-old brother, Adam, died after catching pneumonia while incubated with COVID-19.
“I grew up watching him play football,” she said. “That’s why I played.”
Late in 2021, her father was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. He died in December.
“I had to juggle my wrestling life with my school life and my home life,” Jimenez said. “I wouldn’t get home until 11 and go to sleep.”
Jimenez said she competed in sports to give her an outlet. Staying at home and doing nothing wasn’t an option.
“I went through a depression stage growing up, but didn’t want to do anything to harm myself,” Jimenez said. “I tried sports — all physical sports, soccer, football then wrestling.
“I think what helped me is that I had everyone believing in me, even my dad who was sick and couldn’t even get up to do anything would tell the nurses, ‘My daughter is in wrestling. She is so good. She’s all the motivation I need to get better and I want to go see her.’”
Now, after what can only be described as an extremely emotional year, Jimenez has one goal.
“I guess I just want to place,” she said.
