You have to remind yourself that you’re here for a reason. Only the best of the best is at a competition like this and you have to be mentally ready.
Destiny Sims laid on her back and, for a brief moment, grudgingly pulled her fists up to her eyes, covering what were becoming red and filled with tears.
Since her loss last year to McAllen Memorial’s Serenity De La Garza, the Frisco senior had trimmed down, bulked up and won 43 of her previous 45 matches. They were all in preparation to have the opportunity to avenge that loss.
The door opened for the briefest of moments at the Berry Center during the 138-pound Class 5A state championship match, once again against De La Garza. But the undefeated and defending state champion are those things for a reason. She quickly turned the tide and at the 3:39 mark became the two-time state champion.
All that work done by both Sims and De La Garza ended in a snap. The difference — victory only went to one.
Throughout the day, emotions were high as one wrestler did a back flip in joy and another would throw their gear in self-disgust. There were tears of misery and ones of ecstasy.
Eleven Valley wrestlers reached the podium — the pinnacle — during the annual UIL Texas State Wrestling Championship. All but De La Garza suffered a loss during the tournament. She didn’t lose a match during her final two years and was named the state tournament’s wrestler of the match.
For several, like sophomore Edinburg High Cassandra Medrano, they experienced their first loss of the season. Medrano fought back and finished fourth in the state at 100 pounds, and will be back for more and better next year — it’s just how wrestlers think. However, unlike other sports that play on Tuesday and Friday, there was no time for that long a rebound. Some had to wrestle hours later following head butts, black eyes, kicks to the face and other torn up body parts.
There’s been a saying floating around the mats across the country for decades — wrestlers are a different breed, made of some unknown material and DNA concoction. In some wrestling hotbeds, they are introduced before their match with spotlights, heavy metal music blaring and smoke filling the arena. Walk into wrestling gyms across the country and the pungent sweat/puke/dirty socks aroma that fills the air is a sense of pride. It is something, a mark that lets other athletes know “Beware: Wrestlers play here.”
Losing is not bad. Losing is where you learn.
From the heavyweights who throw their weight around to the lightweights who sit alone at lunch and gaze lovingly into an apple (not the large ones either) like Golem glares at “My precious,” wrestlers bare their hearts and souls on the squared circle. They wear outfits called singlets, use headgear that protects more ear than head and, as one wrestling coach said, “make 300 burpees seem fun.”
As physical as the sport is, it’s also mental — extremely mental. Short-term memory loss is not just acceptable, it’s required.
“I was very exhausted for the past two days, they are not easy matches at all,” said Rio Grande City junior Vivien Canales, who entered the two-day event with a 35-2 record and left with a 39-4 mark, but a spot on the podium in fifth place.
“It was all or nothing for me today, to show I deserved to be where I was today,” she said.
“You have to remind yourself that you’re here for a reason. Only the best of the best is at a competition like this and you have to be mentally ready,” Canales said. “Losing is not bad. Losing is where you learn.”
Rio Grande City head wrestling coach Ron Pratt comes from one of those hotbeds of wrestling, Western Pennsylvania. He not only teaches wrestling, but how to react to wins and losses.
“I try to talk to them during the season about taking a loss and learn to bounce back. I’m a student of a wrestling mindset and I try to use a lot of sports psychology to prepare them for it,” Pratt said. “Inevitably, you’re going to lose. How are you going to react? Sometimes they take it good, sometimes they take it bad and go have pity parties in the corner.”
“Vivien got kicked in the face and it completely stunned her. But I’ve never seen her give up,” he said. “It all depends on your mindset. You need to learn to fight back.”
From the results of Valley wrestlers at this year’s state championship tournament, there was a lot of fighting back.
