Harlingen, Brownsville schools join wrestling craze

High school wrestling is at an all-time high, according to numbers released in September from the National Federation of State High School Associations.

The Rio Grande Valley is playing a large part in that growth. Last year, Harlingen South and Harlingen High each added the sport to their athletic menus. This year, Brownsville Veterans and Brownsville Lopez are doing the same, as part of a three-year roll out in which the school district will introduce the sport to two more high schools next year and the final two high schools the year after.

“I moved down here from Ohio 30 years ago and we should’ve done this 20 years ago,” said Mark Schlatter, Brownsville Veterans head coach. “It just never came to Brownsville. We’re 20 years behind. Our team isn’t elite, but it’s competitive. We are able to compete and not getting murdered.”

The September 2023 NFHS reports an 11% growth on the boys side, with 256,466 wrestlers compared to a year ago. The girls side exploded with a 55% increase to 49,127 participants on 6,381 teams, an increase there of 33%.

Many of those Valley teams will be in attendance this weekend at the annual Rio Grande City Snakebite Invitational on Saturday.

Brownsville Lopez wrestling head coach Abe Torres is excited with his nearly 30 wrestlers who are showing they can be competitive, as well, right off the bat. Twin sisters Paola and Patricia Bibar left the Valley to move to Nebraska, one of the mega-homes of wrestling. They were excitedly surprised when they returned and found out wrestling was available at Lopez. Lopez will also be competing at the Snakebite tournament.

Patricia, at 165, was 9-0 before facing her first defeat. Paola (145) is closer to a .500 record, but they both came back with a gold and bronze at a recent tournament, Torres said.

“They are great wrestlers because they listen,” Torres said. “They are first in and last out. There are a lot of factors for the growth, especially with the females. Many of them are in jiu-jitsu and self-defense and it transfers to wrestling. I have a lot of shy kids that couldn’t even talk to you but it helps their self-esteem and their confidence. I tell them that when they get out there in life, they need that confidence and self-esteem and these things help kids find their place.”

McAllen Memorial twin sisters Serenity and Eternity De La Garza brought gobs of attention to the sport on the girls side the previous four years. Both among the top-three wrestlers in the state in their respective weight classes, Serenity went undefeated in back-to-back seasons, winning Texas High School state titles along the way both times. Serenity has taken her skills — and winning ways — to Missouri Valley College, where she is ranked No. 12 in the NAIA national rankings.

“They were in the right place at right time and had the perfect opportunity and they took to it,” Rio Grande City head coach Ron Pratt said. “As much as we say it’s a great sports for the average kid, it doesn’t make a difference; those girls are the greatest examples of it. They bought into what (head coach) Eddie Gonzalez was selling and did the most with it.”

“You need a pair of shoes, t-shirt and shorts and you can wrestle,” Pratt said. “There’s not a whole lot of barriers other than the mentality.”

Starting a program, however doesn’t take just a snap of a finger and “poof,” it’s done; Lopez just received its wrestling mats while Vets is still waiting on theirs.

“Those are the lumps you go through more than the team competing,” said Schlatter, originally from Ohio. “You have to figure out what to buy, work on the schedule and the roster and a lot of behind the scenes things.”

“A lot of the recent surge in popularity really comes from the fact that the national federation and states started sanctioning girls wrestling,” said Pratt, in his 20th season coaching at RGC. “They’ve always been able to do freestyle and club but now federations are sanctioning it.

“The popularity of college wrestling and Olympic styles starting to pick up, USA Wrestling is including high schools and making it more accessible and the girls are saying if you can do it we can do it also (“but better,” Pratt’s wife said in the background).

Sophomore Rozella Rousseu is off to a strong start for the Chargers. Schlatter said her progress is one example that “our program is doing something right ad we are on the right track. Rozella she was so excited, she brought a bunch of girls with her one practice.”

Schlatter said one may not see her as a wrestler, but when she takes to the may, opinions are quickly changed.

“It’s not a sport for everybody,” Schlatter said. “She doesn’t look to be a top wrestler but she’s a scrapper. We have some guys who might be a little small for football but for Gael Sifuentes, a 10th grader, it’s right up his alley.”

When Schlatter was in high school he wanted to wrestle, but his mother wouldn’t let him.

“Yeah, I thought it was gross,” he remembered her saying. “So, of course, he had to let her know what he was doing now.”

“A few of the kids have some MMA training or jiu-jitsu and it’s good that they are used to the contact and the aggression,” Schlatter said. “But it’s not the same. Really, it’s kinda the opposite — you’re not out to harm people and in wrestling, the last place you want to be in on your back while in jiu-jitsu you can be on your back all day.

“But kids like the contact sports and now we can offer them this. It’s just great.”

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