Vivien Canales is a little bit country.
But packed tightly inside that 107-pound frame is a whole bunch of electrifying rock ‘n roll.
Canales is one of several girls wrestlers for Rio Grande City who have put together a special season so far and have plans to reach the UIL Class 5A state tournament. Canales, a three-time state qualifier, has sights set on an even bigger goal.
“I’m going to reach the state finals,” said the senior with a 17-2 record and preseason No. 1-state-ranked wrestler in her weight class. “Nothing less will do.”
Canales, who is part of a family whose last name is recognized in the wrestling ranks over the years, showed a little of that country and rock ’n roll combo at the recent District 16-5A girls duals championship at PSJA North.
Competing against Grulla, the two wrestlers danced throughout the first period, nobody making any sort of actionable move.
Early in the second period, Canales struck, almost registered a pin but then lost the chance. Then she got angry. She tossed her opponent like a bull rider getting sent flying off a wild bull, walked around her to roll her shoulders and it was over. That’s the rock ‘n roll part.
“After I missed my chance, I put a bar on her,” Canales said. “I was a little mad.”
The difference? Not only has she battled several injuries this season, but she’s also working feverishly on her biggest area of improvement: staying focused. Injuries have come and gone since the end of last season, and she discards them like an opponent and keeps pushing forward.
She injured her back after “ballooning up to 120 after the season last year and gained until 135 pounds — I ate fast food every day.”
After returning to her wrestling weight, she fell on and injured her hip after “tripping over my own foot.” Then, she landed awkwardly during a match and twisted her knee; she believes only because she was wearing her brace that the injury was minimal. That followed with a hyperextended elbow and, finally, a crushed nose.
All in the life of an avid, and hyperenergized wrestler. Now that she’s back on track and having great practices, RGC wrestling coach Ron Pratt said it comes down to one constant hurdle that every wrestler faces before, during and every match and practice.
“The key is to keep her mind straight,” Pratt said. “She’s already a great, solid wrestler. If she’s focused, she’s even better.”
Pratt, a coach in several different sports during his 34 years at Rio Grande City, has been the wrestling coach now for 20 years. He doesn’t claim to be a successful coach as much as being a psychologist and dealing with all sorts of young athletes, with a wide range of personalities.
“She’s very stubborn,” Pratt said, and Canales agreed. “That transfers to sports psychology and learning how to talk to kids and understanding where they are coming from. I feel that’s my strongest suit as a coach — not that I can relate to them, but if you can understand why they joined the sport, why they want to be good — you can point them and push them in the right direction.
“It’s not because of me, it’s because you told me what your goals were and what you wanted, and we worked together to get you in that direction.”
Canales has battled injuries with a list similar to what an action-movie stuntman would list at the end of a “Die Hard” movie. Her elbow, her knee, her hip, a near broken nose and possible concussion — the list is actually incredibly impressive. She has fought through them all, recently discarding a mask to protect her nose just a week after being smashed face-first into her opponent’s hip then subsequently nose-first onto the mat.
“The mask was bothering me more than not wearing it,” she said. “I knew if someone got me into a cross that it would really hurt, so I just got rid of it.”
Diagnosed with high anxiety and mild depression, combined with being busy as the cheerleading captain at Rio, being occupied with several senior events and focusing on her future education and athletic careers has a tendency to pull that focus in a web of different directions. Insomnia was a regular visitor.
Canales now believes she’s on the right path — despite the regular arguments with her coach. Canales said she was a rebel last year, arguing every day with her coach.
“Very much so a rebel,” she said. “I usually ended up doing the opposite.”
“We may argue, but we know we are doing it for the same reasons,” Pratt said. “To accomplish her goals. She just needs to make sure she has that confidence because she can win state.”
“There was a time when my focus was more toward my family and how things we were dealing with were going to happen,” Canales said. “There’s been a lot of insomnia, an hour or two of sleep at night just staring at my ceiling.
“There’s visiting college, school, cheer, weight-cutting and wanting to do better than last year, so my focus started shifting. It’s like a train that would come and stay there. I would move and another would stay there. Nobody knows what’s going on in my head, I just sometime need to be alone to figure out what’s going on.
Something her father has been talking about to her also has helped: Do this for fun.
“This sport is 7% physical and 93% mental,” Canales said. “If you choose to get up and keep going, you’ve got this. Now, I just do it.”
