One Match At A Time

Big 7 Wrestling: State Championships Preview

 

 

Right now, an unstoppable flood of thousands is pouring inside the Berry Center in Cypress, Texas, where they’ll watch high schoolers from six different classifications, across twenty-eight different weight classes fight each other on eleven different mats in one of the University Interscholastic League’s most magnificent spectacles. The UIL State Wrestling tournament is a turnstile of destiny. It can break or build any wrestler, no matter the stature. This weekend, 17 Big-7 student-athletes will arrive at its precipice with visions of glory and hearts of fury in hopes of becoming the RGV’s newest state champion.

 

Here are the Big 7 State qualifiers:

 

The Rattlers’ Dynasty Continues

For the second consecutive season, the Sharyland Rattlers are the class of the Big 7 and the entire region. The Rattlers exited last weekend’s Region IV 5A Championships with eight state qualifiers and five Regional champions. The Rattlers boys finished inside the top two in the final team standings, one year after claiming their first Regional title, narrowly losing to Comal Pieper by half a point, just a few months after outlasting the Warriors by 2.5 points at the 3rd Lisa Torres Invitational.

 

Despite the minor setback, the Rattlers are back in the State Tournament with a cast full of hardened brawlers. After two consecutive top-five finishes at the state tournament, Nicholas Torres and Aiden Baker are back, each hoping to medal for the third consecutive year. Over the course of their illustrious careers, each wrestler has won over 150 matches and at least one regional championship, with Baker claiming three in four years. This year, Torres is 40-3, and Baker is 43-1. They’ll head into the state tournament as top seeds, with each projected to advance well into tomorrow’s championship rounds.

 

 

All in the Family

Four sets of siblings changed the trajectory of the Rattlers’ wrestling program over the past five seasons. The Baker, Torres, Davila, and Miranda families are the first families of Rattler wrestling. Their namesakes, Evan & Aiden, Noel & Noah, Elvia & Daisy, and Paolo & Santiago combined to win thousands of medals, plaques, and team titles. It’s something Sharyland High head wrestling coach and Region IV 5A’s back-to-back wrestling coach of the year, Sam Mangum, is well aware of.

 

“A couple of matches could have gone differently, and it could have been a different story, but I give all the credit to Pieper. They wrestled tough, man. I’m proud of the kids; especially losing by half a point. That’s tough. It’s been haunting me a little bit, but I’m gonna put that aside, and we’re gonna have to get these kids to focus on competing at State, where it really counts,” Mangum said in a light-hearted, yet serious tone when asked about the Regional Championships.

 

While Baker and Torres are the known commodities, the rest of the Rattlers are just as tough. Elvia Davila is one of the Valley’s best and is currently ranked among the state’s best female wrestlers. Evan, Aiden’s younger brother, is fresh off defeating Pioneer’s Gabriel Rivera (40-7) for the 113lb Region crown, and Santiago Miranda is ranked as the top 106lb wrestler in the state.

 

 

 

“I’ve got great kids. They’re good kids from great families. It’s just the perfect storm of kids, good administration, and good assistant coaches that have really helped us be very successful. This is a sport you take home with you every day. When you go home, and you have that brother or that sister who’s putting in work, you start to idolize them. When you build a culture that’s generational with brothers and sisters things just flow into place for you,” Mangum said about the siblings driving his program’s success.

 

It’s been a slow process, but their recent meteoric rise has positioned the Rattlers as one of the absolute best wrestling programs in the state. They’ll have yet another opportunity to cement their place, minute by minute, match by match.

 

 

The Following Rattlers & Lady Rattlers qualified to the UIL State Wrestling Tournament:

 

Boys: Santiago Miranda (1st place: 106 lbs), Evan Baker (1st place: 113 lbs), Aiden Baker (1st place: 138 lbs), Nicholas Torres (2nd place: 150 lbs), Elizondo Valeriano (3rd place: 175 lbs), Oscar Casso (1st place: 185 lbs)

Girls: Elvia Davila (1st place: 130 lbs), Daisy Davila (3rd place: 155 lbs)

 

Two other Big 7 squads, the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks and the Mission Veterans Lady Patriots, performed well in their own right at Regionals, with each squad sending wrestlers to the big dance, including dominant wrestlers Gabriel Rivera and Allie Salas.

 

After a tough second-place finish at the Region IV 5A Championships, Rivera has his sights on righting the wrongs that the match left behind.

 

“I have been to the state tournament before, so I know the competition is fierce and strong, and every match pushes you to your limits. Succeeding and moving on to the state tournament feels rewarding because all the hard work pays off in that moment. At the same time, it reminds me that it’s important to stay focused and realize you have to keep working each week. Nothing is guaranteed, and it truly isn’t over until the last whistle,” Rivera said when describing his journey to the State Wrestling Tournament.

 

Salas, the Lady Patriots’ tough 125 lb star, has been on a rampage as of late, capped off with a 7-3 regional championship win. Salas, currently 33-4, is ready to claim the final prize: a state championship.

 

 

“There are a lot of good wrestlers out there, and it felt great to win both the District and Regional championships. With this being my senior year, I’m just trying to enjoy the whole process. Every match, every tournament, my attitude is just go out there and have fun. I’ve had a great season, and getting another shot at State is super exciting. My motivation heading into this week is just to not have any regrets. As long as I leave it all out on the mat, I can never look back and ask myself what if. This is my third time making it to State, and I want to go out on top. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself, but I have to go out there with the mindset, telling myself that I can win this thing,” Salas said before her third consecutive appearance in the State Tournament.

 

Here are the other Big 7 Wrestlers who qualified for the State Tournament

 

5A

Sharyland Pioneer High Boys: Ayden Flores (3rd place: 155 lbs), Daniel Espinosa (3rd place: 155 lbs), Ethan Moran (3rd place: 155 lbs), Marcus Perales (3rd place: 155 lbs), Girls:  Hailyn Jaye Gonzalez (4th place: 100 lbs), Destiny Salinas (3rd place: 110 lbs) La Joya Juarez Lincoln: Jacklyn Navarro (4th place: 100 lbs) La Joya Palmview: Rome Navejar (2nd place: 165 lbs) Dillan Sepulveda (4th place: 215 lbs)

 

6A

La Joya High School: Jaqueline Garcia (2nd place: 190 lbs)

 

 

The UIL State Wrestling Championships will be held today and tomorrow at The Berry Center in Cypress, Texas. Preliminary rounds will take place today, with finals tomorrow. Championship semi-finals start tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.