Confidence, belonging key at regional meet

The regional tournament in San Antonio is pretty much a different experience than pretty much anything wrestlers face during a season.

For one, it’s in San Antonio. The facility is bigger and louder and, with four mats of action, there’s simply more going on.

Getting over all of that is a key, something that can only come with experience. And, as La Joya Palmview coach Mario Montelongo points out, a sense of belonging at the event that begins today at the Blossom Event Center in San Antonio.

“I think it’s somewhat important because they don’t get surprised by the ability and the place being as big as it is and the four mats, the officials and all that,” Montelongo said. “And just knowing that we’ve been here before, we belong here, we’ve done it and we have been successful. I think that gives them something of a confidence boost.”

Palmview is one of the Valley schools that should enter the regional meet with confidence. The Lobos defended their District 31 boys title last weekend, while La Joya Juarez-Lincoln did the same on the girls side.

District 32 also send a pair of repeat champions, as the Weslaco High boys and San Benito girls retained their titles.

For Montelongo and the Lobos, that has bred a sense of confidence.

“Everybody’s pretty excited. They feel like they belong here and they feel like they can qualify to move on,” Montelongo said. “Half of them have been here before and two of them qualified for the state tournament last year so nothing’s new and they know what to expect and they just hope to wrestle as well as they can and move on.”

The state meet is in two weeks in Austin.

Brian Sandalow covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.