La Joya’s Gonzalez follows father to mat

LA JOYA — ‘Like father, like daughter,’ is a new concept for La Joya junior Roxana Gonzalez.

“My dad (Genaro) used to wrestle, and he would tell me stories when he was in the ring,” said Gonzalez, who will compete in the state wrestling tournament this weekend in Austin.

Gonzalez always has liked wrestling and would challenge her father, who knew sooner or later Roxana would wrestle. And if one wrestler wants his or her offspring to succeed, surely moves will be taught.

“Her father has described her as a diamond in the rough,” La Joya coach Mario Montelongo said.

Gonzalez’s father showed her moves, such as more hand control on top and to be careful with the legs. If opponents go for the legs, she needs to sprawl and sprawl hard, he said.

“When she wrestles she’s calm and calculating moves,” senior teammate Vazanny Peña said.

“She waits for the opportune moment.”

Gonzalez heard about the wrestling team from her friend, Cris (Hernandez) and joined when the team was started three years ago. She was placed on the junior varsity team.

“She tries her best and has determination, always gives 100 percent,” Peña said.

During the girls team’s first year, they won District 31. They have been district champs three times in a row, and Gonzalez won her weight class this year.

“Wrestling is challenging because not a lot of people do the sport I’m doing,” she said.

Gonzalez has made two trips to the regional meet, failing to place last season but winning this year. She has lost one match this season, to PSJA High’s Yolanda Peña, who placed third at the regional meet and also is going to the state meet Friday and Saturday in Austin.

The trip to state will be Gonzalez’s first. However, whether Gonzalez is prepping for a district, regional, or state meet, she does nothing different. She practices and stays calm, she said. If anything, the only twitches to her schedule will be learning a new more or two from the boys wrestling team, her coach said.

“I’ve always wanted to go to state to see how it is over there,” Gonzalez said. “It feels great to represent La Joya.”