UNDERDOGS

WESLACO — P.J. Lopez probably shouldn’t have won one match this season. Lopez, a senior 130-pounder, suffered a lacerated liver during football and only came back to wrestle for the last month-and-a-half of the season.

Despite the obvious handicap of having to both deal with the injury and wrestlers who had been competing all season, Lopez finished fifth at the regional meet, earning a spot as an alternate for the state meet this weekend in Austin.

It’s an obvious reaction to wonder just how good Lopez would have been this season if he had been healthy.

Or, as Weslaco coach John Glapa said, it’s just as obvious to wonder just how good Weslaco wrestlers, or any other from the Rio Grande Valley, would be if they had certain advantages as competitors from other parts of the state.

“All Valley wrestlers start their wrestling in high school,” Glapa said. “Certainly up north, they’re introduced to wrestling at the late elementary level, and at the latest, probably the junior high level because there’s junior high programs. They’ve got two or three years on you.”

Sophomore 112-pounder Juan Villegas flatly admitted that he’d “be better because he’d be more experienced” if he had started earlier. Just a sophomore, Villegas has only been wrestling for two years. Like his teammates, Villegas relied on Glapa to teach him the sport in high school.

“I’d know what to do a little more,” Villegas said of having more experience. “I’d be stronger and I’d be a little smarter.”

That difference of experience becomes obvious at state meets. Despite Weslaco High’s eight consecutive district championships, the Panthers have been unable to break through at the state level. They have had wrestlers advance to the finals, but haven’t enjoyed a state championship.

When the Panthers’ state qualifiers, Villegas and senior 135-pounder Frank Hernandez compete Friday, they’ll be doing so against boys who have the option of wrestling almost year-round, whether it’s at wrestling camps or in clubs.

“I know down here they’re not as dedicated as over there,” said Hernandez, who added he tries to train all year. “There’s not any guys who slack off over there.”

Glapa was a little bit more delicate with his assessment of wrestlers from other parts of the state.

Instead of saying Valley wrestlers don’t put in the same kind of effort, he said he tries to tweak his coaching when his kids face non-Valley competition. Other than small strategy changes, Glapa also has to change the message to his wrestlers.

Unlike in district competitions, his team is now the underdog.

“Gearing up for something like this is great. Every tournament is a little different in comparison to the tournaments in the past,” Glapa said. “Like I’ve said, if you can make a run at it, my God, and you get that momentum and that confidence going, anything can happen. I’ve told the kids make it to the second day, and anything can happen.”

Brian Sandalow covers high school wrestling for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.