Champion!

Woodruff Senior Wrestler Genaro De La Garza Caps Historic High School Career with Elusive State Championship

By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com

It was a long way to the top for Genaro De La Garza.

The Woodruff senior wrestler, one of the top grapplers in South Carolina for the entirety of his four-year Wolverine career, had been so close to the mountaintop before, only to be denied just a few agonizing steps from the peak.

But in his final match, in the class 3A individual state tournament on Sat. February 25, De La Garza broke down the final obstacle in his way and captured the state championship that had long eluded him, winning the 120-pound weight class crown.

It happened fast, too. In his final shot, Genaro would leave nothing to chance this time.

Less than two minutes into his match against his opponent from Battery Creek, De La Garza capitalized on his counterpart’s misstep, turning him onto his back in a lightning-fast move, and it was all over. With a thundering slam of the referee’s hand on the mat, Genaro stood, arms raised, and celebrated what he had sought for so long; A place at the summit of South Carolina high school wrestling.

It was a moment, says Genaro, he will never forget.

“I was pretty emotional when I was,” he said. “I felt dominant wrestling against him, and as soon as I pinned him, I just felt happy. I just looked at my mom and saw coach Harper and I felt great. I knew that all the hard work I had put in over the years had paid off.”

If De La Garza felt dominant, then the physical manifestation of that feeling was even more clear to those in attendance at the Anderson Civic Center.

“After my first takedown and I rode him out, I knew he didn’t have much of an answer for me,” said Genaro. “Before the match, me and Coach Harper were talking, and we watched how he wrestled, and I was very confident from the start. Before the match even started, I felt like I had it in the bag.”

After a more tense battle in his quarterfinal match, Genaro’s first of the day, he pinned his second opponent in quick order in the first period as well. Then, in the championship match, it was all over in less than 90 seconds. As Genaro explained, after a quick pep talk from head coach John Harper, he found a level of confidence that was new even to him.

“At first, I did have a lot of weight on my shoulders,” stated De La Garza. “After my first match, Coach Harper could kind of tell that I was stressing about it, and we had a conversation, and he just kind of took that off me and told me that, you know, I shouldn’t have this pressure on my shoulders and should be confident in my wrestling. I worked hard for this moment, and after he talked me through it, it just kind of eased that moment.”

De La Garza continued, “In my first match, I was nervous to an extent. I knew that I was going to beat the kid, but I was thinking about the next two matches instead of taking it a match at a time. I was just stressing at the time. I won the match, but I didn’t win it the way I knew I could have, and that is when we had our conversation. In my semifinal match, I had the most confidence I have ever had in my life. After my semifinal match, I just knew I had it. I just knew, and I didn’t see it going any other way.”

Coach Harper has coached Genaro his entire high school career and knew while he was still in middle school that De La Garza would be an outstanding wrestler. Harper could not be prouder to see the young man who has poured so much of his blood, sweat, and tears into the sport go out on top.

“It’s special,” said Harper. “A lot of people followed Genaro during his high school career, but his training actually dates back to when I knew him as a sixth grader competing in youth wrestling when I first came to Woodruff. He had big goals and big aspirations, and to repeatedly year in and year out, put in a ton of work and be in the (wrestling) room every time the doors opened, to put in that amount of time, and have it finally pay off is proof that trusting the process and trusting yourself will lead to good things happening. The way he won it, with a first period pin, I couldn’t be happier.”

De La Garza finished with a career record of 146 wins and only 14 losses. Royster, meanwhile, suffered 12 defeats just in his freshman season in 2003. Genaro compiled a combined record of 102 wins and four losses as a junior and senior, with three of those defeats coming at the hands of eventual state champions and one narrow loss as a senior to the class 3A 126-pound
champion in a match in which De La Garza wrestled up a weight class.

He also finished his Woodruff career as the school’s all-time career leader in victories by pin with 100 and as the single-season wins and pins leader, which he accomplished as a junior in 2022.

De La Garza might have only reached the summit of the mountain as a senior, but he was already a lock for Woodruff’s Mount Rushmore of wrestling greatness long before he took his place at the top of the championship podium.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Genaro said. “I never really had the goal of doing all of that, but I always knew I wanted to wrestle and win. That’s all I ever really had in mind. The numbers show themselves. I just played and put myself out there, and everything came out the way it did. I’m glad it did, and it feels pretty good to know I am leaving a mark of my own on Woodruff wrestling.”