Family trio shines in kids wrestling tourney

ROYAL CITY - Kaleb Hernandez, Sebastian Villa and Emma Villa, members of the same family, placed at the Jason Crawford Memorial Tournament in Little Guys Wrestling at Spokane two weekends ago.

The Jason Crawford ends the Little Guys season, but these three will wrestle on for another month in USA wrestling. According to coach Junior Hernandez, they wrestle nearly all year.

At Spokane, Junior's nephew Kaleb took first place in his weight and age division. His nephew Sebastian took second in his age-weight class, and his niece Emma took second in her age-weight classification. They are also coached by Carlos Villa, Junior's brother-in-law and the Villa kids' father.

Kaleb is a Red Rock Elementary fourth grader who's been wrestling four years. At the ASICS post-season nationals at Las Vegas about three weeks ago, he finished third in age 9-10, 75 pounds and was recognized as an All-American.

Emma is a third grader at Red Rock. She has been wrestling two years and was recognized as an All-American at Las Vegas by finishing sixth in 9-10, 70 pounds.

Most of Emma's competition has been against boys, and she does not have a sparkling win-loss record. But she holds her own, and she's a leader in girls wrestling, taking second at the War of the Roses in Tri-Cities.

Sebastian is a first-grader at Red Rock. He has three years of wrestling experience, starting at the age of three. He did not place at nationals, but both coaches expect him to move up the ladder.

Kaleb, Emma and Sebastian wrestle under the banners of the Royal Wrestling Club and the Freedom Wrestling Academy in Moses Lake.

In addition to learning with Junior Hernandez and Carlos Villa, they train twice a week with Freedom Wrestling Academy coaches.