Lila Breedlove, Borger Wrestling, Jr.
On the mat: Even though she came up just two points shy of a state championship at the UIL Wrestling State Tournament, held last weekend at the Berry Center in Cypress, Borger junior Lila Breedlove completed an extraordinary season. En route to the Class 5A 100 lbs. championship match, Breedlove pinned all three of her opponents — Burleson’s MaKayla Salguero in 2:52, Hailyn Jaye Gonzalez of Mission Sharyland Pioneer in 50 seconds and Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial’s Carly Rodriguez in 1:32.
In her rematch against Azle’s Noah Kovach, Breedlove held a 5-3 lead with 1:47 left in the match. Breedlove fell behind, but secured a two-point reversal before time expired. Breedlove ended her season with a 36-2 record and second place finish at the state tournament.
Coach Mario Vasquez: “I’m pretty proud of the development and everything that has been done with Lila, all of my girls and all of my boys. Lila has only started with two years of wrestling, so she’s just going to keep on getting better. Last year at the state tournament, she didn’t do as well as she hoped, and (her latest performance) showed the continuous improvement that we can have when everyone dials in and does the right things correctly. We preach ‘eat right, sleep right, do everything right,’ and that pertains to every principle in life — which is making sure that everyone’s doing the right things when no one is watching, having integrity and just doing the things that need to be done in order to achieve your goals. I firmly believe that Lila is showcasing just that.
Breedlove: “I was a little nervous on my first day, because it’s my second year. I shook off those nerves when I stepped on the mat and did what I needed to do. I already wrestled (Kovach) at regionals, so I was already prepared and ready to wrestle her. I went out there and battled her, took my shots and set things up, and I was just one point short. I should have had it, but you know, you can’t go back and fix it. I’m very optimistic (for next year). I believe I can go undefeated, and I’m going to work hard in the mat room over the summer. I’m going to do Freestyle and Greco-Roman, and just continue to improve through the year.”
About Breedlove
Favorite band or musician: Tupac Shakur
Favorite social media platform: Instagram
Favorite athlete: Kennedy Blades
Bet you didn’t know: “I love my curly hair. I love to do fun hairstyles with it.”
Parents: Chris Breedlove and Jamie Breedlove