Alyciana Rogers was already the first girl from Liberty Hill High School to be a Fargo All-American.
She is now the first two-time All-American after a runner-up finish at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals earlier this month in North Dakota.
She posted a 4-1 record and lost in the finals against Aubrey Bartkowiak from Indiana. The Point Park University signee pinned Rogers in the first period of the 235-pound finals.
“Before every match, I would tell myself that it doesn’t matter if I win or lose,” said Rogers, who will be a senior this upcoming school year. “They’re gonna have to prove that they’re better than me, and that all the hard work I put into being here is good enough. I did everything I could to prepare myself and I should be proud of myself whether I lose or win.”
Rogers took fifth last year at 207 pounds, but bumped up a weight division this year.
She opened with a 13-2 tech fall over Paige Wainscott from Oklahoma. A 4-1 win over Molly Marty from Kansas sent Rogers to the quarterfinals. She trailed 1-0 going into the second and scored three points in the final 35 seconds.
In the quarters, Rogers secured a 7-2 decision against Katherine Luna from California. Luna would rebound and earn All-American honors as well.
Rogers punched a ticket to the semifinals with the win over Luna and pinned Mya Bradenburg from Michigan in the second period. Rogers held a 7-1 lead over Bradenburg — who finished third — before the pin.
“It was really good seeing all the other states and seeing the competition at different states,” Rogers said. “Like from a Texas standpoint, we don’t see many big wrestlers since it’s a newer state (for girls wrestling). Then seeing all the well-established states do their moves and seeing how well they wrestle. It was a very good experience, seeing how I need to work more.
She said the jump in weight classes made her more aware of her footwork. Heading into Fargo, she was the Texas USA Wrestling Greco-Roman champion and was third in freestyle.
Her success played a part in Team Texas taking fourth in the junior standings.
“I didn’t expect us to place that high,” Rogers admitted. “I expected us to place like midway, but a lot of those girls were pinning a lot and were doing really well in our matches. So I’m just really proud of our state and how far we’ve come.”
Liberty Hill High School coach Danny Zieschang said it is big for a program that just finished its third season to have an All-American.
“I think a lot of programs that have even been around for a long time spend years trying to find that person to be able to show the rest of their kids, like, “hey, this is what it looks like to be a Liberty Hill Panther and achieve at the highest level,” he said. “To be such a young program and have Alyciana stepping up and hitting milestone after milestone already, it makes it easier for us to build our program.”
Rogers was a state champion this past season for the Panthers, winning the 5A 235-pound title and was 39-2 during the 2025-26 season.
She said the experience at Fargo last year helped her during the past season.
“It helped tremendously getting more mat time and seeing different people and wrestling different people,” she said. “Coming back to state and seeing how different it was from wrestling people up north … It’s very, very eye-opening and very good to experience.”
The championship comes after being a runner-up in 2025 and a state qualifier as a freshman.
Rogers is still relatively new to the sport.
Zieschang convinced Rogers to try the sport her freshman season. Rogers had been mainly a softball player since she was six years old.
She dabbled in powerlifting and track and field in high school, but now wrestling is her main sport.
Rogers said she fell in love with the sport at the first practice and has continued to get better.
“Winning a match is not because of my team. It’s because of myself and all the hard work I put into it,” she said. “I can’t blame anybody for losing a match. Just all the hard work I put into it, and seeing how much more I need to put into it.”
Zieschang hopes the success will be contagious in the weight room.
He said the girls’ program has been solid and having girls like Rogers and Aubree Schubert, another all-state, is laying the foundation for future success.
“I think Alicia has been like so influential just being in our room that it’s spread to our younger girls and our boys team as well,” the coach said. “They want to win like she has.”
