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Leo Maestas of New Mexico Raven won the 167-pound title of the Sunkids Classic junior high school wrestling tournament by the slimmest of margins Saturday night and propelled his club to the team championship by an even slimmer margin.
New Mexico Raven tied Academy for first place in point totals in the event, held at Tempe High School. Tournament officials had to figure pin points as a tiebreaker. It was the first time the team title had been decided by a tiebreaker since the event’s inception in 1992, said Ronda Pavlenko, tournament director.
Safford finished in third place, Sunkids fourth, Eloy fifth and the Chain Gang sixth. (Official standings were available but not point totals.)
Maestas faced Tristan Ezell of the Academy in the 167 championship final, knowing it might decide the team title. After a scoreless first period, Maestas managed an escape.
“I didn’t really do much the first period,’’ he said. He said he summoned all his energy to get the escape. Maestas held on to win 1-0.
“Give (Ezell) credit,’’ Raven coach Dickie Maestas said. “He’s a tough kid.”
Academy, the Sunkist Kids club’s junior program, has won the event the previous two years.
“We look at it as we tied for first,’’ coach Melvin Douglas said.
The Academy had no entries in four weight classes and was missing two starters.
“I’m proud of them,’’ Douglas said. “They overcame a lot.”
The tournament drew more than 500 entrants from seven states.
Two outstanding wrestler of the tournament were selected, one by coaches’ vote, another on points.
The coaches choice was 98-pound champion Vincent Elizalde of Imperial Valley.
The Sunkids’ Quincy Reece, who turned 12 on Saturday, won the award on points. He won the 73-pound title, pinning the Raven club’s Isaac Lopez in the third period.
Lopez turned Reece in the second period, though Lopez was awarded no points for a near fall.
“I just wanted to get it over with,’’ Reece said of his mindset entering the third period,
In a widely anticipated match, Danny Romero, an Arizona state champion form Eloy, took on Jordan Lara of X-Men. Lara has won two California state titles.
The score was tied 4-4 in the third period when Romero managed a reversal with less than 10 seconds left. He let Lara escape to milk the clock and won 6-5.
“I’d been thinking about this match all night,’’ Romero said.
63 pounds
Championship
Brandon Courtney (Academy) dec. Daniel Brather (Team Green Valley Nev.) 6-2
Third Place
Isaiah Delgaldo (Texas Tribe) dec. Reed Erwin (Newell Berry ) 9-1
68
Championship
Jacob Rio (Desert Devils) dec. Wallace Zorich (Team Green Valley) 2-0
Third Place
Merritt Taylor (Safford) dec. Chase Zollener (Poway Elite) 5-3.
73
Championship
Quincy Reece (Sunkids) pinned Isaac Lopez (New Mexico Raven) 2:31
Third Place
Maccabee Scott (Cottonwood) dec. Brian Mitchell (Altadena) 4-2
78
Championship
Tristan Decker (Desert Devils) dec. Anthony Montano (Safford) 11-4
Third Place
Richie Rodriguez (Texas Tribe) dec. Shavez Hawkes (Thorobred) 4-2
83
Championship
Sean Cannon (Team Green Valley) dec. Joe Mondragon (St. George ) 8-2
Third Place
Anthony Wokasch (Cottonwood) dec. Jacob Swift (Deer Valley) 10-3
88
Championship
Matthew Mathers (Altadena) dec. Joe Gaylor (Mogollon) 4-0
Third Place
Sam Tovar (Academy) dec. Tristan Griffith (Sunkids) 6-0
93
Championship
Ryan Allred (Camp Verde) dec. Troy Vandall (Deer Valley) 6-0
Third Place
Zac Guerrero (Chain Gang) dec. Jared Brathor (Team Green Valley) 2-0
98
Championship
Vincent Elizalde (Imperial Valley) dec. Ethan Workman (Newell Barry) 8-0
Third Place
Dajour Reece (Sunkids) dec. Matt Travis (Academy) 9-4
104
Championship
Glenn Farina (Academy) dec. Ted Rico (Sunkids) 8-7
Third Place
Marc Cruz (Chain Gang) dec. Richard Zamora (X-men) 4-0
111
Championship
Dalyn Despain (Mogollon) dec. Luis Nunez (Chain Gang) 3-2
Third Place
Cayman Nielsen (East Valley) dec. Keiffer Taylor (Safford) 4-1
118
Championship
Smiley Beecroft (Mogollon) dec. Bryce Thomas (Independent) 7-0
Third Place
Weston Taylor (Safford) pinned Marcos Flores (Sonoran Trails) 1:20
125
Championship
Alex Florez (Sonoran Trails) dec. Daniel Cartenga (Academy) 4-2
Third Place
Loren Vigil (New Mexico Raven) dec. Jesse Kane (Chain Gang) 5-0
133
Championship
Gabriel Valdez (Sonoran Trails) dec. Angel Cartenga (Independent) 6-2
Third Place
Ethan Tursini (Academy) dec. Nick Bingham (Independent) 3-0
142
Championship
Antonio Perez (Imperial Valley) dec. Loren Wolfel (NM Raven) 2-1
Third Place
Ricardo Morales (Chain Gang) dec. Jace Harpy (Independent) 8-1
154
Championship
Danny Romero (Eloy) dec. Jordan Lara (X-Men) 6-5
Third Place
Jerermiah Gresco (Camp Verde) pinned Carl Pate (Desert Devils) 1:22
167
Championship
Leo Maestas (New Mexico Raven) dec. Tristan Ezell (Academy) 1-0
Third Place
McKay Huber (East Valley) dec. Alex Perez (Eloy)
180
Championship
Drew Hardesty (Safford) dec. Adrian Aranda (New Mexico Raven)
Third Place
Brandon Dowland (Kyrene Middle School) dec. Jim White (Deer Valley)
200
Championship
Michael Reyes (Eloy) dec. Zach Garris (NM Raven ) 3-0
Third Place
Nathaniel Sierra (Deer Valley) dec. Cannon Cugino (Altadena) 3-2
HWT
Championship
Matthew Jim (O’odham) pinned Marcos Silvas (Eloy) 0:40
Third Place
Ramon Murrietta (Safford) dec. Dylan Elias (Sunkids) 11-0 |
