Desert Vista senior Alex Carrillo is back for one of the top teams in the state.
File photo by Jason Skoda
Historically, team wrestling champions come from a small group of candidates. Programs stay consistent, continue to produce top wrestlers and manage to find a spot among the top five annually.
Every once in a while a team breaks through and wins a title for the first time. Liberty, a Division II program, has made that progression after finishing in the top 10 for several years before finishing second last season.
The Lions are the favorites to win it all this year and didn't do anything to hurt that sentiment when they outlasted two-time Division I defending champion Mountain View over the weekend at the Liberty Lions Classic. The Lions had four champions, five runner-ups and three third-place finishers for 663 points and the Toros had 634 after both teams went 7-0 in the dual meet portion of the meet.
"The team is really wrestling well as a unit," Liberty coach Eric Brenton said. "I believe as the season goes on we will become better and our confidence will grow. The goal is to win a state championship. Everything else is practice until that point."
The Toros, who had seven champions and a runner-up among their placers, look to be the favorite in Division I especially after a shakeup in the sectional placement for the classification.
The massive discrepancy in talent among Division I sectionals had reached too much attention to be left alone.
For two years in a row, most of state placers came from two of the four sectionals as most of the state's top programs were crammed into eight qualification spots.
It left many state-level competitors at home while the other sectional state qualifiers were quickly ousted at the most important event of the year.
"I think it will be the best sectionals in a long time," AIA wrestling tournament director Dean Visser said. "We moved some of the schools around to make it more competitive throughout."
It came to a head last year when sections I and IV accounted for 24 of the 28 finalists. Of the 84 state placers, the breakdown was just as eye-popping – Section IV had 35, and Section I had 31, while the other two sections combined for 18 (Section III 13, Section II 5).
The new sectional set-up of the 35 teams appears to have spread out the top teams enough that there should be a better ratio at the end of the season.
There are some sectionals that are stronger on paper – Section I with the Tucson programs merging with the Chandler programs along with Perry, and Section III combining the Gilbert and Mesa programs – but there is only so much that can be done.
"It's not all that different for us," said Mountain View coach Bob Callison, whose team already announced its presence with authority with a 44-21 win over Sunnyside to open the season. "Mountain View wrestling is a great program because we get pushed by Mesa, Red Mountain, Dobson, Westwood and Skyline. I breathe easier when we are not competing against those teams."
At some point you just have to take the mat, and this is the best set-up in a long time to create the best 16-man state brackets.
A lot will happen between the start of the season last week until the state tournament weekend of Feb. 11-13 at the Prescott Valley Event Center.
Here is a look at some of the top teams, individuals and tournaments for the 2015-16 season.
Top teams
Mountain View (Mesa),
Ironwood Ridge (Tucson),
Sunnyside (Tucson),
Chandler,
Desert Vista (Phoenix),
Cibola (Yuma),
Liberty (Peoria),
Seton Catholic (Chandler),
Boulder Creek (Anthem),
Camp Verde,
Amphitheater (Tucson),
Thunderbird (Phoenix).
Preseason favorites: Mountain View (DI), Liberty (DII), Amphitheater (DIII), Camp Verde (DIV)
Top tournaments
DecemberCoyotes Open at Skyline (Dec. 11-12), Moon Valley (Dec. 18-19), Marana Mountain View Dual tournament (Dec. 18-19), Steve Blackford Dual tournament at Arizona State (Dec. 29-30).
JanuaryPeoria Invitational (Jan. 8-9), Mile High Challenge at PVEC (Jan. 8-9), Flowing Wells Invitational (Jan. 15-16), Doc Wright Invitational at Winslow (Jan. 15-16), Brad Jones Invitational at Centennial (Jan. 22-23), Payson Invitational (Jan. 22-23), San Devil Wrestling Classic at Page (Jan. 22-23).
Top individuals
Light weights: Jason Holmes (Chandler), Trey Escobar (Liberty), Roman Bravo-Young (Sunnyside), Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge), Hayden Uhler (Camp Verde), Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge), Nathan Mendivil (Gila Ridge), Alex Casilas (Camp Verde), Chance Ikei (Chandler), Angel Laguna (Sunnyside), Gator Groves (McClintock), Ryan Farina (Corona del Sol), Alex Carrillo (Desert Vista), Paden Mason (Mountain View), Alfredo Calzadillas (Ironwood Ridge).
Middle weights: Marco Groves (McClintock), Cory Crooks (Boulder Creek), Quentin Hovis (Seton Catholic), James Deitz (Liberty), Anthony Wokasch (Mountain View), Jacob Swift (Deer Valley), James Williams (Mesa), Brandon Konecny (Seton Catholic).
Upper weights: Christian White (Morenci), Sebastian Mordecai (Sunnyside), Chad Porter (Desert Vista), Bridger Barker (Seton Catholic), Daniel Hernandez (Prescott), Kyle Rodriguez (Amphitheater), Brandon Naegle (St. Johns), Blake Smith (Liberty), Frankie Salinas (Mesa), Roy Lopez (Mesquite), Esequiel Velles (Red Mountain).
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.
