Arizona wrestling teams took to traveling for some outside competition over the weekend and the results were pretty solid.
Seton Catholic (Chandler) entered just eight wrestlers in the Beast of the East in Delaware and finished 16th out more than 104 schools from around the nation being represented by at least one individual. Junior Quentin Hovis (145 pounds) finished second, while Vincent Dolce (138) and Brandon Konecny (152) were fourth. Seton Catholic, a favorite for a Division II state title, has been working toward this season ever since Eric Larkin, one of the top wrestlers in Arizona history, took over three years ago.
The roster has only about a dozen wrestlers total, meaning each individual gets attention from the staff without having to worry about split attention toward the junior varsity taking up half of the wrestling room.
"Everyone in here gets a chance to work with him, and he breaks down what we do right and wrong," Konecny, a junior state champion, said. "We go over everything right after it happens and work it out."
The Sentinels are anything but a typical wrestling program, and not just because the team seeks out tournaments like at the Beast of the East tournament, which is considered one of the elite events in the nation, or the Walsh Ironman in Ohio last year.
"We used our schedule to give our kids national exposure," Larkin said. "I heard about the Beast of the East when I was young, and I always wondered how I'd do in tournaments like that. These guys don't have to wonder. They just have to step on the line."
Liberty (Peoria), which is also a D-II favorite, stayed a little closer to Arizona, but possibly made a bigger impression by winning the 76-team Las Vegas Holiday Classic, as seven Lions found the podium. The field wasn't as strong as the Beast of the East by any means but the Lions showed a lot of depth by winning the event.
Danny Vega, from 2013
Courtesy photo
Liberty had two champions in Miles Nuessle (182) and Blake Smith (195) and a runner-up in Trey Escobar (113). Smith was named outstanding wrestler. The Lions also had a third-place performance by James Deitz (152), a fourth-place finisher in Jake Dale (145) and fifth-place finishes from Cory Collins (132) and Coltin Anglin (160).
Red Mountain (Mesa), led by champion Ray Ramirez (113) and seven other placers, was third and
Basha (Chandler), led by third-place finisher Nico Braswell (145) and three other placers, was eighth at the tournament.
Meanwhile, it looks like
Mountain View (Mesa) and
Ironwood Ridge (Tucson) will run into each other all year long. The two Division I contenders already faced each other in a dual meet, won by the Toros, and were the top two Arizona teams at the Reno Tournament of Champions last week.
Now they head to Minnesota for The Clash on Jan. 1-2 before seeing each other at the Flowing Wells Invitational in Tucson, and of course the state meet.
"We will see each other a lot and now we have a feel for what we can do," Mountain View coach Bob Callison said after the dual meet on Dec. 9. "A lot of those matches went our way this time. We wrestled smart in the third period and got a lot of wins. We have to keep working hard to make sure those matches continue to go our way."
So far the Toros have come out on top in both meetings, as Mountain View finished 11th in Reno with Paden Mason (126) and Anthony Wokasch (152) finishing third and Jerod Booth (145) taking sixth.
The Nighthawks finished 14th out of 107 teams at Reno with champion Danny Vega (113), third-place All-American Josiah Kline (132), seventh-place finisher Kyle Taylor (145) and eight-place finisher Jayce Cunha (126).
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.
