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SIERRA VISTA —The Buena colt wrestling team virtually won the Class 5A Division I Wrestling Championship on Tuesday evening, defeating Casa Grande, Tucson High and Salpointe Catholic in a four-team meet at Ensign Gym.
But it wasn’t a cakewalk by any means.
Buena won a close 42-38 match over Casa Grande and then defeated Salpointe Catholic, 45-26. In between, Salpointe knocked off Casa Grande, 39-31. Buena, Casa Grande and Salpointe each defeated Tucson High by the exact 78-6 score.
Tucson 103-pound Frank DiGiarno was the lone winner in all three matches for the Badgers, defeating all three of his opponents by falls.
 Buena’s Kyle Rae pins his Casa Grande opponent Chris Roethie in their 103-pound bout during Tuesday’s multi-meet at Ensign Gymnasium at Buena High School. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) |
Buena wrestlers fared well in the lightweight and heavyweight classes, but faltered in the middle weights.
In their opener against the Cougars from Casa Grande, the Colts jumped out to a 30-6 lead after the first six bouts that included two heavyweight and four lightweight contests.
Anthony Kirkpatrick lost at 215, but Robert Ellis won a 5-1 decision at heavyweight and Kyle Rae, Marcus Williams, Rene Miramonte and Brett Madden all won by falls to give the Colts a 30-6 lead.
But then two losses by decision and four straight pins, propelled the Cougars to a 38-30 lead heading into the two final matches.
Bryan Sieler pinned his opponent, Dustin Burnett, in 1:01 at 171 pounds to cut the lead to 38-36 and Kevin Treftz gave Buena the win with a pin of Wes Ashby in 51 seconds at 189.
Buena’s second match against Tucson High saw the Colts win eight bouts by forfeit from the short-handed Badgers.
Winning contested bouts were Jimmy Byrd by a fall at 140 pounds (3:47), Jake Bailey by a fall at 152 pounds (:48), Carl Larimer by a fall at 160 pounds (:37), Treftz by a fall at 189 pounds (1:17) and Kirkpatrick by a fall at 215 pounds (1:13).
The Salpointe win was much the same as the Casa Grande win.
Buena took a 21-0 lead after Williams, Miramontes and Brice Madden each pinned their opponent and Brett Madden won a 18-15 decision from Eryck Garcia.
But the Lancers struck hard at the Colt middleweights, running off five straight wins, three of them by falls and two by major decisions, to take a 26-21 lead before the heavyweights brought the Colts back.
Sieler and Treftz both won by falls to put Buena up for good, 33-26. Kirkpatrick won a 5-3 decision to increase the lead to 36-26 with three bouts to go. Ellis put the contest away with a pin of heavyweight Alexis Barcelo in 1:53 that iced the win for the Colts.
Kyle Rae ended the scoring, winning his 103-pound bout with a 6-1 win over Mike Gerrish.
“I knew Casa Grande was going to be tough,” Buena coach Dan Southard said. “They only lost four wrestlers from last year’s state qualifying team.”
“Overall, I am very pleased,” Southard said. “We had a good effort from Sieler, Treftz, Kirkpatrick and Ellis, along with Rae, Williams and Madden. We need to do some work with the middle of our lineup, but some of the positions will change when we get a couple of wrestlers healthy and some drop down in weight next month.”
Winning all three of their bouts Tuesday were Williams at 103, Miramontes at 119, Madden at 125, Sieler at 171, Treftz at 189 and Ellis at heavyweight. Buena also started one freshman, Brice Madden at 130 pounds who went 2-1. Also going 2-1 were Rae at 103, Beauregard at 135, and Kirkpatrick at 189.
Jeff wrote on Nov 25, 2007 5:22 PM: