Way clear for new wrestling champs at Flowing Wells Invite

January 17, 2013 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Ironwood Ridge shoots for a repeat in team competition and at least 11 new individual champions will be crowned this weekend at the 47th annual Flowing Wells Wrestling Invitational at Tucson's Flowing Wells High School.

Thirty-eight schools are entered for the two-day tournament -- Friday January 18 and Saturday January 19. Wrestling begins Friday with two sessions starting at 10:30 a.m. and commencing after a break for the evening session at 7 p.m. Action resumes Saturday morning with the third session at 10 a.m.  and continues through mid-afternoon with fifth-place and third-place matches. The fourth session -- championship matches -- begins at 6 p.m.

Schools entered are: Amphitheater, Basha, Boulder Creek, Brophy, Canyon del Oro, Carl Hayden, Centennial, Chandler, Cibola, Cienega, Corona del Sol, Desert Mountain, Desert Vista, Eagle Crest (CO), Flowing Wells, Hamilton, Highland, Horizon, Ironwood Ridge, Marana Marana Mountain View, Marcos de Niza, Maryvale, Mesa Mountain View, Mingus, Montwood, Texas, Paradise Valley, Pueblo, Queen Creek, Rio Rico, Safford, Sahuarita, Santiago, CA, Silver, (NM), Socorro, Tex., Sunnyside, Thunderbird, Tucson High and Willcox. 

Three wrestlers return to defend titles -- Thunderbird's Ryan Felipe (113), Marcos de Niza's Jesse Morales (132) and Ironwood Ridge's Matt Filbert (152). Felipe is wrestling at 120 this year while Morales and Filbert remain at their 2012 weight.

Included in the field are 11 returning state champs from last. They are Bailey Janis, Marana Mountain View; Tristan Moran and Dalton Brady, Chandler; Marky Lopez, Rio Rico; Morales, Marcos de Niza; Filbert, Troy Taylor and Tate Sandifer, Ironwood Ridge; Pierre Gaud, Cibola; Ricky Bencomo, Silver, NM; and Alex Bambic, Desert Vista.

Sunnyside has the most seeded wrestlers (1-8) with 10. Next are Boulder Creek, Ironwood Ridge, Cibola and Chandler with 7 each and Corona del Sol, Santiago, CA, Mesa Mtn. View and Marana with 6 apiece. Sunnyside and Chandler have three No. 1 seeds each. Here are the top four seeds in each weight class:

106 pounds: 1. Alex Calderon, Maryvale; 2. Cory Crooks, Boulder Creek; 3. Chris Lacayo, Santiago, CA; 4. Parker Osterman, Willcox. 113:  1. Bailey Janis, Mar. Mtn. View; 2. Juaquin Olivas, Sunnyside; 3. Bryce Castagna, Willcox; 4. Jerod Booth, Mesa Mtn. View. 120: 1. Sergio Miranda, Sunnyside; 2. Efren Hernandez, Carl Hayden; 3. Jeremy Thomas, Santiago, CA; 4. Zachary Sobaarzo, Desert Edge. 126: 1. Tristan Moran, Chandler; 2. William Olivas, Sunnyside; 3. Isaac Camacho, Cibola; 4. Fernando Camarillo, Cibola. 132: 1. Dalton Brady, Chandler; 2. Jesse Morales, Marcos de Niza; 3. Glenn Farina, Corona del Sol; 4. Luis Nunez, Cibola. 138: 1. Raul Moraga, Sunnyside; 2. Tate Sandifer, Ironwood Ridge; 3. Mike Longo, Santiago, CA; 4. Eric Jeong, Rio Rico. 145: 1. Marky Lopez, Rio Rico; 2. Christian Pagdilao, Santiago, CA; 3. Zach Walton, Corona del Sol; 4. Troy Taylor, Ironwood Ridge. 152: 1. Matt Filbert, Ironwood Ridge; 2. Dalton Moran, Chandler; 3. Miguel Lugo, Cibola; 4. Jesus Barreras, Amphi. 160: 1. Pierre Gaud, Cibola; 2. Ethan Tursini, Corona del Sol. 3.  Mason Darveaux, Highland. 4. T.J. Gudeman, Cienega. 170: 1. Jro Byrd, Boulder Creek; 2. Tristan Mordecai, Ironwood Ridge; 3. Hayden Moore, Queen Creek; 4. Vicente Guerrero, Cibola. 182: 1. Alex Bambic, Desert Vista. 2. Ricky Bencomo, Silver NM; 3. Jorge Robles, Sahuarita; 4. Cameron Nelson, Ironwood Ridge. 195: 1. Ben Miller, Willcox; 2. Gabriel Gonzalez, Sunnyside; 3. Jordan Erickson, Boudler Creek. 4. Pablo Chavez, Rio Rico. 220: 1. Drew Lattner, Chandler; 2. Derek Craig, Marcos de Niza; 3. Patrick Penniston, Rio Rico; 4. Isaac Samudio, Willcox. 285: 1. Ricky Villegas, Sunnyside; 2. Kilsimasi Uasike, Mesa Mtn. View; 3. Jorge Loya, Sahuarita; 4. Nathan Eldridge, Boulder Creek.