D-I wrestling: Mesa Mtn. View favored for team repeat

February 12, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Mesa Mountain View senior twins Kieffer and Weston Taylor were hanging out recently prior to practice and anticipating the final meets of the season -- sectionals and state. They are eager to see if they and their teammates can come away with a second consecutive team wrestling title.

The Toros are a heavy favorite to do just that at the Division I state wrestling meet Friday Feb. 13 and Saturday Feb. 14 at Prescott Valley Events Center.  But the Taylor twins are also looking for a little self gratification. To use a baseball term -- twin killing -- in the figurative sense, of course. Their twin killing would be taking home individual titles. Neither has done that in three previous tries in two states.

"I've been second two years in a row and that sucks," Kieffer Taylor said. "I want the win this time."

Kieffer Taylor, the Toros' 170-pounder, has placed in three of three state meets. He and Weston wrestled at Maple Mountain High (Spanish Fork, Utah) their freshman ans sophomore seasons. Kieffer was third in Utah in 2012 and runner-up there in 2013. The family relocated to Arizona prior to the 2014 season, settling in at Mountain View. Last year Kieffer placed second again to Basha's two-time state champ Trey Ronayne.

Weston Taylor, Mountain View's 160-pounder,  has placed twice in state meets in three seasons. His first placement was in 2013 (fourth in Utah). Last year at Mountain View he was runner-up to a two-time champ, Corona del Sol's Ethan Tursini.

"There is nothing possible to keep state from us," Weston said of he and his brother's title quest. "That's my mindset."

Mountain View coach Bob Callison likes their chances of going out on top.  They have different personalities, but those have translated to an abundance of wins on the mat.

"Weston's more quiet and reserved," Callision said. "Kieffer isn't afraid to let you know what he's thinking. He'll let if fly. They'll have to work for their titles, but you have to like their chances."

One of Weston's losses this season was to Westwood's Austin Moyer, who entered sectionals unbeaten. Weston avenged that loss in the section final Feb. 7 at Skyline High, with a narrow decision over Moyer. Kieffer prevailed via pin, topping Dobson's Zachary Gutierrez.

The Taylor twins high school careers have paralleled each other's very nearly to a tee when you add up their successes year round in the sport.  But then what would one expect from identical twins?

D-I SEEDS (TOP 4)

106-pounds -- 1. Roman Bravo-Young (SS); 2. Ray Ramirez (RM); 3. Diego Murrietta (Cent); 4. Luke Jacobs (BCP). 113 -- 1. Danny Vega (IRWR); 2. Keenan Woodburn (BCP); 3. Rocky Ciminera (Mill); 4. Steven Santos (RM). 120 -- 1. Paden Mason (MTV); 2. Bryce Saylor (Cent); 3. Angel Laguna (SS); 4. Valentin Hernandez (BCP). 126 -- 1. Brandon Vela, (WC); 2. Branson Tibbs (BC); 3. Alfredo Calzadillas (IRWR); 4. Ryan Farina (CDS). 132 -- 1. Juaquin Olivas (SS); 2. Cory Crooks (BC); 3. Jerod Booth (MTV); 4. Patrick Cross (VV). 138 -- 1. Marc Farina (CDS); 2. Joel Rico (CHAN); 3. Taylor Rich (SDO); 4. Aiden Diggs (Mill). 145 -- 1. Taber Spray (BC); 2. Anthony Wokasch (MTV); 3. Jeremy Benson (IRWR); 4. Ulises Palomino (Cent). 152 - 1. Blake Monty (MTV); 2. Quintin Shadle (TRB); 3. Ryan Fischer (MTR); 4. Derek Tangap (SS). 160 - 1. Harold Johnson (CCH); 2. Weston Taylor (MTV); 3. Marcos Frias (SS); 4. Nathan Suwyn (MTR). 170 -- 1.  Kieffer Taylor (MTV); 2. Jacob Vastine (Mill); 3. Sebastian Mordeca (SS); 4. Kile Pendergraft (BC). 182 -- 1. Allen Jones (Mesa); 2. Chris Davis (SDO); 3. Jesse Villegas (SS); 4. Anthony Baca (Cent). 195 - 1. Jeremiah Imonode (DV); 2. Jarom Christensen (SDO); 3. Kiefer Sites (VV); 4. Phoenix Hollen (MTV). 220 -- 1. Travis Howard (Marana); 2. Lewis Arendall (Cent); 3. Austin Scoggin (RM); 4. Chase Boiseau (Chap). 285 - 1. Esequiel Valles (RM); 2. William Cawood (Perry); 3. Matthew Hutka (MTR); 4. Justin Moore (VV).

Abbreviations -- Boulder Creek (BC); Brophy (BCP); Centennial (Cent); Cesar Chavez (CCH); Chandler (Chan); Chaparral (Chap); Corona del Sol (CDS); Desert Vista (DV); Ironwood Ridge (IRWR); Millennium (Mill); Mountain Ridge (MTR); Mesa Mountain View (MVT); Red Mountain (RM); Sandra Day O'Connor (SDO); Sunnyside (SS); Trevor Browne (TRB); Valley Vista (VV); Willow Canyon (WC).     

D-I TOURNAMENT NOTES: Defending team champion is Mesa Mountain View. The rest of last year's top five in the team standings were Sunnyside, Boulder Creek, Corona del Sol and Ironwood Ridge. This year's section champs are Sunnyside, Mountain Ridge, Centennial and Mesa Mountain View. Centennial brings the most qualifiers (14), followed by Mesa Mountain View (12) and Sunnyside, Mountain Ridge and Sandra Day O'Connor with 10 each. Teams qualifying the most section champs are Mountain View and Sunnyside with seven each, Centennial with five and Boulder Creek with four. There are four defending individual champions. They are Ironwood Ridge's Danny Vega, Sunnyside's Juaquin Olivas, Mountain View's Blake Monty and Centennial's Lewis Arendall.Vega won at 106 last year, Olivas won at 120, Monty at 145 and Arendall at 220. Olivas is a two-time champ. Four wrestlers enter state competition unbeaten for the season. They are Sunnyside's Roman Bravo-Young 39-0 (106); Ironwood Ridge's Vega 30-0 (113); Desert Vista's Jeremiah Imonode 36-0 (195) and Marana's Travis Howard 44-0 (220).  Eleven wrestlers who won titles at the prestigious Flowing Wells invitational in mid-January are competing for D-I titles -- Bravo-Young, Vega, Mesa Mountain View's Paden Mason (MTV); Olivas; Corona del Sol's Marc Farina; Mesa Mountain View's Anthony Wokasch, Monty, Weston Taylor, Kieffer Taylor, Imonode and Howard.