Spartans rally to defend title

Coming into day two of the 4A Southern Zone Wrestling Tournament, Cimarron-Memorial's three-year lock on the event title appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

The Spartans went into Saturday's action at Centennial High School 4.5 points behind Bonanza, a squad loaded with potential zone finalists.

Things got worse before they got better for the defending 4A state champs, as Cimarron slid into third place after the morning session, 7.5 points behind Rancho and a half-point behind the Bengals.

And then, as the clock struck noon, the Spartan machine began to churn.

Sophomore Curtis Johnson got things going in the right direction for Cimarron, posting a hard-fought 8-3 decision over Rancho's Jared Medina in their 121-pound semifinal.

Moments later, junior Nate Stephan pulled out a critical 6-4 win over Bonanza's Aaron Hopwood in a 132-pound consolation match. After trailing early, Stephan took a lead in third period, then rode his opponent for more than a minute and a half for the victory.

As expected, the Spartans got easy wins at 137 and 147 pounds, with senior Chris Harris and junior Rayes Gonzales both pinning their semifinal opponents to earn extra points for their team. Then at 162 pounds, Cimarron got some surprising points from junior Andrew Rhodes, who downed Las Vegas' Anthony Sharron, 8-6 in overtime, to advance to the finals.

By the time Spartan juniors Joe Tussing (173) and Brandon Garcia (217) stepped onto the mats for their semifinal matches, their squad was firmly in control of the proceeding, vaulting into first place, 3.5 points ahead of Bonanza and 5.5 ahead of Rancho.

Cimarron would never trail again, winning its fourth consecutive zone title with 199 points, 37.5 more than second-place Las Vegas and 64 ahead of Bonanza.

"Normally in a tournament situation, things are made or broken in the semifinals," Spartans coach Tim Jeffries said. "That's where you score your advancement points into the finals."

At the same time Cimarron was making its move, the wheels were coming off for the Bengals. Minutes after Hopwood's loss to Stephan, 137-pounder Josh Leavitt -- one of the favorites in his weight class -- suffered a stunning 6-5 defeat to Cheyenne's Bret Zieja in the semifinal round.

Zieja won the match with a takedown with one second remaining on the clock, prompting an argument from Bonanza coach Russell Leet, who was fined one team point for his outburst.

Also costly to the Bengals' chances was the 154-pound semifinal match, where Travis Best -- a pick by many to win his weight class -- lost a 3-1 decision to Basic's Aaron Martinez. Later in the session, Bonanza 277-pounder Adam Seward suffered a 12-5 loss to Silverado's V.R. Bohman.

"Bonanza was hot early, on the first day and early morning Saturday," Jeffries said. "And then things can happen. Sometimes you get a snowball going one way, sometimes the other way."

After coming into Saturday's action with a legitimate chance to wrest Cimarron's team title away, the Bengals wound up with just two wrestlers in the final round: 105-pounder Cody Chapman and 147-pounder Jason Esquivel.

Chapman would win his match and Leavitt, Best, Seward and 114-pounder Orbie Ottey would all win their consolation finals to take third. But it was far too little, too late, as the Spartans went 6-for-6 in the championship round, with Johnson, Harris, Gonzales, Rhodes, Tussing and Garcia all taking home titles.

After holding a brief lead Saturday morning, Rancho ultimately fell victim to a lack of manpower in the upper weight classes. As expected, the Rams dominated several lower weights, with Chase Diller (114 pounds), Billy Rosado (127) and Josh Medina (142) all claiming titles, Brian Waite (105) placing second and Jered Medina (121) coming in third.

Las Vegas produced two individual champions -- 191-pounder Jacob Hales, who won his final match against Western's Mark Foster by injury default, and 277-pounder Troy Halewell, who bested Bohman, 4-3, in the finals. Five other Wildcats placed among the top five in their weight class, helping their team to its second-place finish.

Also capturing individual championships were Eldorado 132-pounder Jerek Padilla and Basic's Martinez, who posted an 11-4 win over Las Vegas' Greg Gifford to win the 154-pound title.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to this weekend's 4A State Championships, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Cimarron-Memorial.

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