DENVER | Grandview’s push for its highest finish at the Class 5A state wrestling tournament got off to an outstanding start in Thursday’s opening round at Pepsi Center.
Six of the Wolves’ Aurora-best nine qualifiers earned their way through to Friday’s 12:45 p.m. quarterfinals with opening round victories — part of an 18-11 showing by Aurora wrestlers in the preliminaries — and coach Ryan Budd’s team is perched in the No. 2 spot in the team standings.
Senior Fabian Santillan started his quest to win back-to-back state championships with a win by technical fall in a 138-pound first round match, seniors Matthew Frye (145), Dylan Ranieri (152) and Brice Hartzheim (170) plus junior Joseph Renner (195) all won by fall, and junior Alex Santillan (126) captured a major decision to give Grandview a heavy presence in the second round.
Fabian Santillan won his fifth consecutive match at the state tournament — following his 4-0 run to the 126-pound crown last season — with a commanding 17-1 technical fall victory over Northglenn’s Angel Alvidrez. Santillan’s 45th-win of the season put him into a quarterfinal against Pine Creek’s Brayden Roman.
Returning state placers Ranieri and Renner both posted tidy pins, over Chaparral’s Cameron Cline and Pomona’s Samuel Bruno, respectively, with Renner needing just 38 seconds to record his. Ranieri will face Valor Christian’s Jack Howell in the quarterfinals, while Renner is pitted against Castle View’s Jack Smith.
Alex Santillan, another returning state placer, had little difficult with Castle View’s Noah Fitzgerald in a 15-1 major decision. He will oppose Poudre’s Dean Noble in a 126-pound quarterfinal in an attempt to make the semifinals for a second straight season.
Frye and Hartzheim each went 1-2 at last season’s state tournament and both matched that win total with crisp first round victories.
Frye came up just short of Renner for fastest match of the night when he used 42 seconds to put down Pine Creek’s Jace Graves, with the victory earning him a chance to face Regis Jesuit’s Antonio Segura in an all-Aurora 145-pound quarterfinal. The winner of that is likely to face Pomona’s Theorius Robison — who is attempting to win his fourth state championship — in the 6:45 p.m. semifinals.
Hartzheim’s win by fall late in the first period over Mountain Vista’s Lance Betts put him in the exact same position as last year at state, with a rematch against Grand Junction’s Jay Skalecki. Skalecki won an 8-5 decision over Hartzheim last season in the quarterfinals and went on to place third, while Hartzheim lost in the consolation bracket.
The Wolves nearly had a seventh wrestler move through, but sophomore 106-pounder Frankie Sanchez gave up a late takedown to Mountain Range’s Ronnie Ortiz for a 5-4 loss.
Junior Isaac Smith (182 pounds) and freshman Angelo Falise (220 pounds) both lost by fall in the opening round and are part of a group of 11 Aurora wrestlers who have dropped into the consolation portion of the bracket, which will wrestle after the championship quarterfinal round.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
2019 CLASS 5A STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
AURORA QUARTERFINAL MATCHES (FEB. 22, 12:45 P.M. AT PEPSI CENTER)
113 pounds: Upper bracket — ANDREW CHILTON, JR., CHEROKEE TRAIL (34-6) vs. Jacob Judd, fr., Pomona (23-12)
120 pounds: Lower bracket — Justin McCoy, sr., Brighton (29-10) vs. CAELEB KNOLL, JR., EAGLECREST (25-4)
126 pounds: Upper bracket — ALEX SANTILLAN, JR., GRANDVIEW (31-9) vs. Dean Noble, jr., Poudre (41-7); Lower bracket — ISAIAH BRADLEY, SR., OVERLAND (32-4) vs. Taylor Vasquez, sr., Fountain-Fort Carson (40-7)
132 pounds: Lower bracket — Antonio Guerrero, jr., Brighton (30-10) vs. MIGUEL MENDOZA III, SR., OVERLAND (38-5)
138 pounds: Upper bracket — Brayden Roman, jr., Pine Creek (15-7) vs. FABIAN SANTILLAN, SR., GRANDVIEW (45-3)
145 pounds: Upper bracket — MATTHEW FRYE, SR., GRANDVIEW (25-16) vs. ANTONIO SEGURA, SOPH., REGIS JESUIT (33-8); Lower bracket — Cody Ginther, soph., Fossil Ridge (37-7) vs. DAVID RIVERA, SR., CHEROKEE TRAIL (39-5)
152 pounds: Upper bracket — Jack Howell, soph., Valor Christian (21-9) vs. DYLAN RANIERI, SR., GRANDVIEW (35-8); Lower bracket — TYLER MACCAGNAN, SR., EAGLECREST (38-6) vs. Tyson Beauperthuy, jr., Doherty (36-2)
170 pounds: Upper bracket — EMERY BEMIS, JR., HINKLEY (24-11) vs. Kai Blake, sr., Cherry Creek (42-3); Lower bracket — Jay Skalecki, sr., Grand Junction (25-4) vs. BRICE HARTZHEIM, SR., GRANDVIEW (23-5)
195 pounds: Upper bracket — MICAH STERLING, SR., EAGLECREST (29-14) vs. Ed Delva, sr., Columbine (25-7); Lower bracket — Jack Smith, sr., Castle View (14-7) vs. JOE RENNER, JR., GRANDVIEW (33-8)
220 pounds: Upper bracket — DAVID HOAGE, SR., SMOKY HILL (22-3) vs. Hunter Tobiasson, sr., Grand Junction (39-0); OSMAN YIGIT TOPUZ, SR., EAGLECREST (32-8) vs. Will Ponder, sr., Monarch (31-8); Lower bracket — Santana Solano, sr., Brighton (29-6) vs. SAM HART, SOPH., CHEROKEE TRAIL (37-6)
AURORA FIRST ROUND RESULTS (FEB. 21)
106 pounds: Lower bracket — Ronnie Ortiz (Mountain Range) dec. FRANKIE SANCHEZ (GRANDVIEW), 5-4
113 pounds: Upper bracket — ANDREW CHILTON (CHEROKEE TRAIL) dec. Brayden Wilkens (Brighton), 4-0
120 pounds: Upper bracket — Dawson Collins (Grand Junction) tech. fall ADOLFO GRANADOS SANCHEZ (SMOKY HILL), 18-3; Lower bracket — Aiden Okamura (ThunderRidge) dec. GRANT BRADLEY (OVERLAND), 6-4 (OT); CAELEB KNOLL (EAGLECREST) maj. dec. Jace Stubbs (Chaparral), 14-1
126 pounds: Upper bracket — ALEX SANTILLAN (GRANDVIEW) maj. dec. Noah Fitzgerald (Castle View), 15-1; Lower bracket — ISAIAH BRADLEY (OVERLAND) dec. Trey Johnson (Chaparral), 12-7
132 pounds: Upper bracket — Walker Heckendorf (Poudre) pinned KYLE MACCAGNAN (EAGLECREST), 3:32; Lower bracket — MIGUEL MENDOZA III (OVERLAND) tech. fall Joe Barela (Fountain-Fort Carson), 17-2
138 pounds: Upper bracket — FABIAN SANTILLAN (GRANDVIEW) tech. fall Angel Alvidrez (Northglenn), 17-1; Lower bracket — Ben Bancroft (Rampart) maj. dec. BRANDON BORGONAH (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 11-3
145 pounds: Upper bracket — MATTHEW FRYE (GRANDVIEW) pinned Jace Graves (Pine Creek), 0:42; ANTONIO SEGURA (REGIS JESUIT) dec. WERALS NIYANGABO (AURORA CENTRAL), 9-3; Lower bracket — DAVID RIVERA (CHEROKEE TRAIL) maj. dec. Dominic Helbok (Adams City), 10-0
152 pounds: Upper bracket — DYLAN RANIERI (GRANDVIEW) pinned Cameron Klein (Chaparral), 2:26; Lower bracket — Dakota Key (Legacy) pinned BROCK LABONDE (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 5:41; TYLER MACCAGNAN (EAGLECREST) dec. Landon Suter (Pine Creek), 4-0
170 pounds: Upper bracket — EMERY BEMIS (HINKLEY) dec. Theron Sovndal (Boulder), 4-3; Lower bracket — BRICE HARTZHEIM (GRANDVIEW) pinned Vance Betts (Mountain Vista), 1:59
182 pounds: Upper bracket — Jack Welch (Valor Christian) pinned ANTONIO SANDORA (REGIS JESUIT), 2:48; Lower bracket — Franklin Cruz (Pomona) pinned ISAAC SMITH (GRANDVIEW), 0:50
195 pounds: Upper bracket — MICAH STERLING (EAGLECREST) pinned Charlie Fetterly (Arapahoe), 3:51; Lower bracket — JOE RENNER (GRANDVIEW) pinned Samuel Bruno (Pomona), 0:38; Jack Smith (Castle View) pinned BROCK HOWARD (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 4:58
220 pounds: Upper bracket — DAVID HOAGE (SMOKY HILL) pinned Ryan Joas (Castle View), 2:46; OSMAN YIGIT TOPUZ (EAGLECREST) pinned ANGELO FALISE (GRANDVIEW), 3:41; Lower bracket — SAM HART (CHEROKEE TRAIL) pinned Christian Buchholz (Pomona), 1:49