Panthers claim 4 champs/4 placers at Region 2 Tourney

by David Tesitor

SANFORD — The John Mall Panthers opened up the 2A Region 2 Tournament in Sanford as expected, with opening round victories from their ranked wrestlers, setting the stage for their championship matches. In doing so, John Mall closed the first day session with a 51 point lead, followed by Fowler with 50 and County Line at 48. Also as expected, the lead would change hands several times the next day. County Line ultimately won the crown (see related story). John Mall took 11 wrestlers to the tournament and all but three qualified for state. Two, DJ Van Matre and Johnny D’Ambrosia placed fifth.

With five in the championship finals, the John Mall wrestlers knew a win would give them preferential placement in the state brackets to be released Monday. Their assumptions were correct as the four first-place finishers will meet either the number 15 or 16 seeds at state.

The first champ to qualify was Wesley ‘AJ’ Van Matre. who easily defeated Dorian Pillsbury of Hanover in the quarterfinals in a 26 second pin. His semifinal bout was just as fast as he pinned Jesus Hernandez-Ayala of Center in 27 seconds. He was saving his strength for a rematch against Brett Benavides of Del Norte, a second rematch of when he narrowly beat Benavides (5-4) two weeks ago. Van Matre toyed with the Del Norte star for three minutes, head slapping the opponent, sending a message before he went to work, scoring two take downs and a near pin. Benavides’ only point in the 6-1 decision was an escape.

Next up was Anthony Aldretti at 138 pounds. He cautiously worked all three opponents, scoring points, looking for the right moments as he scored his three wins by pin fall. He took 2:37 to pin Anthony Balderas of Del Norte in the quarterfinal; 4:57 in the semifinal match against Joaquin Martinez of Dolores Huerta; and, in the finals, scored a 1:49 minute win over Ray Perez of Custer County. Aldretti dedicated the tournament to his grandfather whom he had lost the week before.

At 145 pounds, Trystan Estrada placed first, scoring 24 team points. Estrada won his quarterfinals and semifinals by pin fall over Bobbie Maes (Sierra Grande/Centennial) in a time of 02:59 and by fall over Cade Zordel (County Line) in 40 seconds. In the championship match, Estrada fought one of his toughest matches of the season against Dylan Palomino of Fowler. Palomino took a 3-2 advantage after one, scoring an escape to take a slim lead. Working the second period, Estrada took the lead, 4-3 with a forceful takedown forcing an injury time out. It allowed Palomino time to recover where, from the down position, got an escape. The match continued with Palomino leading 5-4 with 2.1 seconds remaining. Estrada escaped as time ran out, forcing sudden death. Ten seconds into the match, Estrada scored on a takedown, winning the match.

Nick Griego at 160 pounds was the fourth Panther to win the championship with two falls and a decision in the semifinals. Griego had little trouble against Keegan Medina of Del Norte, winning by pin in 3:38. In the semifinals, Griego won an 11-7 decision over Thomas Goeritz of Fowler. The victory eliminated Fowler from overtaking second place. For the championship, Griego pinned Aaron Anderson from Custer County in 1:49.

The last Panther in the championship rounds was heavyweight Dylan Crump. Crump placed second and will be the #7 seed at state. Crump pinned Tristan Griffin of Hanover in 4:20 on the quarterfinal, guaranteeing Crump a place at state. The only question was, what place? For the semifinal, Crump went the distance with Tyler Mullins of Fowler, winning the tie breaker 3-1. With each opponent scoring one escape point from the standing position, it took Crump 10 seconds in overtime to slam Mullins for the two points and the win. In the championship match, Ken Cox of County Line pinned Crump at the 3:06 mark. Crump and Cox stood head-to-head for three minutes before the takedown and ultimate pin.

Also qualifying was Travis Vialpando at 113 pounds, who placed third. Vialpando lost his semifinal bout to Michael Atencio of Rye, the number one seed at state and #1 ranked. Vialpando went on to win his next two matches, both by pin against Fernando Salazar of Fowler in a time of 3:34 and, for third, a pin over Salvador Vigil from Mountain Valley in 4:45.

At 120 pounds, Miguel Sanchez placed fourth and earned his first trip to state. After losing his quarterfinal match to Alejandro Velasquez (Sierra Grande/Centennial) by a score of 16-1, Sanchez fought back, winning his next three consolation matches, all by pin fall. His win over Kelvin Knapp (Center) in 3:08 kept him in the tournament. He next won over Bryton Burkhart (Sargent) in 1:45 and, in the consolation semifinals, over Riley Prichard (Rye) in 4:09. He was pinned by Alejandro Velasquez (Sierra Grande/Centennial) in 4:18 for third place. Having earlier defeated Prichard, there was no wrestle back.

Finally, Kaleb Rehm at 182 pounds placed fourth. After losing a 7-4 decision to Timothy De La Cruz (Dolores Huerta) in the quarterfinal, Rehm kept his hopes alive by pinning Fisher Jones (Del Norte) in 3:38 to move onto a third place matchup. He lost a close 3-0 decision. Since he had beaten Jones earlier, there was no wrestle back.