CWAC
South District Preview
(Last years state place is
highlighted in black)
103 - Top 5 Scott Thompson - EV (8th) |
Ashley,
DeLeon and Thompson have been beating each other up this
year. Ashley lost to DeLeon at the Royal Invite and then defeated him 16-11 in their dual meet. Thompson beat Ashley 8-7 and DeLeon 5-2 in duals. Tallon Cerna has come on late to make the south 103'ers very strong. Patrick Floyd placed 2nd at the Othello Invite. I looks like all four state qualifiers will come from these wrestlers. |
112 - Top 5 Edgar Mendez - Con (3rd) |
Hopkins and
Mendez have not wrestled each other this year. Mendez
defeated Garza 6-1 in their dual while Hopkins pinned Garza. A final with Hopkins and Mendez should be very interesting. Don't count out Garza however. He is capable of an upset. Winning the title here means you won't have to wrestle Longoria until the finals next week. That is a big incentive to win. |
119 - Top 5 Dago Velasquez - Con (1st) |
Dago
Velasquez will be starting his quest for state title
number 2. Joel Flores has disappeared from the wrestling scene late in the season, will he be ready for post-season action? Tony Cantu lost to Velasquez 8-5 early in the season. Cantu placed second to state champ, Zach Morgan of Selah, at the Westerberg Invite, losing by only 4-3. At the Dream Duals, Cantu took Michael Bell (3rd in state) into OT before losing, and defeated Daniel Curulla (7th in state) 6-4. Romero is short, stocky and tough. Ryan Corke has a mean leg-ride. |
125 - Top 5 Keith Smith - Oth (part) |
Keith Smith
defeated Angel Gonzalez 4-2 to vault himself into the top
spot. Jose Mendez has been wrestling very well this year. Angel defeated state champ Dago Velasquez 6-0 in the Toppenish-Connell dual. Jorge Perez has battled Smith daily in practice and could also come away with a district title. Perez lost by just 2 points in his dual with Mendez. Smith, Gonzalez and Perez were a combined 1-6 at at state last season. The 125 weightclass will be strongly contested this year as 4 other wrestlers from the north could vie for a state birth. |
130 - Top 5 JD Gomez - Oth (part) |
Another
weight class that could be filled with potential state
qualifiers. Possibly as many as 9 contenders including the north wrestlers. This could be an all Othello final with Gomez and Guzman.Velasquez is a newcomer, while Frasier has been through this before. Burns is somewhat erratic, but has potential. |
135 - Top 5 Rigo Pruneda - Oth (part) |
Pruneda's
stunning pin of Gonzalez showed that he is capable of
winning this weightclass. Was it a fluke or was it for real? We should find out at district. If these two meet in the finals, it will be worth watching. Derrick Gray could muddle things even further. Leon held his own with Gonzalez for one period before getting dominated in the last two periods of their match. |
140 - Top 5 Justin Corke - KB |
Justin Corke
has exploded onto the scene this year. He has big time
throwing ability and can wipe out a deficit in a hurry. Rae held a lead in the third round against Corke, only to get thrown to his back twice. Gomez was pinned by Corke. Hastings fought Corke hard in losing 5-2. Hastings is an unknown. He could challenge for a spot in the finals. Rae is a smart wrestler and is usually not taken by surprise as he was with Corke. |
145 - Top 5 Josh Corke - KB (1st) |
Corke has
pinned all contenders in the South. His biggest challenge
will come from Ives in the North. Prescott will be the most likely to make the finals against Corke. This is a weak weightclass in the CWAC this year. Corke and Willy Ives in the north are head and shoulders above the rest. Corke has refocused after his early season loss to state runner-up Michael Griffith of Lakeside, at the Best of the West tourney. |
152 - Top 5 Alex Torres - Oth (8th) |
Alex Torres
moves up to 152 and should be the favorite to take the
title. Magana lost 12-2 to Torres in a dual. Magana defeated Phipps 11-6 in their dual. Phipps and Magana pinned Ferguson. Others to watch in this weightclass will be Jacob Holden of East Valley and Justin Mack of Ki-Be. Holden lost 18-10 to Torres and 16-10 to Ferguson. Mack lost to Holden 5-3 in OT.. |
160 - Top 5 Juventino Orozco - Con (5th) |
It appeared
that Juventino was on his way to a state title last
season before his train was derailed in the semifinals. His train is rolling again. Brandon Wagner or teammate Tony Lee should give him a good challenge for the title. Rolland and Cantu wrestled a memorable match in the KiBe-Othello dual, with Rolland winning on a disqualification of Cantu for stalling. |
171 - Top 5 Josh Corriell - KB (8th) |
Josh Corriell
is likely the best candidate for a state title at 171 in
the 2A ranks. Josh has suffered only one defeat, that to a 3A wrestler. Joe Rosenkranz should fend off the others and meet Josh in the finals. Corriell and Rosenkranz have met twice this year with Corriell winning 12-2 and 10-1. Joe saves his best for the tournaments however. 171 has been a fairly week class in the CWAC this year. Davis and Niccum in the north have given Corriell the biggest test. |
189 - Top 5 Andy DeLeon - Oth |
Gause
defeated Vantrease 14-4. Vantrease beat DeLeon 11-6. And
DeLeon beat Gause 11-5. Gonzalez is a question mark but has the potential to beat any of the top three. This means that the title will go to the wrestler who has the best tournament. The wrestler who makes the fewest mistakes and is the most aggressive will most likely win this weightclass. |
215 - Top 5 Curt Davis - Oth |
Curt Davis is
tearing the competition apart lately. He major decisioned
Lee and defeated Messer 8-2. He had a surprisingly close match with Kyle Fay, 4-2. Chris Lee pinned Messer and Santos. Early in the season, Lee took first at the Royal Invite, while Davis placed third. Davis was pinned by north opponent Cesar Williams in a dual meet. |
275 - Top 5 Kyle Davis - Oth |
Kyle Davis
defeated McDorman at the Royal Invite. Kevin Hunter and
McDorman have been battleing each other for the varsity spot on the Ki-Be roster. The top three have an equal chance of winning. McDorman and Hunter met for the title in the Grandview Invite. A repeat at district is not out of the question. At regionals, these three will probably be batteling for the final two state births. |
Teams - Top 5 Othello |
This will be
an interesting battle between Othello, Connell and Ki-Be.
Othello will have the advantage with 17 ranked wrestlers. Connell will have 15 ranked wrestlers and the the Bears will have 13. East Valley, Naches and Toppenish will be batteling for the 4th spot. A recent rumor has it that 3 returning state qualifiers for Othello may be suspended from post-season action due to disciplinary actions. |