Jaguar
wrestler nearly roars to title
by
Jason Stone
NORTH
VALLEY – Julian Hamilton nearly made history for Boulder
Creek wrestling at last week’s 5A‑Division II state
championships at Jobing.com Arena.
The
Jaguars’ 215‑pound star advanced all the way to
the title bout before falling to Jared Hiller of (Marana)
Mountain View to come up just short for the school’s first
individual wrestling state championship.
Hamilton
nipped Sunnyside’s Anthony Pike with an 8‑5 decision
in the semifinals Feb. 9 to set up the title bout against
Hiller. But in the finals, Hamilton’s luck caught up with
him as Hiller picked up a pin at the 3 minute, 28 second
mark.
Including
Hamilton, five local wrestlers placed at the first state
title meet held at the home of the Phoenix Coyotes in
Glendale.
Hamilton’s
teammate Nathan Hay took third in the 160‑pound
class, while Ben Kauffman of Sandra Day O’Connor, took
third at 125. Fourth‑place finishers included Goldwater’s
Christian Vargas (103 pounds) and O’Connor’s Kyle Burzych
(130).
The
tournament, which was held over two weekends, was only
used to settle individual state champions. The 5A staged
its team tournament in late January separate from the
individual tournament.
Hamilton’s
run in the 215‑pound class was certainly the local
highlight. After earning a first‑round bye, Hamilton
pinned North’s Juan Meza in second round, then advanced
to the semifinals by pinning David Miramontes at 4:34
into the match.
Hay
earned a third place via the consolation bracket. The
senior 160‑pounder won his first two matches in
the winner’s bracket after a first‑round bye, but
lost in the quarterfinals to Marshall Swerdfeger of region‑rival
Deer Valley.
However,
Hay fought back in the consolation bracket with a 6‑2
win over Flowing Wells’ Vinny Pesanti in the first match,
followed by a default victory over Desert Mountain’s Danny
Sluyk in the quarterfinals.
In
the consolation semifinals, Hay earned a narrow 3‑2
win over Westview’s Jason Sato. Hay then wrapped up third
place overall with a tough 5‑1 win over Jorge Benitez
of Kofa in the consolation finals.
Kauffman
took a similar route to third in the 125‑pound class,
but advanced deeper into the winner’s bracket than Hay.
After
early‑round wins over wrestlers from Flowing Wells,
Shadow Mountain and Ironwood, Kauffman fell 2‑1
in the semifinals to Said Martinez of North.
But
the frustration of losing by a point was erased by winning
consecutive matches by the same margin. Kauffman squeaked
by Centennial’s Cody Leisten 5‑4 in the consolation
semfinals, then beat Taylor Jensen of Marcos de Niza 4‑3
in the finals.
Vargas
advanced to the third‑place match through the consolation
bracket before losing 4‑0 to Kyle Gamez of (Marana)
Mountain View. Vargas went 4‑2 at the tournament.
Included in the wins was a thrilling 4‑3 decision
over O’Connor’s Jorden Geshell in the quarterfinals of
the consolation bracket.
Burzych,
who advanced to the semifinals of the winner’s bracket,
settled for third after losing two of his final three
matches. Burzych had steamrolled to the semis thanks to
a pin and two major decision wins in the first three rounds.
But
eventual champion Mike Moreno of Sunnyside routed Burzych
12‑1 in the semis to send him to the consolation
bracket. Burzych rolled over LaJoya’s Fradique Gamez 8‑0
in the consolation semis, but fell to Casey Cross of Centennial
8‑2 in the third‑place match.
Reach
the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.
