Wrestling's elite - rankings the top wrestlers in Arizona history
The history of Arizona wrestling is unique and pretty special.
We can’t match the history and depth midwestern powers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, and the like, simply because of a lack of population and popularity.
With that said, Arizona can build a strong case with an Olympic champion (Henry Cejudo), an Olympic team member (Billy Rosado) who missed out because of the 1980 boycott, UFC Champions (Cain Velazquez, Justin Gaethje (interim), Cejudo), national high school champions (numerous including Roman Bravo-Young), a triple-crown winner (Danny Vega), NCAA National champions (Anthony Robles, Eric Larkin, Eddie Urbano, etc.), Outstanding wrestler awards at NCAA tournament (Robles), a Hodge Trophy winner (Larkin) as the NCAA wrestler of the Year, members of Arizona State’s 1988 national championship team (Thom Ortiz, Jim Gressly, Chip Parks) and have a motion picture made about their life (Robles – Unstoppable – there is no release date).
That’s a heck of a lot for a state that is never mentioned among national powers, but I have always maintained that Arizona’s top tier can compete nationally. With only about 180 schools that compete in wrestling there isn’t the depth of Ohio, which has 700-plus schools, and others.
And that’s what we are focusing on here – Arizona’s top tier. The best of the best. From all eras. Who are some of the greatest competitors to ever strap on a headgear, lace up their Asics and toe the line?
Before we get to that; let me tell you what fun it was putting this list of Arizona’s best together. Connecting with coaches, talking about the sport we love and the history of it.
There are a million stories to tell – like the time the state tournament action stopped on all other mats so everyone could watch McClintock’s Tom Mills and Pueblo’s Pete Durazo in the 1970s when two nationally-ranked wrestlers met in the semifinals – and my hope is to tell them here at ArizonaVarsity.com.
That will come over time.
Right now, I wanted to attempt to rank some of the top wrestlers in Arizona wrestling history.
I reached out to several coaches that I respect and know the history better than I.
I’ve been here since 2004 and seen many of these competitors firsthand, but my knowledge of those before that time is limited to the stories I’ve been told by those same coaches most of the time while in the hospitality room of a tournament or late night at Buffalo Wild Wings in Prescott Valley. I reached out to nine coaches and voted myself, giving me a creative license to try and put together a comprehensive list and come up with a system.
There are some flaws no doubt, but I am just trying to create conversation, debate and remember some of the top wrestlers of the past.
The thing I enjoyed the most during the process is some of the info the coaches included in their rankings like Gilbert’s Art Hamlet had “a deep waist ride that would hurt guys” or Payson’s Nate Late “was a rolling farm boy.” A couple more were Santa Rita’s Billy Rosado had “movements were so fast that they seemed to blur like in a cartoon, only live matside,” and Benson’s Alvaro Fenn had a “ powerful switch that was unstoppable.”
There were some biases of course. These coaches led and helped develop many of these competitors. They have an undeniable connection, and they may have held their own wrestler in higher regard than others. I have no problem with that. Believe in your own. It all balances out in the end.
One very long-time coach decided to not to vote. He felt like it can only be done by decade. Rank wrestlers against their contemporaries because it is too hard to measure different eras against one another. Wrestlers over the last decade have more national tournament opportunities than the top competitors in the previous generations. He has a point, but that’s a project for another day.
Another variable was the fact that some voters put more weight on the high school accomplishments and others included the post-high school career. It explains how someone like Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, isn’t a unanimous choice because he won two Arizona state titles before moving to Colorado, where he also won two state titles, to be near the Olympic training center. So, his Arizona career was only two seasons. How are his two state titles compared someone who won three or four Arizona state titles? I gave the voters the chance to make that choice on their own.
So, this isn’t an exact and complete mistake-free poll. It’s a matter of opinions and wide-ranging ones at that. But with the 2021 season delayed a second time, I figured it would be good to way to create some wrestling talk until the athletes get back on the mat.
Read it. Dissect it. Remember the names. Debate it. Produce your own list. Have fun with it.
Wrestler School Votes/Mentions
1. Roman Bravo Young, Sunnyside, 10
2. Anthony Robles, Mesa, 9
3. Erik Larkin, Sunnyside, 9
4. Nate Gallick, Sunnyside, 9
5. Henry Cejudo, Maryvale 8
6. Cain Velazquez, Kofa, 8
7. Eddie Urbano, Sunnyside, 8
8. Wayne McMinn, Apache Junction, 8
9. Thom Ortiz, Sunnyside, 7
10. Curly Culp, Yuma, 7
Others receiving votes/mentions (some coaches listed more than 10): Nick Frost (Salpointe Catholic) 6, Aaron Simpson (Antelope) 6, Billy Rosado (Santa Rita) 5, Shawn Charles (Santa Rita) 5, Russell Winer (Carl Hayden) 2, Angel Cejudo (Maryvale) 2, Art Hamlet (Gilbert), Sammy Chagolla (Peoria), Rob McMinn (Apache Junction), Alavro Fenn (Benson), Nate Lee (Payson), Kyle DeBerry (Sunnyside), Tim Croff (Dobson), Andy Jay (Mesa), Marcus Castillo (Marana Mountain View), Jim Gressly (Chandler), Tom Mills (McClintock), Jacob Swift (Thunderbird/Deer Valley), Tyson Rondeau (Shadow Mountain), Danny Felix (South Mountain), Nori Yamamoto (Marcos de Niza), Luke Goettl (Mingus), Chip Parks (Westwood), Joey Hooker (Marcos de Niza), Townsend Saunders (Sierra Vista).