Española Valley senior Mariano Montoya raised his hand over his head and pointed into the stands at the Santa Ana Star Center after his 8-4 victory over Del Norte’s Deion Medina Feb. 20 in the Class AAAA 145-pound state title match.
“I never really thought I would be a state champion, much less undefeated,” Montoya said. “It hasn’t even hit me yet.”
Montoya finshed the season with a 43-0 record to become the first undefeated state champion in school history. He was also the only Sundevil to win a title at this year’s state meet. The Sundevils finished 13th out of 25 teams in the team standings, scoring 71 points. Volcano Vista finished first with 198 points.
Montoya’s family was in the stands, including older brother Lucas Montoya, who had lost last season in the state 135-pound championship match.
“He’s my biggest fan,” Mariano Montoya said. “He’s the one that screamed the loudest.”
For Mariano Montoya, it was the culmination to a grueling season in which he had to constantly watch his weight and set an example for his teammates as captain of the Sundevils wrestling team. Just before the start of the championship match, there had been a break in the action as medals were awarded to wrestlers in the 103- through 140-pound weight classes. Montoya and Medina stalked around the mat like anxious predators waiting to ambush their prey.
“It’s very stressful thinking about state and stressful being here, having to wrestle and wait,” Montoya said. “I’m glad it’s over. I can eat now. I can celebrate.”
Montoya and Medina had never met during the season. Montoya entered the state meet as the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class, while Medina came in ranked second with a 27-6 record. Nevertheless, Medina scored first, taking down Montoya and scoring two points.
“When he scored on me, I thought, ‘This guy is good,’” Montoya said.
Montoya rallied and scored a point on an escape. He took down Medina twice to take a 5-2 lead, but Medina countered with a reversal to make the score 5-4.
Medina locked Montoya in a leg ride in the third quarter that seemed impossible to shake, but Montoya finally worked his way free.
“Tall guys (like Medina) are hard to wrestle,” Española coach Henry MacErnie said. “(Medina) nearly turned Mariano over.”
Montoya scored on an escape and then had another takedown to grab an 8-4 lead. He held Medina down on the mat as the final seconds ticked away.
“Once I got those points on him, I just had to hold him there,” Montoya said.
Montoya’s road to the title had begun Feb. 19. He wasted no time in his first two matches, pinning Valencia’s Ramon Fuentes in 23 seconds and St. Pius X’s Robert Eldridge in 52 seconds. His semifinal match Feb. 20 against Roswell Goddard’s Lance Lessard concerned Montoya.
“I was more nervous about my semifinal match,” Montoya said.
Lessard had scored seven points on Montoya Jan. 29 at a meet in Las Vegas. It was the most points scored on Montoya by any wrestler during the season. Montoya had eventually won that match by pinning Lessard in the third period.
“I got warmed up better this time,” Montoya said. “I was ready to wrestle.”
At the state tournament, Montoya didn’t let Lessard get the upper hand, taking a 3-0 lead before pinning Lessard at 5:32 in the third period to advance to the championship match.
Montoya is the seventh state champion coached by MacErnie, who plans to retire at the end of this school year.
“It just feels great to have a champion,” MacErnie said. “He’s always been a good kid.”
No Team Medal
While Montoya exceeded expectations, the Sundevils overall disappointed at the end of this season. They failed to win the District 2AAAA title for the first time in five seasons and did not come close to a team medal at the state meet.
“We ran into some high seeds in the early rounds,” MacErnie said. “We should have fared better.”
Junior Dino Gipson at 125 pounds and senior Isaiah Martinez at 135 pounds were the only other of Española’s nine state qualifiers to earn medals at the meet, both finishing in fifth place.
Gipson had wanted to a win a title for his grandfather, James Gipson, who died Feb. 13, and his other grandfather, Geronimo Garcia, who died last year. Gipson lost a close 11-8 match to eventual state champion Derrick Pringle of Aztec in the semifinals.
“Dino had (Pringle) pinned, but the official was on the other side and by the time he got over there the kid was starting to roll out of it,” Española assistant coach Aaron Salinas said.
Gipson lost his next match, but recovered to win his final match 9-1 over Volcano Vistas’ Jacob Espana.
“I started coming back too late (against Pringle),” Gipson said. “I think I made (my grandfathers) pretty proud. I’ll come back next year and take state.”
Martinez lost his second match of the tournament 9-8 to Belen’s Wyatt Robinson. Martinez battled back through the consolation rounds, beating Moriarty’s Jeremy Gonzales 6-1 for fifth place.
“One last hurrah to end my career,” Martinez said.