Warriors take pair of titles

GLENDALE - San Pasqual's little guys came up big at the state wrestling finals.

Both Greg Delgado and Julio Saldana came away with the hardware and accolades that come with garnering a 1A-2A state title on Saturday at Jobing.com Arena.

First, Delgado (45-2) took the mat in the 103-pound final and defeated Paul Collins of Wilcox, 6-1. The senior jumped in front with a takedown of the sophomore 30 seconds into the match.

The top seed put the match well out reach of Collins (49-5) with reversals in the second and third periods.

"It's exciting man," Delgado said. "I've been preparing for this all year. I was kind of nervous but I did good."

Warriors teammate Saldana (25-3) walked onto the same mat and scored a second-period pin of Camp Verde sophomore Jon Landavaso (29-5) in the 112 final.

Saldana, also a sophomore, took a 2-0 lead in the first period with a takedown and opened the second with a reversal that led straight into the pin with 36 seconds left in the period.

The two underclassmen and first and second seeds met a week ago in the region finals. So, Saldana had a good idea of what was coming when he took the bottom position in the second period.

"I knew I could do it," Saldana said. "In regional, he leg-rided me a lot and threw in the legs so all I could do was stand up and hip him or grab his head or something. So if he was going to do it again, I was going to do the same thing. So, I grabbed it, took the chance and grabbed it again."

Saldana and Delgada have been pushing one another in practice all season.

"My partner the 103-pounder and I go all out all the time in practice," Saldana said. "They say you wrestle the way you practice so we work hard in practice."

Three others from Yuma County schools advanced to the finals but had to settle for second - Antelope's Etien Orozco (215) and Yuma Catholic's Emilio Mendoza (119) and Alyosha Sandigo (152).

Orozco (56-8) finished his career with a 4-3 loss to Benson's Luke Boardman, who was unbeaten on the year at 55-0. The Rams' senior was also runner-up at 215 in 2007.

Both Mendoza (12-4) and Sandigo (53-4) will have another chance at a state title.

Mendoza lost to Hayden's Avelino Estrada 12-6 while Sandigo lost 6-2 to Camp Verde senior Jacob Wolfe in a match that was televised.

San Pasqual's Pedro Martinez (171) and Ruben Esperanza (285) earned third-place medals for the Warriors.

Yuma Catholic's Nick Waterford (215) and Antelope's Curtis Fowler won their fifth-place matches. Waterford, a sophomore, was sent to the consolation bracket after losing to Boardman in the semifinals early on Saturday.

Antelope's Jay Mintzmyer (145) came in sixth. Medals are given to the top-six placers in each weight class.