The Class 4A mat at the state wrestling tournament had the attention of the Pepsi Center from the start Saturday night.

It started with controversy.

The 103-pound title match featured heavily favored Jesse Meis of Alamosa, a junior, against freshman Casey Lynn of Montezuma-Cortez. Meis led 12-0 when the match took a wild turn. Meis put Lynn on his back briefly midway through the second period, but as soon as the referee signaled his points, Lynn flipped Meis on his back. With 38 seconds left in the second, the referee slapped the mat, signaling a pin for Lynn. As the freshman jumped to his feet to celebrate, the Alamosa coaches calmly walked over to the scorer’s table to inform them that Meis had already won the match by technical fall, before the pin. As the crowd waited for the result, the referees confirmed the decision at the table. Then they signaled that Meis had, indeed, won. Lynn doubled over in agony at the changed decision, while Meis raised his arms in redemption.

"I thought I had him teched so I had relaxed a little bit,’’ said Meis, who improved his record to 43-1. "But I got kind of nervous?I thought maybe I had looked at the scoreboard wrong."

Meis’s technical fall also wrapped up a second straight team title for Alamosa. The Mean Moose outscored second place Northridge 144.5 to 125.5 for the title.

The drama continued in the 112-pound title match, where Victor Sanchez of Pueblo West upset Dale Shull of Fort Lupton 12-10 in overtime. Shull, a sophomore who had won the 103-pound championship last season, led 10-2 with just a minute, 11 seconds left in the third when Sanchez launched a furious comeback. He scored a takedown, then took Shull to his back twice, clinching the tying points just as regulation ended with a front cradle.

Shull still looked surprised as the overtime session got underway quickly, and Sanchez won with a takedown at the end of the one-minute extra session.

"Extreme joy,’’ was how the senior described the feeling of finally winning a state title. He had finished second at 103-pounds as a sophomore and fifth at 112 pounds as a junior. "It feels so awesome."

Sanchez said he wasn’t thinking of a specific plan to make up the points in the final minute of regulation. He just knew he had to score quickly if he wanted to keep his dream of a state title alive.

"When you’re down (that far) with a minute left, there’s nothing really in your head,’’ said Sanchez (27-1). "At the

end I thought I was still down a point or two."

Shull (35-3) said Sanchez had an advantage at the end of the match because he had conserved his energy.

"He wasn’t moving as much as me, so he probably had more energy,’’ he said.

Shull had finished his freshman year 37-0, and suffered the first losses of his career this season when he moved up to the higher weight class. Even though Sanchez was a friend that he had roomed with at a wrestling camp at Western State, the loss was still hard.

"A loss is always disappointing,’’ he said. "You never put it totally behind you.’’

Saul Guerrero had to put last week’s loss to Samuel Soto behind him in the 130 -pound title match. Guerrero, a junior who won a 119-pound title last year, lost to Soto in the regional finals, but Saturday he won his second championship with a 5-2 victory.

"I had a different plan and more motivation,’’ said Guerrero (37-5). "It wasn’t a revenge thing, though. We wrestle all the time and we’re really good friends."

The match most people were waiting for in 4A turned out to be a short one. Sonny Yohn won his third state title when he pinned Nick Navratil of Moffat County at 189 pounds. Navratil was the last unbeaten 4A wrestler, but Yohn scored in the first seconds by shucking him and taking him down. Yohn, ranked No. 2 in the country, used the shuck several times to build an 8-3 lead in the second period before he pinned Navratil (43-1).

"That’s what I got him with the last time we wrestled,’’ said Yohn, who faced Navratil last December in a national tournament. "I was able to push by him every time. I knew he’d be tough, though. I just wanted to get it finished quickly."

Yohn finished his career with three individual titles and led the Mean Moose to two team titles. He also got to win a title with his younger brother, Cody, for the second straight year. Cody (41-1) became a two-time champion with a victory at 160 pounds.

"It’s nice to go out on top,’’ Sonny said.

Broomfield’s David Marone also won a second state title at 215 pounds.



Team scores

Alamosa 144.5;

Northridge 125.5;

Broomfield 114;

Pueblo West 92.5;

Fort Morgan 88;

Greeley Central 83.5;

Rifle 76;

Moffat County 74;

Fort Lupton 67;

Thompson Valley 60;

Palisade 45;

Windsor 43;

Pueblo East 41.5;

Mullen 37;

Montezuma-Cortez 36;

Eagle Valley 35;

Pueblo South 34;

Cheyenne Mountain 32;

Berthoud 30;

tie, Conifer, Mountain View 29;

22. Thomas Jefferson 27;

Greeley West 23;

Ranum 21;

tie, Fountain-Ft.Carson, Golden, 20;

tie, Longmont, Prairie View, 19;

Englewood 16;

Elizabeth 15;

Liberty 14;

tie, Ralston Valley, Steamboat Springs 12;

34. Pueblo County 9;

35. tie, Canon City, Frederick 8;

37. Widefield 7;

38. Pueblo Central 6.5;

39. Delta 6;

40. Harrison 5;

41. tie, Mesa Ridge, Rock Canyon 4;

43. Sierra 3.5;

44. tie, Cherokee Trail, Skyline 3;

46. tie, Evergreen, Montrose, Ridgeview Academy, Woodland Park 2;

50. tie, Fossil Ridge, Sterling 1;

Championship matches

103 – Jesse Meis, Alamosa, def. Casey Lynn, Montezuma-Cortez, 15-0.

112 – Victor Sanchez, Pueblo West, def. Dale Shull, Fort Lupton, 12-10 OT.

119 – Jeremy Aguero, Pueblo South, def. Duell Kelley, Alamosa, 5-2.

125 – Jake Breslin, Moffat County, pinned Jordan Garcia, Pueblo West, 1:55.

130 – Saul Guerrero, Fort Lupton, def. Samuel Soto, Fort Morgan, 5-2.

135 – Scott Schaeffer, Greeley Central, def. Justin Gonzales, Northridge, 4-2.

140 – Cory Casady, Broomfield, def. Matt Basquez, Pueblo East, 2-1 OT.

145 – Austin Stubaus, Cheyenne Mountain def. Justin Keys, Pueblo East, 9-1.

152 – Tim Long, Rifle, def. Seamus Waples, Mullen, 8-4.

160 – Cody Yohn, Alamosa, def. Patrick Gomez, Northridge, 3-1.

171 – Brice Wolf, Greeley Central, def. Mike Ross, Pueblo West, 11-2.

189 – Sonny Yohn, Alamosa, pinned Nick Navratil, Moffat County, 2:29.

215 – David Marone, Broomfield, pinned Justin Waterman, Greeley West, 3:05.

285 – Tim Saucedo, Northridge, def. Kyle Graulus, Fort Morgan, 3-1.



Third place matches



103 – Francisco Diego, Fort Morgan def. Gilbert Garcia, Prairie View, 4-3.

112 – Gabe Gomez, Broomfield, def. Zach Maes, Mullen, 4-3.

119 – James Conrardy, Rifle, pinned Eric Zamora, Fort Lupton, 2:50.

125 – James Rowell, Thompson Valley, def. Cody Goldschmidt, Elizabeth, 3-0.

130 – James Harvey, Eagle Valley, def. Justin Samora, Montezuma-Cortez, 6-4.

135 – Josh Lucero, Fountain-Fort Carson, def. Houston Mader, Steamboat Springs, 4-1.

140 – Rodney Hesse, Greeley Central, def. Spenser Sadlo, Berthoud, 11-0.

145 – Donovan Archuleta, Alamosa, def. Derek Fruetel, Rifle, 9-3.

152 – Joey Gomez, Golden, def. Matt Chavez, Fort Morgan, 6-2.

160 – Landon Barnes, Palisade, def. Rudy Chavez, Fort Morgan, 9-7.

171 – Johnny Ortega, Thompson Valley, pinned Steven Haddock, 2:27.

189 – Tony Chavarria, Pueblo West, def. Brendan Best, Eagle Valley, 3-1 OT.

215 – Blake Steiert, Mountain View, def. Tom Owsiany, Conifer, 11-7.

285 – Darren Christopher, Windsor, def. Mike Hawkins, Thomas Jefferson, 9-4.



Fifth place matches



103 – Joe Martinez, Ranum pinned Jerry Huff, Broomfield, 2:22.

112 – Dalton Kelley, Alamosa def. Ritchie Mata, Ralston Valley, 13-8.

119 – Vinnie Sanchez, Pueblo West, def. Nate Fisk, Conifer, 4-1.

125 – Ryan Trujillo, Broomfield, pinned Nick Ludwig, Berthoud, 1:31.

130 – Kyle Holman, Alamosa, def. Matt Kincheloe, Moffat County, 14-4.

135 – Eric Mortensen, Broomfield, def. Curtis Martinez, Mountain View, 7-0.

140 – Drake Huggans, Northridge, def. Jeff Phillips, Thompson Valley, 14-4.

145 – Easton Ramirez, Northridge, pinned Ryan Fountain, Frederic, 1:54.

152 – Derek Vasquez, Northridge, def. Chris McWhorter, Pueblo South, 3-2.

160 – Brandon Martz, Liberty, def. Jairin Potter, Englewood, 5-2.

171 – Tyler Thompson, Rifle, def. Terence Salazar, Northridge, 4-3.

189 – Josh Larson, Windsor, pinned Mike Dellatto, Thompson Valley, 2:00.

215 – Caleb Sisneros, Palisade, pinned Alfonzo Moore, Thomas Jefferson, 2:52.

285 – Nick Zissimos, Broomfield, def. Wes Owens, Palisade, 9-5.