Wrestling: Canyon View’s five champs lead to third title
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Canyon View junior Justyn Bamba has his hand raised by an official after rallying to beat Marana Mountain View senior Henry Ofeciar in their 128-pound final Feb. 21 at the state championships. Bamba won the match, becoming one of five state champions at the tournament who helped the Jaguars to their third straight Division II team state title.
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Canyon View boys, girls, coaches and others pose with banners and the Jaguar boys’ third consecutive Division II team trophy Feb. 21 at the state championships at Veterans Coliseum. The Jaguar boys will face some of the deepest lineups in the state next year when they move up to Division I.
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Canyon View sophomore Breidyn Ralls, back, tries to keep Flowing Wells’ Seferino De la Rosa during their 134-pound final Feb. 21 at the state championships. Ralls won the match to claim his second career state title and help lead the Jaguars to their third straight Division II team title.
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Canyon View sophomore Brody Wiora, bottom, pinned his opponent, Kawika Freeman of Buena, despite trailing in points in their 152-pound third-place match Feb. 21 at the state championships. Wiora’s performance helped the Jaguars rack up a near-record team points title in rolling to their third straight Division II title.
Most Canyon View High School wrestlers, coaches and their supporters must enjoy being at Veterans Coliseum — or at least leaving it.
The past three seasons, the Jaguar boys have left the Coliseum with a first-place Division II trophy. Their latest triumph, the weekend of Feb. 21, ended with five more individual state championships and a near-record team points total.
The Jags’ 272.5 points are the eighth most in Arizona history, according to azpreps365.com. Canyon View not only had 13 state qualifiers (no heavyweights qualified), but all 13 of them placed in the top six.
The performance was a dominant sendoff for the Jags, who will move up to Division I in 2026-27.
Liberty coach Eric Brenton, whose team didn’t contend for a D-1 team title or runner-up trophy this year but is regularly in the running, welcomes the Jags as a formidable West Valley rival.
“We’re excited to have Canyon View come up,” Brenton said. “It just adds one more layer of rivalry and competitiveness.”
In the finals, Christopher Ramirez got the winning started for the Jags by outlasting Marana Mountain View’s Josiah Buchanan in the 122-pound championship match.
That was followed by probably the Jags’ most exciting final. Justyn Bamba, the Jags’ 128-pound junior, trailed Mountain View senior Henry Ofeciar in the final seconds, but scored enough points to emerge with an 11-9 win and a state title.
Sophomore Breidyn Ralls became a two-time state champion for the Jags, pinning his 134-pound Flowing Wells opponent in the first round.
Canyon View senior Matthew Krawczenko then vanquished his Cienega 140-pound finals opponent with a crowd-pleasing 15-0 technical fall.
CVHS sophomore Steven Robles capped the state titles with a technical-fall win in the 159-pound final.
Levi Chicas, at 146 pounds, lost to a tough repeat state champ in Ironwood’s Julian Macias and Tavier Garcia lost a close 177 final.
The Jags who didn’t reach the finals still worked hard to put up points for the Jags. Sophomore Isaiah Balderrama, after losing in the 108-pound semifinals, pinned his consolation semis opponent before outlasting Willow Canyon’s Steven Koehler for third place, 10-5.
Sophomore Brody Wiora lost his first-round 152-pound match at state but then won five consecutive matches to place third. He capped that run when, in the third-place match against Buena’s Mawika Freeman, trailed by about seven points in the third period before getting a reversal and a pin to win.
Junior Matthew Cerda won a tough third-place match at 217 pounds. Another Jaguar sophomore, Samuel Hernandez, placed fifth at 192.
Xavier Rodriguez Sanchez placed sixth at 115 pounds. Senior Hector Guzman was sixth at 167.
The Jags finished more than 100 points ahead of runner-up Arizona College Prep; the Knights had 159. They were followed by Marana Mountain View (139.5), Cienega (138.5) and Flowing Wells (109.5).
The Canyon View girls, competing in Division I, didn’t have any state champions, but did have one finalist. Sophomore Kinzley Sanchez lost a tough 140-pound final to a senior.
Senior Bianca Rivera placed fourth at 109 pounds. Junior Olivia Gonzalez placed fifth at 122 pounds.
Senior Alivia Fernandez placed sixth at 134 pounds.
Sunnyside won the girls Division I team title with 126 points with Campo Verde second with 114, Desert Ridge third at 91.5, Willow Canyon fourth at 66 and Casteel fifth with 60.
Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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