St. Johns overwhelms competition to win D-IV wrestling title

February 10, 2012 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


St. Johns crowned five individual champs and had six others place in winning big at the Division IV state wrestling tournament Friday night at Tim's Toyota Center in Precott Valley.

St. Johns had the title sewed up before the championship finals and medal rounds. St. Johns finished with 236 points. Camp Verde (169) was second and Morenci (165.5) was third. Mogollon, last year's champ, was the only other team to top the 100 mark finishing with 106.

Winning titles for St. Johns were Ryder Nielsen (113 pounds), who was a repeat state champ; Brock Crosby (152), Jared Anderson (160), Austin Davis (170) and Tyler Johnson (182). Davis beat a champion from last year, Yuma Catholic's Ryan Gill. Davis won by pin. St. Johns got third-place finishes from Tyler Crosby (138) and Sherod Bride (145), a fourth from Eli Frazier (120), fifth-place from Rayne Raykovitz (126) and a sixths from Garrett Davis (195) and Chandon Herring (220).

Six wrestlers were looking for repeats Friday night, but only four were able to match their 2011 effort. Nielsen at 113, Mogollon's Dallyn Despain (126), Holbrook's R.J. Alvarado (132) and Mogollon's Boone Baker (195). Alvarado faced Mogollon's Smiley Beecroft in the title match. Both were state champs last year -- Alvarado at 130 and Beecroft at 125 when weight classes were slightly different. Alvarado decisioned Beecroft, 7-3.

The rest of the 2012 state champs were: Camp Verde's Michael Casillas (106), Ryan Allred (120) and Derrick  Brown (138); Morenci's R.J. Dalton (145); San Tan Foothills Jake Lee (220) and Bourgade's Evan Barazza (HWT).