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Five Bronc wrestlers place at state

By John Gutekunst
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 10:26 AM MST

The Parker Broncs placed ninth as a team and had five wrestlers place in their weight classes at the Arizona Interscholastic Association state 3A wrestling tournament held Feb. 12 and 13 at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. They came four points short of qualifying for the state team finals, but they were the top team from the 3A West.

The day belonged to Safford, who won their sixth straight team title and racked up 267 team points. They had 115 more points than the second-place team, Payson. They had 11 wrestlers place in their classes, including six state champions.

Parker Coach Dave Daly said he was impressed with Safford and their program.

"They just reload every year," he said.

Show Low's Ricky Ryan won the 130-pound class to become just the 24th four-time state wrestling class champion in Arizona history.

The Broncs' best performance came from freshman Ryan Shatto, who placed second in the 119-pound class. He lost the title match by a 17-0 technical fall to Safford's Ryak Finch, who won his third state title. Finch ends his high school career with a record of 200-2.

Shatto's record at the tournament was 3-1.

Shatto's brother, David Shatto, placed third in the 152-pound class. He came into the semi-finals and lost to Josh Hatch of Holbrook by a point score of 14-8. He was sent to the consolation bracket, where he won his match to claim third place. David Shatto's overall record at state was 4-1.

Billy Escoto placed fourth in the 112-pound class, while Javier Gomez placed fourth in the 140-pound class. Derek Welker placed fifth at 103 pounds.

Daly said he was pleased with how the Broncs wrestled, and he was impressed with how well some of the younge ones did. He noted Escoto andf Gomez are sophomores, while Ryan Shatto is a freshman.

"That means next year we'll have some guys with experience," he said.

There were 28 teams at the tournament. Placing second to Safford was Payson at 152 points. Rounding out the top five were Snowflake (144), Show Low (132) and Pinetop-Lakeside Blue Ridge (127).

The Broncs had 86.5 points, while left them four points behind eighth-place Holbrook.

The Broncs were the top team from the 3A West. Their other region rivals who competed in Prescott Valley included Chino Valley in 12th place, Wickenburg in 15th place, Estrella Foothills in 16th place, River Valley in 17th place, and Sedona and South Pointe tied for 26th place.