Best Upsets at State

BDBlue

Well-Known Member
I was reading another thread on greatest NCAA Championship Finals "upsets" and it got me thinking. What are some of the biggest upsets in AZ State Championships?

A Few that come to mind are:

-Alex Pavlenko losing to Cactus (CANT FOR THE LIFE OF ME REMEMBER HIS NAME... APOLOGIES) If I remember correctly this was Pavlenko's Senior Year at MDN.
-Matt Lopez of SS over Jerod Travasci (Butchered last name I think) of Mingus. Lopez' freshman year beating the Senior in the finals.
-Big DeBo of SS over Aaron Archuletta in 2004 I think. Archuletta beat him at FW by 5 or 6 I believe then gets beat by the Freshman in the finals by 5 or 6.
-Evan Larkin of SS over Bassett of Salpointe Catholic. Don't know the year sorry.
-Mathers of Desert Vista over Murillo of SS
-Moen of Coconino over Quintana of SS in 2005.

Some other upsets not just from state but in general:

-Lil' DeBo of SS over Chang of Mingus at FW finals. No one but him, His Brother, and Dad saw that one coming.
-Big DeBo of SS over Abdullah of Hamilton at FW.
-Lopez of SS over Pami of Cimmaron (LV) at Peoria.


Comments on the matches above.... Additions... ALL WELCOME! I cant think of any current matches off top.
 

Dad3wrestlers

hard work, pays off
i would have to say Miles Nuessle (SO) from Liberty at 182 over Bridger Barker (SR), but that is probably because i watched that kid wrestle a bunch as he has wrestled my son a number of times, and knowing Bridger from Sunkist over the years.
 

homerdindon

Well-Known Member
Larkin over Bassett wasn't an upset at all. He had beaten him multiple times that year (1997) and Bassett had only beaten him once ever.

Blake Monty losing to Williams from Mesa, and Weston Taylor losing to the kid from Westwood come to mind recently. And no, I'm not anti-Mountain View by any means...those just popped in my head
 
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Coach Pat

Well-Known Member
I don't know if Frost (Salpointe) beating Larkin (SS) in the state finals in 96 might be considered an upset. Larkin had beaten Frost in a dual and then in the finals of Flowing Wells that year.
 

homerdindon

Well-Known Member
I don't know if Frost (Salpointe) beating Larkin (SS) in the state finals in 96 might be considered an upset. Larkin had beaten Frost in a dual and then in the finals of Flowing Wells that year.
That was Rodriguez from Sunnyside, not either Larkin and was 1997. Rodriguez actually lost first round to Shadow Mountain, which probably is worthy of mentioning here. Willy Bravo and Evan Larkin losing in that tournament were pretty huge upsets as well.
 

CVCougar

Well-Known Member
That was Sean Gracia from Page that beat Chang I believe.
Yes, that was the guy. He was a 15 seed who won it all by beating a 3x Champ. The following year Goettle avenged the loss for his teammate and beat him in the state finals to win his 4th title I believe.
 

Jim ima

Well-Known Member
Pavlenko lost in the finals to Arrendondo from Marana Mtn View, got hit with a headlock. His jr year, pretty sure.
 

BDBlue

Well-Known Member
Silva of Mingus losing to Long of Moon Valley in '05 was a big upset. The 1 losing to the 4 I believe.
 

acestallion

Well-Known Member
Yes, that was the guy. He was a 15 seed who won it all by beating a 3x Champ. The following year Goettle avenged the loss for his teammate and beat him in the state finals to win his 4th title I believe.


Ya Goettl did beat him the next year, but Gracia wasn't a slouch. 4× time finalist and 2× state champs I want to say.
 

acestallion

Well-Known Member
Silva of Mingus losing to Long of Moon Valley in '05 was a big upset. The 1 losing to the 4 I believe.

I was gonna mention that one. That was a huge upset at the time, especially considering the fact that everyone was wanting to see Silva-Deberry in the finals. Would of been interesting to see that matchup at state. Would Deberry still have ended up a 4-timer? We'll never know but definitely that was a huge upset at the time.
 

BDBlue

Well-Known Member
I was gonna mention that one. That was a huge upset at the time, especially considering the fact that everyone was wanting to see Silva-Deberry in the finals. Would of been interesting to see that matchup at state. Would Deberry still have ended up a 4-timer? We'll never know but definitely that was a huge upset at the time.

Yeah Nobody saw Long beating Silva. Yeah I know that De Berry wanted to wrestle Silva too. Especially after losing to him at FW in the Finals 2-1. I don't think the outcome at state changes though, De Berry still wins it and eventually becomes a 4xer.
 

FamousLie

Well-Known Member
Cory Hale from CDS beating Clancy Stockton from Mt. View in 2004. "Est. 1994" Bambic beating Simon Allen of CDS was an upset too considering Bambic was like 1-5 against him. Both of those matches were affected due to injuries though, Stockton injuring his knee and Allen getting hurt in the first minute of the match. Stockton's brother avenged that loss the next year by majoring Hale in the finals. Andy Alvarado from Phx. Christian pulled a big upset at 125 one year beating Adrian Fierro from Maricopa who was 67-1 that year, pinned him in the first period if I remember right.
 

acestallion

Well-Known Member
Well Hale was undefeated that year if I remember, but if was still an upset as Clancy was the big favorite and undefeated as well. The next year was interesting though as Hale was at 189s and I think went undefeated again throughout the season. I remember him having a close match with the Cesar Chavez kid at Peoria. Then at state he goes down to 170s and gets majored by Clancy's younger brother; I want to say Connor was his name. Then his teammate a freshman by the name of Luke Macchiaroli, goes from 170 to 189 and pins the Chavez kids in the finals to win his first state title. It was all a fascinating saga with the weight class switch and how it ended up. Maybe someone closer to the story could elaborate more, but that's how I remember it.
 

acestallion

Well-Known Member
Also Corona was stacked that year at upper weights, with Holbrook winning state at 215s and Stapp taking 2nd at HWT; probably one of the more stacked upper weights from one team like that I can remember in recent memory.

Also another upset would be Gabe Galaviz pinning Ted Rico in the finals. Ted Rico was a defending state champ; granted so was Galaviz, and he was going for his 3rd title. Yet everyone had Rico winning as he was the huge favorite, and I want to say that he was up 4-1 when he got pinned.
 

FamousLie

Well-Known Member
I remember the Pavlenko upset his junior year, he had pinned Vince Arredondo in the finals at FW in the first period and Arredondo threw a tantrum and didn't even come to the podium for his medal. So fast forward to their match at state and Arredondo must have done his homework and avoided any situation where Pavlenko could use his upper body offense and wrestled very smart. Pavlenko was a great counter wrestler who would make you pay for the smallest of mistakes. I should go find the old VHS of the match, but from memory Arredondo comes right out of the gate and gets a takedown on a leg attack and Pavlenko immediately escapes. Then I think Pavlenko added a takedown and Arredondo had an escape and it was tied 3-3 at the end. Then Arredondo happened to catch Pavlenko standing a little too straight up and had a nice double leg to win in OT. It took a combination of him wrestling the match of his life, Pavlenko being a little under the weather and I think maybe underestimating Arredondo since he had decked him so easily 3 weeks prior. His senior year he had a close finals match with Ballesteros from Mesa too.
 

FamousLie

Well-Known Member
Hale was undefeated but Clancy Stockton had yet to really have a close match all year. That's why it was so surprising, but he was injured. A healthy Stockton would have had no problem at all. Hale brought it for sure, but that injury to Stockton had more of an impact on the outcome.
 
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