Dream Line-Up

[BKramer]

I think we would need to do this by decade or something...at least for the "old timers" among us Here are a few names to throw out there that you may/may not remember, mostly from the 1980s:

Willie Paul Maxwell (Eloy) - 4x
Sammy Chagolla (Peoria) - 4x
Ernie Molina (Peoria) - 4x
Shawn Charles (Santa Rita) - 3x
Paul Salazar (St. Johns) - 4x
Don (JR) Frye (Buena) - at least 2x
Thom Ortiz (SS) - 3x I think

Not too sure where all of these would fit in weight-wise, but the first 4 are lighter weights and the last three middle to heavier. I can't remember what weight Salazar was at because there were two of them I would put Frye up against anyone in his day - fun to watch. Rene Nunez from SS was also a bada$$ - still remember how he throttled that 2x undefeated kid from Vegas in the finals at FW in the old gym!

The sport has changed so much and despite what some of my generation think (like my brother!), Arizona wrestling, as a whole, has vastly improved from 30 years ago (IMHO), thanks to great coaching and dedicated wrestlers and parents.

This list is cool and what I like about it is that it gives recognition and respect to those wrestlers who have helped improve the sport in our state. Thanks for starting it BDBlue - good stuff.

 

[FamousLie]

Gotta give SS its credit....put AZ on the wrestling map for a reason. (and no, I didn't go there...lol) wow, totally forgot about Lee from Payson at 171....makes me think that Waldo Gutierrez of Morenci has be in there somewhere. Even Geajhe (sp) could make the B line up. I think you are right about Hovis at 152, but he would be better than Hardt at 160. And Gallick did beat H Cejudo at 103 so I would have to agree (but barely) with Gallick over Cejudo. And although i still like Vega over Rondeau at 113...my old coach (Bravo) would literally use Rondeau's name as how to properly use a cow catcher....Would Simmons beat Mommer from Cibola at 220?

I think Simmons would beat Mommer. Mommer is a very good wrestler but Simmons was just a much better all around athlete. Simmons didn't wrestle in college because he took a scholarship offer to play running back or linebacker at San Diego State. Though interesting enough, the kind of guys who would give Simmons issues were taller wrestlers with long arms.

Gutierrez was a guy I thought of, and Swift too, but Gutierrez never really wrestled a lot in the offseason that I remember, and even though he came from a very good program at Morenci, he never wrestled the big school kids. No offense to Swift but he would have been mauled by guys like Frost, Hardt and Linsacum. I think the difference between Hovis and Hardt is that Hovis was a great wrestler and as good as anyone, Hardt just wrestled to take your head off. It is worth pointing out Frost beat him pretty handily in a dual though. But I'll take a superior athlete in an upper weight though.

 

[Connorsdad]

I'll get my disclaimers out of the way here...1) I'm not old enough to speak to anyone before Simpson/Faqir. Even their timeframe is pushing it, but the upper weights weren't the easiest to fill out. 2) Obviously bumping a few people up a weight, for the sake of getting what I think the best guys are in the hypothetical lineup. 3) Just basing on high school success, since that's what the topic is. 4) Don't put much stock in inflated records with no national success. 5) Obviously had to leave some studs out, especially in the lower weights.

106 - Henry Cejudo (Maryvale)
113 - Ryak Finch (Safford)
120 - Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge)
126 - Brandon Courtney (Desert Edge)
132 - RBY (Sunnyside)
138 - Angel Cejudo (Maryvale)
145 - Eric Larkin (Sunnyside)
152 - Quentin Hovis (Seton Catholic)
160 - Nick Frost (Salpointe Catholic)
170 - Aaron Simpson (Antelope)
182 - Quint Swanberg (Horizon)
195 - Danny Faqir (Apache Junction)
220 - Garrett Ryan (Horizon)
HWT - Cain Velasquez (Kofa)

Although I'm from Nevada I follow high school wrestling more than I follow any other sport. I completely agree with number four. Undefeated and never leaving town doesn't get you a spot on an all-time list in my opinion. Before somebody has a heart attack I did not say that somebody who's been mentioned here never left town I'm just saying a what-if. Being relatively new to this area what about the Liberty kid at 195 Miles Neussle (sp)?