In comparison to Alabama and Alaska that have been covered thus far, you'll notice a major difference for Arizona. Unlike Alabama & Alaska that today offer little college wrestling at the official varsity level (Alabama with one program & Alaska with none), Arizona does offer opportunities for their best wrestlers to continue competing at home & they always have. While not as abundant as it once was due to discontinuations, the Grand Canyon state still offers a few collegiate wrestling programs including Division I Arizona State.
While early four time champions did not wrestle collegiately (from what I have been able to gather) once we get into the mid 80's, nearly all did.
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| Brian Honyouti |
One of the coolest facts I came across when studying the history of Arizona High School wrestling ws the fact that their first four time state champions were all from the Arizona School for the Deaf & the Blind. Honyouti won his state titles from 62' to 65'. To my knowledge he did not wrestle in college & later became a fairly well known Doll carver.
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| Frank Vargas |
Vargas another product of the Arizona School for the Deaf & Blind also won his four state titles from 1962 to 1965. To my knowledge, did not compete in college.
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| Earl Plunkett |
Yet another standout for the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, Plunkett won his four Arizona state titles in 68', 69', 70' & 71'. He did compete collegiately for Pima Community College.
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| Alvaro Fenn |
Fenn who his four titles for Benson from 73'-76'. He wrestled at Eastern Arizona collegiately.
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| Art Hamlett |
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| Willie Paul Maxwell |
Winning titles for Santa Cruz from 80'-83', Maxwell from what I have been able to find did not wrestle in college.
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| Sammy Chagolla |
Graduating with a 128-5 overall record, not only did Sammy Chagolla win four state titles for Peoria, he was also the first high school wrestler in the nation to ever make the cover of a Wheaties cereal box. He competed collegiately for Northern Arizona.
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| Paul Salazar |
To my knowledge, Salazar who won titles in 81', 82', 83' & 84' for St John's did not wrestle collegiately.
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| Ernie Molina |
Another standout for Peoria, Molina won Arizona High School State titles in 1984, 1985, 1986 & 1987. He began his collegiate career at North Idaho where he took 4th place honors at the 1990 NJCAA tournament. He finished up at Western Montana where he made the NAIA finals in 1992.
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| Wayne McMinn |
Of the famous McMinn family, Wayne won his four titles for Apache Junction. Like his father Glen who was a two time All American & his brothers Glen Jr & Rob, Wayne competed collegiately for Arizona State. He earned All American honors in 1990 with a 6th place finish.
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| Rob McMinn |
As noted above, Rob McMinn a four time champ for Apache Junction, wrestled collegiately at Arizona State.
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| Aaron Simpson |
A four time State champion from 90'-93' for Welton Antelope, Aaron Simpson was yet another standout for the Sun Devils of Arizona State. Earning All American honors of 8th & 4th of his sophomore & senior seasons of 1996 & 1998, he also won two PAC-12 titles his junior and senior seasons.
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| Ted Rico |
Rico won four titles for Miami from 92'-95'. I know that his son, also named Ted wrestled at Arizona State & from what I understand I think he did as well. Not confirmed yet though.
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| Nick Frost |
Going 145-3 wining four titles for Salpointe Catholic, Nick Frost competed collegiately for Arizona State. Not having all that great of a freshman season, he really turned it around his sophomore year earning a 3rd place finish at the PAC-12's & earning his first of what would be three appearances at the NCAA tournament. He'd finish out his career as a two time PAC-12 champion.
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| Gordo Villescusa |
Winning four Arizona High School State titles for Rio Rico in 99', 00', 01' & 02', Villescusa had an outstanding career for Embry Riddle earning NAIA All American honors in his last three seasons of competition. After placing 7th in 2004 as a true sophomore, he had back to back 3rd place finishes in 2006 & 2007.
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| Waldo Gutierrez |
A four time state champion for Morenci from 00'-03', Waldo Gutierrez is one of the wrestlers we lost to football. He played for Eastern Arizona College.
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| Angel Cejudo |
A four time champion for Maryvale from 01'-04', like brother Henry who won an Olympic Gold medal, Angel Cejudo decided to bypass collegiate wrestling to concentrate on his international career.
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| Nick Gallick |
Gallick who won four Arizona high School state titles for Sunnyside, had an outstanding career at Iowa State earning All American honors his sophomore & junior seasons of 2008 & 2009 (5th & 3rd). He entered the 2010 season the #1 rated wrestler in the nation, projected to be that year's NCAA champion. Unfortunately injuries would end that dream prematurely.
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| Matt Lopez |
Going 154-4 winning four titles for Sunnyside from 02'-05', Matt Lopez competed collegiately for both Arizona State & Cal State Fullerton.
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| Nate Lee |
Winning four state titles for Payson from 02'-05', Nate Lee competed collegiately for Boise State. He won PAC-12 titles his sophomore & junior seasons of 2008 & 2009, finishing as the Runner-up in 2010.
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| Mike Moreno |
Moreno a four time Arizona high school state champion for Sunnyside competed collegiately for North Carolina State. He was a two time ACC place winner taking 3rd in 2009 as a freshman and 4th in 2011 as a junior.
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| Kyle DeBerry |
And yet we bring up Sunnyside again, this time with four time champion Kyle DeBerry who competed for Arizona State. He started off strong with 5th & 3rd place finishes at the PAC-12 championships his freshman & sophomore season of 2009 & 2010, but an injury in 2011 would hamper the rest of his career.
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| Luke Goettl |
A four time Arizona High School state champion for Mingus Union (07'-10'), Goettl competed collegiately for Iowa State. He was a four time BIG 12 place-winner going 4th-2nd-4th-3rd from 12'-15'. He earned NCAA qualification in 2012 & 2013. By all means he should have been an NCAA qualifier in 2015 too, but every season some good kids get left at home & he was one of them in 2015. Nevertheless he won his final match with a 28 second fall, which to this day is still the second fastest fall that has ever happened at the BIG 12 championships.
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| Ricky Ryan |
Ryan who won titles from 07'-10', competed collegiately for Grand Canyon.
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| Kory DeBerry |
Winning four Arizona High School state titles for Sunnyside from 08'-11', DeBerry competed collegiately for Arizona State.
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| Trey Andrews |
A four time Arizona High School State champion for Safford from 09'-12', Andrews won 75 career matches for Northern Colorado in college. A NCAA qualifier in 2015 as a sophomore, he was a three time Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational place-winner going 4th-8th-4th his last three years of competition.
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| Ryder Nielsen |
A four time Arizona High School State champion for St. John's, per what I've been able to find, Ryder Nielsen did not wrestle in college.
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| Dalton Brady |
Winning Arizona High School state titles for Chandler in 10', 11', 12' & 13', Dalton Brady started off his collegiate career at Utah Valley. He then transferred to Arizona State before finishing up his career ar Arizona Christian.
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| Ryan Allred |
Allred won his four Arizona High School state titles for Camp Verde from 11'-15'. I know that he was going to wrestle for Grand Canyon, but this was right around the time that Grand Canyon discontinued wrestling. I'm not sure what became of him after that.
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| Jacob Swift |
Going 179-0 during his time at Deer Valley where he won four Arizona High School State titles from 12'-16', Swift started off his collegiate career at Nebraska-Kearney before transferring to North Idaho. He finished up at Minot State.
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| Hayden Uhler |
Hayden Uhler won four Arizona State titles for Camp Verde from 14'-17'. He did not wrestle in college.
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| Gator Groves |
Among the Arizona State titles that Gator Groves won between 15'-18', some were at McClintock and others were at Chandler. He competed Collegiately for Harvard.
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| Byron McKade Finch |
Winning four Arizona High School State titles from 16'-19' for Safford, I don't think Finch wresteld in college.
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| Clayson Goodwin |
A four time Arizona State champion (17'-20')for Benson, I don't believe Goodwin wrestled in college.
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As for today, the four timers from Arizona are perhaps represented at the collegiate level as good as they've ever been.
Roman Bravo-Young of Sunnyside is in route to being the best wrestler Arizona ever produced as he's already won two NCAA titles for Penn State & is looking to add a third in 22'-23'.
Jackson Allen of Show Low is at Baldwin Wallace
Diego Guerrero of Waldon Grove is at Iowa Western
Dawson Andrews of Safford is at Notre Dame (OH)
Zach Espalin of Chandler is at Navy
Diego Cavez of Santa Cruz Valley is at Arizona State
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