San Luis' big moves pay off against YC, fall short against 2-0 Yuma High

Whether it was in individual bouts or the team match scores, every time San Luis seemed down, the Sidewinders fought back.

It worked for a win against Yuma Catholic, but Yuma High proved too much for the Sidewinders in a three-team meet Wednesday in San Luis.

Against the Criminals, the Sidewinders forfeited three matches in a 46-33 loss. They were leading 33-28 after Carlos Urquilo won a 4-2 decision against Andreaus Gomez to finish 2-0 at 220 but Humberto Cortez scored a pin at heavyweight. After a forfeit at 106, the Sidewinders were down seven with one match left, eliminated even before Kodi Doerr, wrestling up from his normal 106, got a late pin at 113.

It was close thanks to back-to-back pins by Jose Garcia and Jesus Cortez. Both were losing in the second period when they scored pins off reverses with 22 seconds or less left on the clock.

“We caught some people in some bad positions and we finished it,” San Luis coach Rob Jankowski said. “That was good. When we caught people we finished the moves and got some pins out of it when we were losing some matches. That's always a pleasure.”

Yuma High coach Jeff Welsing — who called his team's 52-12 win against the Shamrocks in the first match of the day one of the best performances he's seen — said those reversal pins are something the Criminals will have to work on before they face San Luis again after the winter break.

“San Luis plays for a lot of big plays, and we got caught in a lot of big plays,” Welsing said. “It's something we need to work on before we face them again, that's for sure.”

Welsing said he was extremely pleased in the opener, in which only three Criminals lost. Gomez and Esteban Lopez both had sub-1 minute pins. Kade Kottenbrook, who had a grueling 3-1 win against one of YC's top wrestlers, Ernesto Sandigo at 138, followed with a pin against the Sidewinders to cap his perfect day.

“I've been at Yuma High for 10 years, and since my first year at Yuma High that's probably one of the best duals we ever wrestled,” Welsing said. “Yuma Catholic has some decent kids, and we flat steamrolled them. Kids were fired up and I told them after that match if you guys can bottle that, wrestle that way all the time, that's what we want to be drinking before the match.”

The Shamrocks fared much better against the Sidewinders, falling 37-34 to the hosts. San Luis' Cosme Salido got a pin off a reversal in the second period at 182, up from his normal 170 and aiming to be at 160 by the end of the year. He faced Ryan Waters, who was at least 6 inches taller than his YC foe.

“Salido, he was losing a little bit, got a pin, caught a guy on his back and never let go,” Jankowski said. “If we can get that kind of attitude, that killer, finishing the matches kind of attitude, that would be great.”

YC coach Derek Beck said he was mostly pleased with his young team's day.

“I expected a little more out of them, but they gave heart,” Beck said. “That's all I can ask out of them.”

Aside from the roster riddled with underclassmen, two experienced wrestlers were making their season debuts. Both were football players who had nagging injuries slow down their return to the mat. Andy Determan was a reverse-pin victim of Jesus Cortez at 152 and lost 5-3 to Jorge Arce. At 160, Brandon Moreno fell short in a furious comeback attempt against Yuma High's Dale Grund and won via forfeit against San Luis.

“Obviously it didn't go as planned, we lost both duels, but the kids are growing,” Beck said. “For a lot of them it was their first match. We're just trying to get them caught up with the rest of the team. Overall it went not as planned, but I can see a lot of potential out of these guys.”