The last time a wrestler from Arvada West had his hand raised in victory in the state finals, Kyle Sand had just won his 125th consecutive match and fourth state championship overall.
The year was 2004. In the six seasons since, the Wildcats had been unable to bring home another individual crown — that is, until Saturday night.
A-West junior Clayton Vickers ended the seven-year drought by capturing the 103-pound title at the Class 5A state tournament at Pepsi Center in Denver. Vickers used a first-period takedown and some impressive defensive strategy to take a 2-0 decision over Pomona freshman Josh Rosales.
“I just feel amazing. I worked all year for this,” Vickers said. “I was so nervous going into this match, but I just had to ramp up the intensity and keep going, keep going, keep going. I couldn’t stop.”
Junior Randy Boerner placed sixth at 130 pounds for the Wildcats, who tied for 13th overall in the 5A team standings with 37 points.
“It’s bringing recognition back and it’s kind of reminding me of my days of where I was before,” said A-West coach Ron Granieri, who coached Standley Lake to a state team title in 2002. “Now we need to start building on this championship. Being our second year and having one, I think we’re on the right path to make A-West what it used to be.”
The title match was the third clash for Vickers and Rosales this season, both of which the Pomona freshman had won. At the A-West Invitational in January, Rosales cruised to a 19-5 win. Two weeks ago at the 5A Jeffco League Championships, Vickers narrowed the gap before falling by a one-point decision.
Vickers (29-4 record), who lost his first-round match a year ago at state, opened this tournament with a quick pin of Greeley West’s Anthony Garza. He took a 9-2 decision over Grandview’s Josh Federico to move into the semifinals, where he pinned Brighton’s Raul Ortega in the second period.
“I was real nervous, but that’s what I trained for — I trained for him (Rosales),” said Vickers, who added that his faith played an important part in his success. “I wanted to beat him, and I knew it was going to be downtown.”
After scoring the first-period takedown, Vickers used his reach to keep Rosales at bay, never allowing the freshman to take a clean shot. He said his strategy was to be aggressive while staying close to the ground, and it paid off.
“The last two weeks he’s been wrestling with no mistakes, and he’s been wrestling with such a positive attitude,” Granieri said. “He deserves what he just got.”
Boerner (19-8) placed sixth at 119 pounds as a freshman at Mountain Range but transferred to A-West this year. After sitting out the first half of the season, Boerner had to play a bit of catch-up to get back into shape.
The sophomore won his first two matches before dropping a 4-1 decision to Pomona’s Raymond Robledo in Friday evening’s semifinals. He dropped a 3-2 decision to Pine Creek’s Jerry McGinty before falling 5-3 in the fifth-place match to Fort Collins’ Adam Barela.
“This year the competition seemed harder from last year at 119s,” Boerner said. “I think I was a little riskier back then. This time I was a little more cautious; I don’t know why.”
Vickers and Boerner will be back next year, along with fellow state qualifiers in junior Ramon Trujillo, who went 1-2 at 112 pounds, and freshman Tony Silva, who had the same mark at 125.
“I think we give him a summer of wrestling and you’re going to see Randy in the same position Clayton is right now,” Granieri said. “We’re working our way to where we need to be.”