Greg Hansen's top 10 wrestlers in Tucson history

To be considered one of the top wrestlers in Tucson history, your credentials must roll off the page.

Consider Sahuaro High School’s Ed Torrejon. He grew up dabbling more in judo than wrestling or other mainstream sports.

When Sahuaro High School opened in the late ’60s, building early state championship teams in basketball and baseball, Torrejon tried out for the freshman basketball team.

He didn’t make it.

It was the last thing Torrejon didn’t make as an athlete.

By his junior season, 1972, Torrejon won the state wrestling championship. A year later he was selected the leading high school wrestler in Arizona, winning 66 straight matches, 51 of them by pins.

He trained under UA coach Bill Nelson in the so-called offseason, and then accepted a scholarship to NCAA Division II powerhouse Eastern Illinois. In 1977, Torrejon won the national championship at 158 pounds after going 41-3.

Along the way Torrejon was a first-team NJCAA All-American and later an alternate for the USA Olympic Team. He earned masters and doctor’s degrees, became an educator and counselor, the wrestling coach at Pima College and, after “retiring,” founded the 6th Street Gym, a Tucson center for at-risk kids.

Torrejon is clearly one of the 10 leading wrestlers in Tucson history. Those who join him on this list are part of one of the most select athletic groups in state history.

1. Eric Larkin, Sunnyside. After going 130-2 at Sunnyside, Larkin wrestled at Arizona State where in 2003 he was selected the Hodge Award winner, wrestling’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Larkin won four Pac-10 championships and as 34-0 while winning the 2003 NCAA championship. He was a four-time All-American with four Pac-10 titles.

2. Bill Rosado, Santa Rita. The only Tucsonan to make the USA Olympic team, Rosales was part of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He went 66-4 at Santa Rita, then was an All-American at Arizona State while making the USA National team and winning a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

3. Eddie Urbano, Sunnyside. The first NCAA champion from Tucson, Urbano won the ’85 national title at Arizona State after winning two NJCAA titles at Pima College. Urbano was 105-17 for the Sun Devils.

4. Nate Gallick, Sunnyside. A three-time All-American and USA National team wrestler, Gallick won the 2006 NCAA championship at Iowa State, going 35-0 at 141 pounds.

5. Ed Torrejon, Sahuaro. After his competitive career, Torrejon helped to coach future Sunnyside and ASU star Thom Ortiz and 15-time Sunnyside state championship coach Bobby DeBerry.

6. Shawn Charles, Santa Rita. After winning three state championships at Santa Rita, Charles became a four-time All-American at ASU, finishing as high as No. 2 in the NCAA finals. He then became an alternate for the 1996 USA Olympic team and later the Sun Devils’ head coach.

7. Thom Ortiz, Sunnyside. A three-time All-American at ASU (and later the Sun Devils’ head coach), Ortiz was a two-time state champ for the Blue Devils and a four-time state finalist. He reached the NCAA championship final match in 1992.

8. Nick Gallick, Sunnyside. In his last three years at Sunnyside, Gallick — part of one of Tucson’s leading athletic families — was 117-0 with three state championships. At Iowa State, he finished third in the 2009 NCAA championships.

9. Roman Bravo-Young, Sunnyside. Over the next four or five years, the Blue Devils senior could climb to the top of this list, or close. He is 130-0 with three state championships entering his final year at Sunnyside, and has been a national champion in age-group wrestling and part of Team USA international matches.

10. Nick Frost, Salpointe Catholic. Frost was 145-3 with four state championships as a high-schooler before becoming a regular at Arizona State.

Waiting list: Mickey Carroll won two state championships at Catalina High School, an NJCAA championship at Arizona Western College and then became a Hall of Fame wrestler at NAU. Joe Romero of Sunnyside won a state championship for the Blue Devils, a first-team NJCAA All-American at Phoenix College and a 1979 All-American at ASU.