Gaona: Amphi wrestling a 'sleeping giant' on the verge of waking

The two can help Amphitheater’s wrestling team capture its first state crown Saturday night at Prescott Valley Event Center. The Panthers have finished second in Division III each of the last two seasons.

“We’re definitely going up there to be No. 1 or No. 2,” Amphi coach Sam Portillo said. “No. 3 is not an option. We want to bring some hardware home, but being state champs would be beautiful for the community and for Amphi High School.”

Aldiva is the No. 1 seed in the 132-pound bracket and Rodriguez is the top seed at 195 pounds in the meet, which opens Friday morning. Aldiva and Rodriguez won state crowns a year ago, while teammates Saul Payan-Diaz (152 pounds) and Rafael Paredes (160 pounds) lost in the finals.

“If I wrestle my best and my teammates wrestle their best, I know we can win it,” said Aldiva, who moved to Tucson from Virginia after his sophomore year. “That would be the ultimate way to go out — I’d feel like Peyton Manning going out.”

Rodriguez, who is 47-0, grew up in the Amphi neighborhood and has been wrestling since he was at Amphi Middle School. The senior knows how much individual and team wins would mean to the community.

“It brings a lot of good news to the neighborhood,” Rodriguez said. “Not a lot of good things come out of here.

“When I was a freshman, I wanted to be a team champion and an individual champion, but I didn’t know it was going to be a reality.”

Paredes came close to joining Aldiva and Rodriguez atop the podium a year ago. The senior had pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals but suffered a 3-2 loss in the championship round.

“It’d be awesome just to finish off my senior year with a team title and an individual title,” said Paredes, who holds a 50-3 record and earned the No. 3 seed at 160 pounds. “It’s a big goal we’re hoping to achieve.”

Senior heavyweight Cris Sanchez holds the No. 1 seed in his weight class. He finished fourth in 2015 after reaching the semifinals and losing his final two matches. It’s something that has him even more fired up heading into state this year.

Sanchez, who transferred from Mountain View after his freshman year, looks up to the former Amphi state champs such as Jesus Barrera and Marcus Salnicky. Those two won titles in 2014, helping the Panthers finish second for the first time since 1985.

The Panthers qualified 10 individuals for state out of 14 weight classes and finished second behind Safford at the state-qualifying sectional meet last weekend. Those same Bulldogs are the team to beat, Portillo said, and Show Low should have a tough squad as well. Phoenix Thunderbird, which won last year, was moved up to Division II.

“Safford and Show Low, on paper, should beat us,” Portillo said. “But, in the back of my mind I know we can beat them too if we make our own breaks.”

Portillo believes the final round will go down to the wire.

As much as Portillo hopes to see his team capture a title this weekend, he still knows this group has done amazing things over the last few years. This is exactly what he envisioned when he took over the program 10 years ago.

“I remember my first interview,” Portillo said. “I said, ‘Amphi is a sleeping giant.’”

That giant might be wide awake on Saturday night.