Alamosa junior Sonny Yohn wrestled through a season with more ups and downs than any other in state history. Actually, it was more a season of down and then up, and then down again … for the other guy.
Yohn, undefeated at 189 pounds and one of four state champions in Class 4A returning to the 2005-06 state tournament, broke the single-season record for takedowns during the regional finals. He eclipsed the six-year mark of 262, set by Lyons’ Leister Bowling, late in the second period with takedown No. 8 of Sand Creek’s Jake Burghardt.
“Take ’em down and let ’em go,” Yohn said. “Coach was helping me keep track.”
Gary Ramstetter, who has coached 39 state champions and won five state titles in his 29 years as the top Mean Moose, called Yohn the best he has tutored.
“We’ve had five high school All-Americans and he is at the top of the list,” Ramstetter said. “His size is the biggest thing. There are a lot of 145-pounders with his athletic ability, but there aren’t a lot of 189-pounders with that ability.”
Yohn, 39-0 this season and 78-2 the past two with a state title at 171, recorded 19 pins and earned decisions against the top-ranked 189-pounders in 5A, 3A and 2A. He is ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation at his weight and, to top it all off, he was named outstanding wrestler at the Brute Reno Tournament of Champions, as high an honor as any in prep wrestling.
The Mean Moose, a top-four team at every state meet from 1986 to 2002, won that prestigious tournament.
Now, they are riding the edge of the top 10 in some national rankings.
The reasons?
In addition to Yohn, Josh Hensley is undefeated in 41 matches at 140 pounds, Tommy Valdez is considered a favorite to win a state title at 125 on Saturday night and six other wrestlers have a legitimate shot at a medal. That list includes Yohn’s brother, Cody, at 152. The senior-led Mean Moose qualified wrestlers in 11 of the 14 weight classes, more than any other 4A school.
But Ramstetter isn’t listening to anyone who is ready to hand the trophy over to Alamosa.
“I’ve brought teams like this before and not won state,” he said.
Two-time defending 4A champion Pueblo South (Alamosa was third last season) will bring eight wrestlers to the Pepsi Center, including returning state champion Mark Beaudry (145). Beaudry won it all at 135 last season and will have to go through Moffat County’s Korey Kostur, who owns a title at 140 pounds, to get another. Rifle’s Luke Wooten (130) is the other returning champ.
Fort Lupton’s Dale Shull (33-0 at 103) and Ranum’s Dominick Hastings (33-0 as a heavyweight) also head into state undefeated. Other teams to watch include Northridge, Broomfield, Pine Creek and Montrose.
