Cheyenne’s Garcia, Johnson win 4A State Wrestling titles

Cheyenne High School junior Brodee Garcia and senior Ja’Mirr Johnson won NIAA 4A State Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Desert Shields finished seventh out of 21 teams.

Garcia won two matches by pinfall and one by technical fall to take the 157-pound title. He pinned Coronado’s Evan Paszek with 20 seconds left in regulation of the championship bout. 

Johnson, wrestling at 106 pounds, won an ultimate tiebreaker with Ryan Birrell of Desert Oasis in what was a wild championship bout. It was tied 5-5 at the end of regulation, and Johnson scored a pair of escapes to Birrell’s one to win the title.

CHS senior Daniel Macias finished third at 215 pounds after a consolation final against Rancho’s Rodolfo Islas that also required a tiebreaker. Macias also won a tight 6-4 decision over Joaquin Rodriquez of Sunrise Mountain to reach the third-place match. He had a buzzer-beater takedown in the third period to win it.

Also getting wins for the Desert Shields were: Manuel Valenzuela-Abraham (1-2 at 132 pounds), Jovanni Guadarama (1-2 at 190 pounds), Damian Chavez (1-2 at 120 pounds) and Adney Lapid (1-2 at 215 pounds).