"Old" Section / Masters Medalists
Joe Arregui
Joe placed 6th at 98 lbs. in 1987 and 3rd at 112 lbs. in 1989
Tony Arrendondo
Tony placed 5th at 105 lbs. in 1986.
Howie Blair
Howie placed 2nd at 112 lbs. in 1988.
Paul Ashnault
Paul was a Section Runner-up at 138 lbs. in 1976
Joe Baker
Joe placed 5th at sections in 1983 at 200 lbs.
Grant Burkhalter
Grant was a 3x Masters medalist placing 7th, 4th, 7th (09',10', 11'). Grant was a 3x League Champion and 2x Section Champion. He had 132 career varsity wins. Grant is in rare company - he's one of only 9 Bella Vista wrestlers ever to make the state championships 3x.
Landon Burkhalter
Landon was a 7th place finisher in 2011 at Masters at 135 lbs. He had 84 career varsity wins. He was a CVC league champion and Section medalist.
David Call
David was a 5th place finisher at Masters at 160 lbs. in 2011. He was a 2x League Champion, 3x Section medalist. David had 101 career varsity wins.
Todd Carlson
Todd placed 3rd at Sections (now called Masters) at 138 lbs. in 1989.
Sheridan Fletchall
In 2013 Sheridan was a Masters finalist in the heavyweight class and the first Bella Vista state qualifier for girls.
Jon Foley
Jon placed 6th in the section at Heavyweight in 2002.
Sam Fowler
Sam Fowler placed 6th in the 2013 Masters Championships. Sam was a Division II Section Champion as well as a 2x CVC League Champion. Sam had over 100 career varsity wins. Sam was ranked in the top 25 in the state his senior year at 160 lbs.
Mike Gallion
Mike Gallion was a section medalist.
Todd Gaston
Todd was a section runner-up at 119 lbs. in 1983 and placed 6th the following year at the section championships.
Wes Gaston
Wes placed 3rd at sections in 1980, then followed that up with a section championship in 1981.
Dakota Gutierrez
Dakota Gutierrez (class of 2020) was a lifelong Bronco where he started wrestling in our youth program and wrestled at Carnegie under Coach Smith before his arrival at Bella Vista. While at Bella Vista, Dakota was a 2x League Champion and he was 4th at Masters as a junior, which qualified him for the CIF State Championships. Unfortunately, Dakota was injured as a senior and was unable to compete in the playoffs. As of 2021, Dakota's younger brother, Ocean, is a sophomore wrestler for Bella Vista. Dakota was also a member of 2 League Championship teams, 2 Section Championship teams, and recorded over 100 varsity wins.
Craig Hager
Craig placed 3rd at sections at 145 lbs. in 1971, then was a section champion the next year at 154 lbs.
Rich Hanson
Rich was a section medalist.
Bryan Henkle
Bryan was a 4 sport athlete at Bella Vista (football, wrestling, Lacrosse for 2 years and golf his junior year). Bryan was rare as a wrestler because he achieved huge success without wrestling during the offseason (because of other sports). When Bryan did show up to wrestling season he was 100% committed to everything in the program and he was the type of athlete coaches dream of. Bryan was All-League, a 2x Masters Qualifier, he finished in 5th place at Masters, which made him a state qualifier, he was was a starter on 2 League Champion teams, he was a member of a team section champion team, and he was a starter on a Section Finalist Team. This was all done in only 3 seasons because he did not have a senior season due to the cancelation of wrestling during his senior year. As of 2021, Bryan is attending High Point University in North Carolina.
Jody Hunter
Jody placed 5th at sections in 1979 at 138 lbs.
Earl Hicks
Earl was a Section Champion at 154 lbs. in 1967
Brad Lassiter
Brad placed 3rd at 105 lbs. in 1983.
John Lassiter
John placed 3rd at sections in 1984 at 119 lbs.
Carson Lee
Carson Lee was a lifelong Bronco where he spent many years in our kids' club, he wrestled for the amazing Dana Smith at Carnegie, and then he stepped right in as a varsity starter at Bella Vista as a freshman. Carson was only able to wrestle for 3 seasons as a Bronco because his senior season was canceled due to Covid. Check out all of the accomplishments he achieved during his 9th-11th grade seasons... Carson was a 3x League finalist, a 2x League Champion, a 2x Section finalist, a 3x Masters qualifier, a 5th place medalist at Masters, and he finished in the top 20 at the State Championships as a junior. Carson was named as an All-Metro wrestler by the Sacramento Bee, he was a starter on 2 League Champion teams, a starter on 2 Section finalist teams, and a starter on a Section Champion team. As of 2021, Carson is attending Boise State University in Idaho.
John Lopez
John (on the left) finished 4th at sections in both 1993 & 1994.
Mike Mahon
Mike placed 3rd at Sections at 145 lbs. in 1985.
Dylan Maples
Dylan Maples was a lifelong Bronco where he spent many years in our kids' club, he wrestled for the amazing Dana Smith at Carnegie, and then he stepped right in as a varsity starter at Bella Vista as a freshman. Dylan was only able to wrestle for 3 seasons as a Bronco because his senior season was canceled due to Covid. Check out all of the accomplishments Dylan made during his 9th-11th grade seasons... Dylan was a 3x League Champion, a 2x Section Champion, a 3x Section finalist, a 2x California State Qualifier (3rd and 2nd at Masters), a Masters Finalist, and he finished in the top 16 at the state championships as a junior. In addition to that, Dylan was named as an All-Metro Wrestler by the Sacramento Bee two times, he was a starter on 2 League Champion teams, he was a starter on 2 Section finalist teams, and he was a starter on a Section Champion team. During his Junior year, Dylans' older brother, Tyler, also qualified for the state championships - it was special to have 2 brothers competing at the state tournament together. As of 2021, Dylan is a sponsored downhill mountain bike racer and has been competing all around globe since graduation. He recently finished in the top 16 at the world championships in Europe.
Jonah Morgan
Jonah was a California State Championships qualifier in 2016 at 126 lbs by placing 5th at the Masters Tournament. Jonah had over 90 varsity career wins. Jonah was nominated at the state tournament for the Outstanding Character Award for both great wrestling and outstanding character.
Tyler Maples
Tyler Maples (class of 2020) was a lifelong Bronco where he wrestled in our kids' club and then wrestled at Carnegie for Coach Smith prior to his arrival at Bella Vista. While at Bella Vista, Tyler was a 4-year varsity wrestler where he was a League Champion, a 3x Masters qualifier, and a 2x Masters medalist (7th as a junior and 5th as a senior). In the blood round match at Masters during his senior year (the match that determines who qualifies for the state championships. The winner goes to state the following week and the loser goes home because his/her season is over) Tyler went to triple overtime, which is the final overtime. His entire career came down to 30 seconds and he was able to get the ride out to win and qualify for the CIF state championships; a true accomplishment. I think his parents, the coaches, and the fans were all on the verge of a heart attack during that match. At the state championships, Tyler went 2-2 and finished in the top 20 in CA; AMAZING. Tyler was also a member of 2 League Championship teams, 2 Section Championship teams, and recorded over 100 varsity wins.
Dillon Mueller
Dillon was a 4th place finisher at the 2011 Masters Championships at 152 lbs. Dillon was a 2x League Champion, 4x Section Medalist and he had 124 career varsity wins.
Todd Oliver
Todd was a section champion and 3x state meet qualifier.
Vince Olivera
Vince Olivera (class of 2020) wrestled at Carnegie for Coach Smith prior to his arrival at Bella Vista. Vince's older brother, Andi Olivera, had a successful career for BV and Vince's younger brother, Frankie, is wrestling at Carnegie as of 2021. While at Bella Vista, Vince was a 3x Masters qualifier, he was a 3rd place medalist at Masters as a senior and then finished in the top 16 at the California State Championships; AMAZING! Unfortunately, Vince was unable to compete during his junior season, which makes his accomplishments even more impressive. Vince was also a member of 2 League Championship teams, 2 Section Championship teams, and recorded over 100 varsity wins.
Nathan Page
Nathan placed 4th at 152 lbs. in 2004.
Sheldon Page
Sheldon placed 3rd in 2005 at 189 pounds. His senior year record was 52 - 7, with 33 pins.
Jerry Peterson
Jerry placed 5th at the section championships in both 1983 & 1984 at 185 lbs.
Bruce Pfau
Bruce Pfau was a state qualifier at 152 lbs. by placing 7th at Masters.
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Bruce was a Division III Section Champion in 2009, and was a Section finalist in 2008.
Lupe Rangel
Lupe was a section medalist.
Tony Rangel
Tony was a section medalist.
Johnny Ray
Johnny placed 5th at 130 lbs. in 1993
Greg Rodriguez
Greg placed 5th at 132lbs. in 1981.
Michael Rist
Mike was a section champion at 119 lbs. in 1985.
Michael Salazar
Mike Salazar was a section champion at 145 lbs. in 1976. He also placed 3rd in 1975 at 138 lbs.
Elijah Shaw
Elijah Shaw was a 4th place medalist at the Masters tournament as a senior in 2022.
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Russell Sprague
Russell placed 8th at the 2007 Masters Championships. Russell was also a Division III Section Champion, 2x CAL Champion, 3x Section/Masters qualifier, and had 97 career varsity wins.
Darrin Stauts
Darrin placed 5th at 138 lbs. in 1987.
Bruce Summers
Bruce was a section champion in 1981, and placed 5th in 1982 at 155 lbs.
Sam Tichenor
Sam placed 5th at sections in 1983 at 112 lbs.
Matt Vigna
Matt placed 5th in 2003 and 3rd in 2004 at 145 lbs. Matt is also our school record holder for takedowns in a season with 145. Matt had over 100 career varsity wins.
Tod Wagner
Tod placed 4th at sections in 1982 at 145 lbs.
Connor Willey
Connor Willey was a lifelong Bronco where he spent many years in our kids' club and he also wrestled for the amazing Dana Smith prior to his time at Bella Vista. Connor was only able to wrestle for 3 seasons as a Bronco because his senior season was canceled due to Covid. During his 9th-11th grade seasons Connor accomplished the following... He was all league, a Section medalist, a Masters medalist, a starter on 2 League Champion teams, a starter on a Section finalist team, and a member of a Section Champion team. As of 2021, Connor is currently attending Boise State University in Idaho. ​
Matt Yang
Matt was a two time state qualifier at 170 lbs. Matt finished in the top 12 at state in 2018. He is a 2x Masters placer, finishing 6th in 2017 & 3rd in 2018. Matt was a 2x DII Section Champion and 3x DII Section Finalist. Matt's record as a senior was 50 - 6. He had 121 career varsity wins in only 3 years. During his freshman year, Matt did not wrestle a single varsity match and he credits his JV coach, the late Kevin Frewen, for making a huge, initial impact on his wrestling career. Matt then committed to Bella Vista's year round wrestling program and stayed after practice to train with Coach Jake Briggs 4 days a week as a senior, which enabled him to improve so much as a wrestler in such a small time frame.
Adam Zari
The "best heavyweight ever" at Bella Vista. Adam placed in the top 20 at the California State Championships. Adam was a 2x Division III Section Champion, Sub-Section Champion, 2x CAL league champion, and Masters Runner-up.
