Boisterous matinee crowd at Sunnyside cheers Blue Devils to win over Queen Creek

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Although it has earned 38 state championships, including the last eight under coach Anthony Leon, Sunnyside’s wrestling program does not bank on its past success to uphold its dynasty.

In recent years, the development of the program’s youth wrestling club has grown substantially.

On Tuesday afternoon, the school also tried something different — a matinee matchup at the Blue Devils’ gym to allow students and staff to take a break from their classes to offer their support.

The gym was mostly packed and loud, especially after Sunnyside won its 10 individual matches in a 69-5 victory over Queen Creek.

“The biggest thing is to get the student body engaged and involved,” Leon said. “Wrestling is an extremely fun sport if you know it. We’re trying to expose as many people to the sport as we can.

“It’s cliche to say you’re trying to grow the sport. Truly, we want every student at Sunnyside to know what wrestling is, know the sport, and maybe even get involved. … Health, nutrition, all that stuff. We’re just super into wrestling and we want everybody to be.”

Sunnyside coach Anthony Leon has led the program to eight consecutive state titles and nine overall. The Blue Devils have 38 championships dating to 1979. pic.twitter.com/K9NpqAzFvb

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) December 9, 2025

Sunnyside has already been involved with four dual meets (against Vista Grande, Ironwood Ridge, Canyon View and Queen Creek), and a quad meet (with Nogales, Flowing Wells, Catalina Foothills and host Cienega) this season.

The boys and girls teams also captured the William Bell Invitational titles at Pueblo last weekend.

The heavy scheduling early in the season was by design to allow Leon and his staff an opportunity to evaluate all of their wrestlers and determine where they are in their development.

Four-time state champions Sergio Vega and Carlos Stanton and three-time champ Nicholas Pina have exhausted their eligibility and are now wrestling in college — Vega (144 pounds) at Oklahoma State, Stanton (150) at Northern Colorado and Pina (165) at Arizona Christian.

Sunnyside senior Lucas Mata is one of the standouts for the Blue Devil dynasty. He competed up a weight class today at 215 pounds and defeated Queen Creek’s Dante Parra by technical fall, 21-5. Sunnyside won the match 69-5. Mata is 4-0 this season with each victory by technical… pic.twitter.com/2HWeG1wp5W

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) December 9, 2025

Sunnyside returns senior Zayne Candelaria, who is the two-time defending state champion at 285 pounds.

Candelaria is known as the “Zayne Train” because of how he steamrolls through opponents.

He beat Queen Creek’s Trenton Smith by fall in 1:31, prompting the large crowd to cheer wildly.

Lucas Mata, who won the state title at 190 pounds as a sophomore two years ago, is coming off a championshiop in the William Bell event.

He is also a starter on the defensive line for the football team and is a standout baseball talent.

He wrestled up a weight class on Tuesday at 215 pounds and won by technical fall (21-5) over Dante Parra. The victory by the popular multi-sport athlete and accomplished student also was met by a rousing applause.

“It’s a great experience,” he said of the matinee event in front of a loud, boisterous crowd. “It’s good to have the support here. It’s good to have a good network to where you can invite your classmates and they get into it.

“It makes you feel like you’re a significant part of the community.”

Sunnyside will travel to Walsh Jesuit High School at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, this week to compete in the IRONMAN Wrestling Tournament. More than 120 schools from across the nation are competing in the event.