‘Happy, happy tears for Jose’

The Class 3A wrestling regional was nearing its end.

Wrestlers were grappling on three mats simultaneously as they were deciding the champion, third place and fifth place winners for each weight class.

The wrestlers on the first two mats had already locked up their spot at state. The matches taking place were for pride, bragging rights and seeding at the state tournament.

But that match for fifth place carried with it a little extra weight.

That determined the final state qualifier in each and every weight class.

And in that match in the 215-pound weight class was Kingfisher High School senior Jose Santoyo.

He was the Jackets’ last hope to get another state qualifier and it was his last shot to achieve that dream.

Santoyo has crept within striking distance of a state berth each year.

He made the fourth round of the consolation bracket at 170 pounds both as a freshman and a sophomore.

Last year he was at 190 pounds and got to the fifth round of consolations.

But there he was Saturday night staring across at Davis’ Dee Idleman.

Santoyo admits there was something inside of him that allowed some negativity to creep in.

“Right before the match, I was a little scared of the outcome,” he said.

“But that changed as the match went on.”

Santoyo was mostly in control, then early in the second period, there was a scramble and he got Idleman to his back.

He knew. Idleman knew. Kingfisher coach Steven Wilson knew.

“When that happened, I just stopped coaching,” Wilson said.

“And I started to tear up.”

••• It wasn’t exactly the best of regional tournaments for Kingfisher.

Wilson was hoping to duplicate last year’s showing and qualify five for state, which was the most in nearly a decade.

Despite the regional being at home, though, Wilson also knew that feat was going to take some of his wrestlers catching some breaks.

For the most part, that didn’t happen.

Entering the final session of the regional, no Kingfisher wrestler had qualified and only one outside of Santoyo - Jaxon Sheppard at 132 pounds - had a chance to do so.

Sheppard was a regional champ at 126 pounds as a freshman last year and was one of the higher seeds in this year’s 132-pound bracket.

After winning his first two rounds, Sheppard was knocked off by Prague’s Samuel Teape in the quarterfi nals.

That meant the sophomore was going to have to take the longer route back to state.

Sheppard bounced back with a fall and technical fall in his next two matches to land in the consolation semifinals.

A win there and Sheppard would secure his spot at state and wrestle for third.

However, he was defeated 4-1 in sudden victory by Oklahoma Christian School’s Jace Lillie.

“Both of those guys who beat him are two-time state qualifiers and seniors,” said Wilson. “Those were tough matchups.”

The loss gave Sheppard just one more opportunity to get back.

He took advantage and outlasted Geary’s Raden Berg 8-4 to claim fifth place and get back to the state tournament.

“He found a way to make it through at the end and I’m very proud of him for that,” Wilson said.

••• Santoyo could have been wrestling at 215 pounds all season.

However, for a multitude of reasons - including being a solid teammate - he wrestled up in weight.

Santoyo spent much of his senior season in the heavyweight class where the weight limit is 285 pounds.

“He was going up against guys a lot bigger than him most nights,” Wilson said.

Yet he held his own, including winning the heavyweight championship at the Kingfisher Invitational back in December.

But as the regional neared, Santoyo had a decision to make.

The 215-pound spot opened up for KHS.

That was coupled with the fact that the heavyweight division in the west regional had nine wrestlers who qualified for state a year ago in their own respective weight classes.

“The coaches thought there was a better chance for me to make it to state at 215,” Santoyo said.

But the decision wasn’t that simple.

There’s a big difference in wrestling at heavyweight and at 215.

“As you could imagine, different weights have different styles of wrestling,” Santoyo said. “And I was more comfortable wrestling like a heavyweight.

“It was a pretty difficult decision to make.”

Wilson offered his advice and opinion, but left the decision to Santoyo.

Eventually, the senior heeded his coaches’ advice and wrestled at 215.

It didn’t look great early. After receiving a bye in the first round, Santoyo was pinned by Donald Sanders of Mount St. Mary at 1:16 of their second-round match.

Like Sheppard, Santoyo was going to have to take the difficult route to state.

He got falls in the first period against Lane Lesley of Henryetta, Bryson Byler of Little Axe and Jakeb Miller of Bethel.

That sent him to the fifth round of consolation, the spot where he was eliminated a year ago.

If he could find a way to win, it would land him in the consolation semifinal, meaning he’d need just one win in two tries to get to state.

Across from him was Chandler’s Easton Manning, who had a stellar record and was seeded higher than Santoyo.

The match got to the third period and Santoyo made his move. He pinned Manning 27 seconds into the period to reach a round he’d never seen before.

That was the good news. The bad news was he was once again pitted against Sanders.

“The guy is a physical freak,” said Wilson. “He’s big and he’s strong and a really tough matchup for anyone.”

Sanders proved it by pinning Santoyo for a second time. He ultimately took third in the weight class and became Mount St. Mary’s first ever state qualifier.

The loss sent Santoyo to the fifth place match.

It was now or never.

••• When Steven Wilson looks at Jose Santoyo, he can’t help but be reminded of himself when he was roaming the KHS halls… and grappling on the KHS wrestling mats…in the early 2000s.

“Jose doesn’t have the same things as everyone else,” explained Wilson.

Like it didn’t for Wilson when he earned a bronze medal as a heavyweight in 2005, that doesn’t hold back Santoyo.

“I see a lot of the same work ethic and the same ‘want to’ out of Jose that I had,” Wilson said. “He works hard in every aspect of his life, whether it’s sports, classroom, summer job.”

As he was making his way through high school, Wilson often had to find his own way to summer workouts. He depended on others to get him home and, to this day, is grateful for their generosity.

He knew the need was there and made sure Santoyo had that same ride every day over this past summer.

“He was always up and ready to go,” Wilson said.

That gesture by Wilson - and others - isn’t lost on Santoyo, who calls his coach “a father figure.”

“Coach Wilson has always been a good example to me…to all of us,” Santoyo said. “He’s the kind of person you can rely on.

“He’s shown me what impact someone can make without even realizing it.”

••• Santoyo gained confidence as his fifth place match wore on.

He started the second period on bottom, but quickly scored a reversal.

Already ahead in points, Santoyo worked Idleman’s shoulders to the mat.

Everyone knew the whistle was about to blow, the referee’s hand was about to slap the mat and that Santoyo was about to score a pin.

And that was the moment that Wilson stopped being a coach and turned into something else.

It was something like a proud father as he remembered Santoyo telling him that Wilson was his role model and that he looked up to him.

“That’s when the tears hit me,” Wilson said.

The match officially ended at 2:29.

Jose Santoyo was a state qualifier.

“I was just thankful,” said Santoyo. “Thankful to God. Thankful to my coaches.

“Thankful to everyone who has helped me along the way.”

A few weeks ago, Wilson asked Santoyo what he wanted out of this senior year.

Santoyo’s answer? To be great and to get his name on “the wall,” referencing the wall in the northwest corner of the APB that lists every KHS wrestler who has every placed at the state tournament. Wilson’s name is among them.

You can’t place at state if you don’t get to state. Santoyo did that.

“He completed his first step,” said Wilson. “So, yeah, those were some happy, happy tears for Jose.”