Robert Geyer's shrieking voice pierced through the white noise in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday.

The Los Alamos head wrestling coach stood feet from the mat, whooping and hollering. His son, Brian Geyer, had just pinned Santa Fe High's Jonah Schemlz in the 170-pound division of the District 2AAAA Championships, and Geyer was beaming with paternal pride.

The Hilltoppers rode Geyer's stirring win to a their first district title in 16 years. For the father, it was more special because no Los Alamos wrestler had gotten the best of Schemlz before this year, when his son beat him twice -- once Saturday and once at the Capital Invitational in December.

"We've been pointing to that every day the last month and saying, 'We need a new one,' " Geyer said. "I told the kids: 'It can go any way. If you decide to step up and wrestle, we'll win a title.' "

Step up is exactly what Geyer, one of three Hilltoppers district champions, did. Corey Geyer defeated Keonny Gonzales by a pin in the 152-pound finale, and Arnoldo Ortiz earned a 2-1 decision over Santa Fe High's Anthony Maestas at 182 pounds, key wins that helped Los Alamos spurn the second-place Demons, 156-133.

Los Alamos held a 44-point advantage heading into the championship round, but Santa Fe High rode the coattails of the George brothers, Adrian and Alex, and barrel-chested Anthony Abeyta back into contention. The Demons and Bernalillo tied for second place, but they held the tiebreaker with 13 pins to the Spartans' 12.

Demons head coach Ed Lucero said those two head-to-head matches with Los Alamos, and a loss in the semifinals, damaged Santa Fe High's chances.

"Those definitely were the difference," Lucero said.

It should be said that Schemlz wasn't at full strength. He returned to the mat last week after missing a pair of tournaments because of a shoulder separation.

Immediately after Saturday's match, Schemlz had an ice pack strapped to his shoulder. If there's one thing he wouldn't shoulder, though, it was blame for the loss.

"I know I could have beat him," Schemlz said. "He had a lucky day."

When told of Schemlz's comments, Geyer didn't say much.

"I speak my words on the mat," he said. "It's all right. He can say he's a better wrestler."

Abeyta definitely could make that claim, as last year's AAAA 152-pound champion authored a dominating performance, pining Raymond Fasano in the 160 championship to improve to 22-0.

"My philosophy is: If you're better than a wrestler, you have to prove than you're better than a wrestler," Abeyta said. "When you know you're that much better than somebody, you have to make it visible."

Yet it was Capital's Ernesto Salvidrez and Isaiah Anaya who made their foes seem invisible.

Salvidrez make short work of Los Alamos' Chandler Lauritzen, smothering him 24 seconds into the match.

"I don't take nobody lightly anymore," Salvidrez said. "I used to just be like, 'Whatever,' but you can't do that because that's when people catch you."

Likewise, his teammate, Anaya, coasted to an easy 26-8 decision over Los Alamos' Lane Saunders.

"I knew that I may face him at state, so my strategy was to crush his spirit," Anaya said. "After the first takedown, when I let him up, I felt like he wasn't ready."

Contact Isaac Avilucea at 986-3032 or iavilucea@sfnewmexican.com.