Sometimes high school athletic programs can string together four or five championships in a row and people start calling them dynasties.
But sometimes programs be-come so dominant that the association shifts from a momentary snapshot of success to possibly being one of the greatest to ever compete in Arizona.
The Sunnyside High School wrestling program reaffirmed its place among the best in history on Feb. 20 with a 35-24 win over Ironwood Ridge in the 5A-II state wrestling championship at Tempe High School. It was the 13th consecutive state championship and the 28th overall for the storied wrestling program. 
The Blue Devils have seized just about every Arizona high school wrestling record imaginable in nearly four decades of dominance.
The last time Sunnyside did not win a state title was in 1997 when it lost to Tempe's Marcos de Niza High School by 6.5 points. Since that loss, however, the Blue Devils have rattled off a record 13 titles in a row.
There is no saying what that number could rise to in the coming years with the elite talent that pours into the school year after year.
"If people wanted to pick on us, this was going to be the year to do it," said Sunnyside wrestling coach Bobby DeBerry. "Because down the road in the future, things look pretty darn good."
After trailing top-seeded Ironwood Ridge 15-4 early in the title match this year, No. 2 Sunnyside needed wins in six of the final seven matches to keep the championship streak alive.
Sunnyside got the crucial wins it needed down the stretch and eventually won by 11 points, the closest margin of victory in the title match in over 10 years.
Sunnyside showed some serious mettle when it mattered most. This was supposed to be the year that the championship streak ended for the Blue Devils. Wrestling critics across Southern Arizona cited youth and inexperience as reasons the chain of titles would break.
So how was it that youthful Sunnyside prevailed in such a high-pressure situation?
"It's perseverance," DeBerry said. "We're in a community where, at times, things can be very difficult. Some of the kids come from families where every day can be a struggle.
"But the kids are able to take the tough way that they have to live on a day-to-day basis and transfer it into a positive and use that to motivate themselves to do well," he said.
That source of motivation has yielded record-setting results for the Blue Devils.
And if there's one number that truly speaks volumes about Sunny-side supremacy, it's 28, which is the total number of state titles won by the program. It's an Arizona record by a landslide; Winslow High School is second with 11.
To put that number even further into perspective, consider this: the New York Yankees, the most successful professional sports franchise in America history, have 27 titles.
Sunnyside also holds the second and the fourth longest streaks for consecutive titles. The Blue Devils ripped off eight in a row in the 1980s behind coach Don Klostreich and Richard Sanchez helped the team to five straight from 1990 to 1994.
DeBerry took over in 1996 and has taken the program into a new stratosphere of success.
DeBerry holds an Arizona coaching record of 14 titles—including a title in every year of the last decade—and his program continues to be the model for success.
Challengers from across the state line up for their shot to go toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils.
But those challenges are welcomed with open arms.
"If there's one thing about our kids and our program, we're not going to duck competition," Sanchez said. "If there's somebody out there and we can dual [a term denoting a match between two teams] them and they can improve our program—even a loss can help us improve—we're going to take it."
Sanchez, who led Sunnyside to five wrestling titles in the early 1990s, is now the athletic director and head football coach. He maintains a close relationship with the program and DeBerry.
This year's challenger was Saff-ord High School, a rising star at the Class 3A level, having won six consecutive state titles from 2005 to 2010.
Sanchez said DeBerry contacted him early in the season to talk about how Safford kept saying they could knock off the champs because it was an off year for the Blue Devils.
Sunnyside's response to critics like that is always the same: bring it on.
On Jan. 27, Sunnyside was set to face Canyon del Oro High School in a one-on-one dual, but with Sanchez's approval, DeBerry set the table for an epic regular season showdown between multiple wrestling-dominant schools.
"The critics thought it was crazy for Sunnyside, with such a young team, to go head-to-head against some of those teams," Sanchez said.
Since both squads went on to win state titles in their respective classes, Sunnyside verse Safford was the unquestioned main event.
The Blue Devils won handily 40-24, but the match mimicked that of a state competition, which DeBerry knew would come in handy further down the road.
The dual against Safford "was a dress rehearsal for state," he said.
One wrestler who helped lead Sunnyside through a roller-coaster season of doubt and back to the winner's circle was DeBerry's son, Kory.
DeBerry, a junior, has become a nationally renowned wrestler in Arizona and has won individual state titles in all three years of varsity competition.
But this year's team title was one that Kory DeBerry will re-member forever.
"It's one of the greatest feelings in the world," he said. "A lot of people said that we were done; that we didn't have the horses to win state like we did in past years. It just feels good to show everyone, even though we were a young team, that we're going to do whatever it takes to come home with that trophy."
DeBerry is the No. 6 ranked junior wrestler in the 145-pound weight class (No. 23 overall), according to Wrestling USA Magazine.
Next year will be DeBerry's final year of high school wrestling and there is little doubt that he will be the top pound-for-pound wrestler in the state.
"We just have to keep fighting," he said. "The end result is the only thing that matters. It doesn't matter what happens in the beginning of the season, or the middle. As long as we're wrestling our best when it matters most, we're confident that we will bring it home."
That mentality is what has made the Sunnyside wrestling program into the powerhouse that it is today.
If it continues, the state trophy may have found a permanent home on Tucson's south side.
