It took Chandler Basha five years to get its first champion, but only a few minutes more to get its second as identical twin brothers Tyler and Ryan Jimenez posted back-to-back wins in the 5A-I state wrestling tournament Saturday at Jobing.com Arena.

Tyler (21-4), the younger of the two seniors by six minutes, defeated Mesa Red Mountain’s Gerad Johnson (34-5) 9-5 in the 145-pound class. Ryan (39-0) held on for a 3-2 win against Tempe Corona del Sol’s Derek Felton (44-3) in the 152-pound division.

Ryan led 1-0 going into the final period. Felton tied him with an escape but Ryan came back with a quick double-leg takedown to go up 3-1. Felton escaped with 18 seconds left in the period but couldn’t get the takedown he needed.

“It was close,” Tyler said, admitting that it was a tough match to watch. “But I had confidence in him.”

Ryan, who finished third at 152 last year, said it’s different watching his brother wrestle.

“He always wrestles before me, so I always watch him,” he said. “Sometimes it helps me to get more pumped up.”

Tyler didn’t place at state last year, losing in the quarterfinals at 145 but said it made sense for them to switch weight classes this year.

“We weigh the same,” he said. “I just have an easier time getting down to 145.”

Tyler missed quite a bit of this season due to a broken wrist and had his ribs taped for the championship match.

“Tyler’s been banged up all year,” Basha coach Michael Garcia said.

Tyler jumped out to a quick lead in his match against Johnson, also a senior. He had a takedown and a near-fall in the first period for a 5-0 lead and went up 8-2 with another takedown early in the second period. Johnson fought back to 9-5 with an escape with a minute left in the final period but neither wrestler scored again.

Garcia, who also coached another pair of identical twins to state titles — Eli and Ethan Hillis at Tempe High in 2002 — before coming to Basha five years ago, said that the Jimenez twins have done a lot for the Bears.

“It’s a testament to these two hard-working kids,” he said. “And it really showed something to my young kids.

“We’re trying to build a culture of wrestling here. I hear a lot of kids saying that they’ve never wrestled before.

“These two both started wrestling when they were freshmen. This is really big for our program.”

Basha has a chance to finish among the elite at the state team championships, which begin in a dual-meet format next week.

“We match up better with some programs than with others,” Garcia said.

“It would be nice if Red Mountain pulled it out over Corona this week so that we could be in the top of the bracket with them.”

The Jimenez brothers beat wrestlers from the state’s top two teams on Saturday. Even though they’ve been wrestling since their freshmen year, they’ve had the normal experience of most brothers.

“Of course,” Ryan said.