By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Austin Mitchell-coached 2A No. 28 Morenci Wildcats (2-3 seeding, minus 11.8982 rating) will be guests of the Isaac Rogers-coached 3A No. 16 Thatcher Eagles (3-3, minus 1.6821) on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
After playing the 2022 season as a 3A Independent, Morenci was in the 3A Southeast Region in 2023 (3-10-1) and 2024 (6-7), the 2A South Region in 2025 (2-9), and in this season (2-3), for a combined 13-29-1 overall, 12-26-1 seeding, and 5-15 region.
Thatcher is 47-28-2 overall, 31-10 seeding, 17-7 region, and 4-3 state tourney during the same three and a half seasons.
The Eagles have three wins over Morenci during the previous three seasons: 8-0 (Jan. 25, 2025), 7-0 (Jan. 22, 2024), and 5-1 (Jan. 23, 2023), outscoring the Wildcats 20-1.
This week (Jan. 20-24)
The 2A South Region pairings are San Miguel at Tombstone and Desert Christian at Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Jan. 20; and San Miguel hosts ALA – Anthem South, and Tombstone visits Desert Christian on Thursday, Jan. 22.
Non-region contests include Morenci visiting 3A South Region Thatcher on Jan. 20; Santa Cruz visiting 2A Valley Region Phoenix Veritas Prep and Morenci visiting 2A Independent Gilbert Leading Edge on Jan. 22; Tombstone hosting 2A Independent Gilbert Leading Edge and Morenci hosting 2A Independent Santa Rita on Jan. 23; and San Miguel hosting 3A East Region Globe on Jan. 24.
2A No. 27 Morenci Wildcats (2-3 seeding, minus 11.9609 rating)
The Austin Mitchell-coached Wildcats (2-3 overall, 2-3, seeding, 0-1 region) are averaging a 1-4 (7-22) score per match or a 3-point deficit through five matches.
A 27-member roster includes seven seniors, four juniors, 13 sophomores, and three freshmen. The seniors are Aaron Esquivel (5), Emma Kerrigan (2), Samuel Kitcheyan (11), Summer Luster (13), Johnny Madrid (12), Manuel Medina (14/99), and Jose Torres (19); juniors Karol Escalona (7), Clayton Jacobs (40), Joaquin Ma (33), and Avery Wiltbank (4); sophomores Jolie Anderson (32), Don Black (13), Katerine Escalona (8), Sierra Esquivel (35), Carson Hobbs (38), Axel Martinee (9), Christopher Montoya (6), Aiden Nogales (20), Alizza Pearson (39), Juan Ramirez (10), Lohgan Szymanski (18), Emmanuel Velasquez Salgado (15), and Illiana Wacondo (3); and freshmen Maddox Fellow (36), Cooper Hough (17), and Patricio Reyes (5),
The Wildcats are competing in the 6-member 2A South Region with the Eloy Santa Cruz Dust Devils, the Florence American Leadership – Anthem South Titans, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, and the Tucson schools Desert Christian Eagles and San Miguel Vipers.
2A State Rankings
The statewide rankings for the Top 16 of 34 2A teams as of noon on Jan. 20 were Glendale Trivium Prep (5-0 seeding, 15.2543 rating) No. 1, Phoenix Country Day School (5-1, 15.1687) No. 2, Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (6-0, 14.1390) No. 3, Scottsdale Christian (5-2, 13.0784) No. 4, Gilbert San Tan Charter (8-1, 9.9902) No. 5, Tucson San Miguel (5-0, 9.6471) No. 6, Glendale Prep (5-2, 8.8949) No. 7, and Phoenix Christian (4-2, 6.3264) No. 8.
Gilbert Arete Prep (6-3, 5.9145) was No. 9, Scottsdale Prep (5-3, 4.2204) No. 10, Phoenix Veritas Prep (3-2-1, 4.0510) No. 11, Gilbert Classical (7-1, 3.9386) No. 12, Phoenix Horizon Honors (5-4, 1.2181) No. 13, Tempe Prep (7-3, 0.8558) No. 14, Wickenburg (4-3, minus 0.0038) No. 15, and Tucson Desert Christian (5-3, minus 0.3348) No. 16.
The rankings for the other four 2A South Region members were Tombstone (4-2, minus 2.8620) No. 19, Santa Cruz (1-4, minus 10.8080) No. 26, Morenci (2-3, minus 11.9609) No. 27, and ALA – Anthem South (1-7, minus 17.7732) No. 31.
2A South Region Standings
The 6-member 2A South Region standings as of Jan. 17 were Tucson San Miguel (6-0 seeding, 1-0 region), Tucson Desert Christian (5-3, 2-0), Tombstone (4-2, 0-0), Eloy Santa Cruz (1-5, 0-1), Morenci (2-3, 0-1), and Florence American Leadership – Anthem South (1-7, 0-1).
South Region results to date are San Miguel over Santa Cruz (8-0, Jan. 14) and Desert Christian over ALA – Anthem South (9-0, Jan. 8) and Morenci (8-0, Jan. 14).
The remaining region pairings include Tombstone hosts Santa Cruz and Morenci hosts ALA – Anthem South on Jan. 26; Tombstone visits Morenci, and Santa Cruz visits ALA – Anthem South on Jan. 28; San Miguel hosts Desert Christian on Jan. 30; Tombstone visits ALA – Anthem South and Morenci visits Santa Cruz on Feb. 3; and San Miguel hosts Morenci on Feb. 4.
3A No. 15 Thatcher Eagles (4-3 seeding, minus 0.9846 rating)
Thatcher (3-8-1 overall, 3-3 seeding, 1-2 region) is averaging a score of 1-2 (17-21) per match through 12 matches or a 1-point deficit.
A 23-member roster has 14 seniors, three juniors, and six sophomores. The seniors are Ethan Griffin (1), Ryan Jones (8), Luke Marble (12), Smith Mangum (21), Bryson Nielson, Trent Nelson (4), Nevin Patton (38), Noah Rasmussin (14), Gavin Reed (22), Tanner Smith (12), Cayson Stayley (2), Ty Shupe (11), Nathan Tudor (10), Cash Whittle (24); juniors Levi Allred (9), Josh Jones (5), and Matthew Pierce (15); and sophomores Aiden Alva (7), Thomas Chidester (25), Darreck Evans (17), Gunner Jacobs (1), Rockwell Magnum (18), Jackson Smith (19).
The Isaac Rogers-coached Eagles are competing in the 9-member 3A South Region with the Safford Bulldogs, along with the Tucson schools Andrada Polytechnic Mustangs, Catalina Trojans, Empire Ravens, Palo Verde Magnet Titans, Pusch Ridge Christian Lions, Sabino Sabercats, and Tanque Verde Hawks.
3A State Rankings
The statewide rankings for the Top 16 of 31 3A teams as of noon on Jan. 20 were Yuma Catholic (6-1-1 seeding, 14.2836 rating) No. 1, Gilbert Christian (5-1, 14.4558) No. 2, Buckeye Odyssey Institute (6-1-1, 10.7764) No. 3, Queen Creek American Leadership – Ironwood (3-2, 8.8186) No. 4, Tucson Tanque Verde (5-2, 7.4115) No. 5, Chandler Valley Christian (6-2, 7.3013) No. 6, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (5-2, 7.2056) No. 7, and Phoenix Bourgade Catholic (7-1, 7.0013) No. 8.
Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin (5-1-1, 5.1183) was No. 9, Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (4-2-1, 4.7781) No. 10, San Tan Valley San Tan Foothills (4-1, 1.7277) No. 11, Chandler Seton Catholic (4-3-1, 1.6487) No. 12, Phoenix Northwest Christian (1-4-2, minus 1.5143) No. 13, Tucson Catalina (4-3, 1.2701) No. 14, Thatcher (4-3, 0.9846) No. 15, and Tonopah Valley (3-5, minus 1.6008) No. 16.
Rankings for the other five 3A South Region members were Safford (2-5, minus 5.2558) No. 19, Palo Verde Magnet (2-4, minus 5.7392) No.21, Empire (2-6, minus 8.5871) No. 24, Andrada Polytechnic (1-8, minus 13.7513) No. 27, and Sabino (0-8, minus 13.9363) No. 28.
3A South Region Standings
The 3A South Region 9-member standings as of Jan. 17 were Tucson Tanque Verde (5-2 seeding, 3-0 region), Tucson Pusch Ridge (4-2-1, 3-0), Tucson Catalina (4-3, 2-1), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (2-\4, 2-1), Safford (1-5, 1-1), Thatcher (4-3, 2-2), Tucson Empire (2-6, 1-3), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (1-8, 0-4), and Tucson Sabino (0-8, 0-3).
Region match results are Tanque Verde over Empire (4-0, Jan. 6), Thatcher (3-1, Jan. 14), Palo Verde Magnet (6-0, Jan. 16); Pusch Ridge over Thatcher (2-0, Jan. 10), Sabino (3-0, Jan. 14), and Andrada Polytechnic (7-0, Jan. 16); Catalina over Safford (4-3, Jan. 6) and Empire (2-1, Jan. 14); Palo Verde Magnet over Sabino ((4-2, Jan. 6) and Andrada Polytechnic (4-0, Jan. 14); Safford over Andrada Polytechnic (3-0, Jan. 14); Thatcher over Andrada Polytechnic (4-1, Jan. 6) and Catalina (2-1, Jan. 16); and Empire over Sabino (1-0, Jan. Jan. 8).
