By Raymundo Frasquillo
GRAHAM COUNTY – The Chris Cook-coached No. 3 Thatcher (5-1 seeding, 10.4861 rating) host the Brenda Street-coached No. 36 Morenci Wildcats (2-3, minus 6.0980) and the Katie Jones-coached No. 17 Safford Bulldogs (2-1, 2.9012) host the Brooke Bingham-coached No. 11 Pima Roughriders (3-0, 5.7780) on Thursday, March 26.
Thatcher is a combined 30-6 in seeding singles matches, Pima 16-2, Safford 11-7, Duncan 6-6, and Morenci 9-21. The Green and White doubles teams are 14-4, Pima 7-2, Safford 5-4, Duncan 2-2, and Morenci 5-10
The initial statewide rankings were released at noon on March 24 and will be updated Tuesday through Friday until further notice.
This Week (March 23-28)
This week (March 23-28) in the section, Duncan visits Morenci, Safford hosts Section II Tucson Pusch Ridge, and Pima visits Section III Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic on March 24; Benson hosts Tombstone, and Miami hosts Section IV Coolidge on March 25; Duncan visits Globe, Thatcher hosts Morenci, and Safford hosts Pima on March 26; and Pima visits Tombstone on March 27.
Benson defeated Division II – Section VII Tucson Amphitheater 6-3 on March 23, and Morenci downed Duncan 6-3 on March 24.
Division III Section I Standings
The section standing as of March 23 were Thatcher (5-1 seeding, 1-0 section), Safford (2-1, 1-0), Miami (1-2, 1-0), Benson (2-3, 1-0), Pima (3-0, 0-0), Globe (2-4, 0-3), Morenci (1-3, 0-0), and Duncan (0-4, 0-1).
Four section pairings to date resulted in wins by Thatcher over Globe (9-0, Feb. 26), Safford over Globe (7-2, March 4), Miami over Globe (7-2, March 10), and Benson over Duncan (6-3, March 11).
No. 3 Thatcher Eagles (5-1 seeding, 10.4861 rating)
Thatcher (5-1) is 30-6 in singles and 14-4 in doubles. Top seed senior Isaac Palmer is 1-2, No. 2 senior Braden Huish 6-0, No. 3 junior Jacob Reed 4-2, No. 4 senior Topher Rubalcava 6-0, No. 5 senior Ranan Rubalcava 5-1, No. 6 sophomore Jackson Smith 5-1, and sophomore Grady Allen 3-0 in singles.
In doubles, No. 1 Palmer – Huish is 2-1, No. 2 Rubalcava – Rubalcava 4-2, No. 3 Reed – Allen 2-1, Huish – Allen 2-0, Huish – Reed 1-0, Reed – Smith 2-0, and Smith – Allen 1-0.
No. 11 Pima Roughriders (3-0 seeding, 5.7780 rating)
Pima (3-0) is 16-2 in singles and 7-2 in doubles. Top seed senior Jackson Paull is 2-1, No. 2 junior Colt Lunt 3-0, No. 3 junior Eli Rogers 3-0, No. 4 junior Hollen Hoopes 3-0, No. 5 junior Logan McCray 0-1, No. 6 junior Kyler Reed 1-0, senior Jimmy Smith 2-0, and senior Garth Lunt 2-0.
In doubles, No. 1 Paull – Rogers is 0-1, No. 2 Colt Lunt – McCray 1-0, No. 3 Hoopes – Reed 1-0, Colt Lunt – Rogers 2-0, Paull – Smith 2-0, Garth Lunt – Hoopes 1-0, and Garth Lunt – McCray 0-1.
No. 17 Safford Bulldogs (2-1 seeding, 2.9012 rating
Safford (2-1) is 11-7 in singles and 5-4 in doubles. Top seed sophomore Lucas Lackner is 2-1, No. 2 junior John Archuleta 2-1, No. 3 sophomore Trae Gaines 2-1, No. 4 freshman Gunnar Crockett 2-1, No. 5 sophomore Nathan Tarnutzer 2-1, and No. 6 sophomore Jackson Smith 1-2.
In doubles, No. 1 Lackner – Archuleta is 2-1, No. 2 Gaines – Crockett 2-1, and No. 3 Tarnutzer – Smith 1-2.
No. 22 Miami Vandals (1-2 seeding, 0.3465)
Miami (1-2) is 6-12 in singles and 3-6 in doubles. Top seed senior Jeffery Askew 1-2, No. 2 junior Jose Zarate 1-2, No. 3 senior Chris White 0-3, No. 4 junior Hector Mariscal 1-2, No. 5 sophomore Joshua Dillon 2-1, No. 6 sophomore Jeriah Palmer 1-2.
In doubles, No. 1 Askew – Mariscal is 1-1, No. 2 Zarate – White 1-1, No. 3 Dillon – Palmer 1-2, Askew – Zarate 0-1, and White – Mariscal 0-1.
No. 26 Benson Bobcats (2-3 seeding, minus 0.5254 rating)
Benson (2-3) is 9-21 (4 forfeit wins) in singles and 4-11 (3 forfeit wins) in doubles. Top seed junior Casey Acuna is 0-5, No. 2 sophomore J.R. Nunez 1-3, No. 3 senior Isaac Garcia 1-4, No. 4 sophomore Guillermo Macias 2-3, No. 5 sophomore Dominic Estrella 2-3, No. 6 freshman Lionel Hummel 3-2, and sophomore Jaxon Davis 0-1 in singles.
In doubles, No. 1 Acuña – García is 0-5, No. 2 Macías – Núñez 1-3, No. 3 Estrella – Hummel 2-2, and Macías – Estrella 1-0, Estrella – Davis 0-1.
No. 30 Globe (2-4 seeding, minus 3.1747 rating)
Globe (2-4) is 15-21 (7 forfeit wins) in singles and 8-10 (4 forfeit wins) in doubles. Top seed senior Spencer McBride is 2-4, No. 2 junior Matthew Bolinger 1-4, No. 3 junior Caden Dryden 2-4, junior Matthew Pollock 1-4, No. 4 junior Brody East 3-2 in singles, No. 5 junior Aiden Alvarez 2-0, No. 6 junior William Montague 2-0, and senior Kaden Graham 2-3,
In doubles, No. 1 East – Dryden is 1-0, No. 2 McBride – Bolinger 1-2, No. 3 Alvarez – Montague 2-0, Pollock – East 2-2, McBride – Graham 1-2, Bolinger – Dryden 0-2, Graham – Dryden 0-2, and Dryden – Pollock 1-0.
No. 36 Morenci Wildcats (2-3 seeding, minus 6.0980 rating)
Morenci (2-3) is 9-21 in singles and 5-10 in doubles, along with forfeits for four singles and two doubles. Top seed senior Jaydon Cueto is 1-4, No. 2 senior Hector Morales 1-4, No. 3 freshman Riley Stephenson 2-3, No. 4 junior Ryan Sullivan 2-3, No. 5 freshman Gabriel Tachie-Menson 1-4, and No. 6 freshman William Henrie 2-3 in singles.
In doubles, No. 1 Cueto – Morales is 1-3, No. 2 Sullivan – Stephenson 2-2, No. 3 Tachie-Menson – Stephenson 0-1, Sullivan – Henrie 0-1, and Henrie – Tachie-Menson 2-2, Sullivan – Tachie-Menson 0-1.
No. 39 Duncan Wildkats (0-5 seeding, minus 10.8025 rating)
Duncan (0-5) is 6-6 in singles and 2-2 in doubles during head-to-head pairings. Half a full team yields three singles and two doubles matches to each scheduled opponent.
Top seed sophomore Jared Kempton is 4-0, No. 2 sophomore Canyon Carver 0-4, and No. 3 junior Aaron Zamora 2-2.
In doubles, Kempton – Carver is 2-2.
Morenci – 6, Duncan – 3 (March 24)
Two Wildcats posted wins in two singles and a double during head-to-head pairings with the host Wildcats. All of Morenci’s wins were via forfeits.
Duncan singles No. 1 sophomore Jared Kempton blanked senior Jaydon Cueto (6-0 twice) and No. 2 sophomore Canyon Carver downed senior Hector Morales (6-4, 6-1).
In doubles, No. 1 Kempton – Carver shut out Cueto – Morales 8-0.
Forfeits were awarded to Morenci singles No. 3 freshman Riley Stephenson, No. 4 sophomore Ryan Sullivan, No. 5 freshman Gabriel Tachie-Menson, and No. 6 freshman William Henrie, along with doubles No. 2 Stephenson – Sullivan and No. 3 Henrie – Tachie-Menson.
Benson – 6, Amphitheater – 3 (March 23)
The host Bobcats won three singles and two doubles in head-to-head pairings with the visiting Panthers. The No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles were forfeits.
Singles No. 3 senior Isaac Garcia, No. 4 sophomore Guillermo Macias, and No. 5 sophomore Dominic Estrella defeated senior Zihao Wang (8-4), senior Jesus Ibarra (8-3), and senior Gage Kelly-Nunez (8-2), respectively.
Forfeits were awarded to singles No. 6 freshman Lionel Hummel and doubles No. 3 Estrella – Hummel.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Savage – Blachly 8-0 over Acuna – Garcia, No. 2 Freestone – Elijah Edington 8-0 over Núñez – Macías.
For Amphitheater, it was No. 1 junior Tynan Gee 8-2 over junior Casey Acuna and No. 2 senior Lincoln Sorensen 8-6 over sophomore J.R. Nunez in singles along with Gee – Sorensen 8-3 over Acuna – Garcia in doubles.
Saint David – 9, Benson – 0 (March 18)
The visiting Bobcats were swept by the neighboring Tigers in Saint David.
Singles No. 1 senior Jaxon Savage, No. 2 senior Ricky Blachly, No. 3 junior Kevin Freestone, No. 4 junior Elijah Edington, No. 5 senior Aaron Edington, and No. 6 freshman James Hardwick defeated Acuna (8-2), Nunez (8-1), Garcia (8-2), Macias (8-0), Estrella (8-0), and Hummel (8-0), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Savage – Blachly 8-0 over Acuna – Garcia, No. 2 Freestone – Elijah Edington 8-0 over Nunez – Macias, and No. 3 Aaron Edington – Hardwick over Estrella – Hummel.
Morenci – 8, Tombstone – 1 (March 17)
The host Wildcats posted wins in two singles and a double during head-to-head pairings with the visiting Yellow Jackets. In addition, three singles and two doubles forfeits were gained.
Singles No. 1 Cueto and No. 2 Morales defeated senior Diego DeLosReyes 8-3 and senior Jake Monin 8-5, respectively.
The No. 1 Cueto – Morales duo downed DeLosReyes and sophomore Sammy Granillo, 8-3.
Forfeits were awarded for No. 4 Henrie, No. 5 Stephenson, and No. 6 Sullivan in singles, and doubles No. 2 Henrie – Tachie-Menson and No. 3 Stephenson – Sullivan.
For Tombstone, No. 3 sophomore Sammy Granillo defeated Tachie-Menson 8-0.
Pima – 7, Patagonia – 2 (March 13)
The host Roughriders won four singles and two doubles in head-to-head pairings from the visiting Lobos. In addition, a singles and doubles forfeits were attained.
Singles No. 1 senior Jackson Paull, No. 2 junior Colt Lunt, and No. 4 junior Eli Rogers defeated senior Jaxon Yslava (7-5, 6-2), senior Skylar Sanchez (6-0, 6-4), junior Louis Reyes (6-1 twice), and senior Lenin Albarran (6-0, 6-4), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 2 Lunt – McCray 8-3 over Reyes – Albarran.
Singles No. 6 junior Kyler Reed and doubles No. 3 Hoopes – Reed were awarded forfeits.
For Patagonia, singles No. 5 sophomore Jorge Sotelo won the tie-breaker 10-7 after losing the first set 4-6 and winning the second set 6-4 over junior Logan McCray.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Yslava – Sanchez 8-6 over Paull – Rogers.
Globe – 9, Morenci – 0 (March 12)
Globe swept Morenci in Miami as only two Wildcats made the trip. The Tigers prevailed in two head-to-head singles and a doubles pairing.
It was singles No. 1 senior Spencer McBride over Cueto (6-3, 6-4) and No. 2 junior Matthew Bolinger over Morales (6-4 twice), along with the doubles No. 1 junior Brody East – Caden Dryden 8-3 over Cueto – Morales.
Forfeits were awarded for No. 3 Dryden, No. 4 East, No. 5 junior Aiden Alvarez, and No. 6 junior William Montague in singles, and doubles No. 2 McBride – Bolinger and No. 3 Alvarez – Montague.
Thatcher – 2, Pusch Ridge – 7 (March 11)
The Eagles managed two singles wins during a closely contested pairing with the visiting Lions.
It was No. 2 senior Braden Huish over junior Nick Herndon (7-5, 7-6) and No. 4 senior Topher Rubalcava over junior Christian Skinner (6-4, 3-6, 10-6)
For Pusch Ridge, singles top seed sophomore Dean Morthland, No. 3 senior Lukas Herndon, No. 5 senior Cody Urias, and No. 6 senior Aviel Arellano over senior Isaac Palmer (3-6, 6-3, 10-5), junior Jacob Reed (6-0 twice), senior Ranan Rubalcava (6-4, 6-3), and sophomore Jackson Smith (6-3, 6-2), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Herndon – Herndon 8-4 over senior Isaac Palmer – Huish, No. 2 Morthland – Skinner 8-6 over Rubalcava – Rubalcava, and No. 3 Urias – Arellano 8-6 over Reed – sophomore Grady Allen.
Benson – 6, Duncan – 3
The visiting Duncan trio took two singles and a doubles in head-to-head pairings while forfeiting three singles and two doubles to the host Bobcats.
Singles No. 1 Kempton and No. 3 junior Aaron Zamora defeated Acuna (6-1 twice) and Garcia (6-3, 7-5), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Kempton – Carver 8-1 over Acuna – Garcia.
For Benson, singles No. 2 Nunez downed Carver (6-3, 6-1).
Forfeits were awarded to No. 4 Macias, No. 5 Estrella, and No. 6 Hummel, along with the No. 2 duo of Nunez – Macias and the No. 3 duo of Estrella – Hummel.
Thatcher – 9, Glendale Prep – 0 (March 10)
The Eagles swept the Griffins in Glendale, posting wins in all six singles and three pairings.
Singles No. 1 Palmer, No. 2 Huish, No. 3 Reed, No. 4 Topher Rubalcava, No. 5 Ranan Rubalcava, and No. 6 Smith over senior Luciano Marcolini (6-0 twice), senior Lex Bodzin (6-0 twice), senior Max Beckenhauer (6-1, 6-3), junior Jai Chaudhary (6-2 twice), junior Will Schlofman (6-7, 6-2, 10-6), and sophomore Shiva Selvaganapathy (6-0 twice), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Palmer – Huish 8-0 over Marcolini – Bodzin, Rubalcava – Rubalcava 8-3 over Beckenhauer – Schlofman, and Reed – Allen 8-2 over Chaudhary – Selvaganapathy.
Miami – 7, Globe – 2
The host Vandals won four singles and three doubles pairings from the visiting Tigers.
Singles No. 1 senior Jeffery Askew, No. 2 junior Jose Zarate, No. 4 junior Hector Mariscal, and No. 5 sophomore Joshua Dillon defeated McBride (6-1 twice), Bolinger (6-1, 6-0), Dryden (6-2, 6-3), and Pollock (6-4, 7-5), respectively.
In doubles, it was No. 1 Askew – Mariscal 8-3 over Bolinger – Dryden, No. 2 Zarate – senior Chris White 8-6 over McBride – Graham, and No. 3 Dillon – sophomore Jeriah Palmer 8-6 over Pollock – junior Brody East.
For Globe, singles No. 3 senior Kaden Graham and No. 6 East defeated White (6-4, 4-6, 12-10) and Palmer (7-6, 6-4), respectively.
