Morenci returns from Willcox with the meet title
By Raymundo Frasquillo
PIMA – The Ruthie Butler-coached Pima Roughriders (2-1 overall) host the Jasmine Aguinaga-coached Morenci Wildcats (1-0) on Thursday, Sept. 4.
Other pairings in the 2A East Region on Sept. 4 include San Tan Charter hosting Phoenix Madison Highland Prep, Miami visiting Eagar Round Valley, and San Carlos hosting Willcox; Gilbert Classical visits Arete Prep on Friday, Sept. 5; and Lincoln Prep, San Tan Charter, and Pima will be attending the Phoenix Horizon Honors tourney on Saturday, Sept. 6.
In the 2A South Region, Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic hosts Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic, Tombstone hosts Tucson San Miguel Catholic, and Willcox visits San Carlos on Sept. 4; Santa Rita hosts Chandler Lincoln Prep, and Tucson Desert Christian visits Tucson Catalina on Friday, Sept. 5; and Desert Christian will be attending the Phoenix Horizon Honors tourney on Sept. 6.
Pairings in the 1A Region have Duncan at San Manuel and Kearny Ray hosts San Tan Valley San Tan Foothills on Sept. 4; Cicero Prep visits Phoenix Great Hearts Anthem Prep on Sept. 5; and Cicero Prep, Fort Thomas, Ray, Phoenix Valley Lutheran, and Superior will be attending the Phoenix Horizon Honors tourney on Sept. 6.
In the 3A South Region, Empire visits Nogales, Tucson Andrada Polytechnic visits Tucson Amphitheater, Safford visits Lakeside Blue Ridge, Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian visits Tucson Salpointe Catholic, and Tucson Sabino visits Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills on Sept. 4; Tucson Catalina hosts Tucson Desert Christian on Sept. 5; Thatcher will be attending the Mesa Westwood tourney on Sept. 5-6; and Empire will be attending the Phoenix Horizon Honors tourney on Sept. 6.
MORENCI Wildcats
Morenci opened the 2025 season in Wildcat Memorial Gymnasium against the Eagar Round Valley Elks, falling in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 13-25).
The Wildcats have a 10-member roster with seniors Madilynn Clark (4), Keirah Fernandez (11), a nd Rozlyn Funari (10); juniors Leayla Mendez-Garcia (7) and Kaylee Wiggins (6); sophomores Ava Basteen (1), Jayliana Guzzo (1), and Taytum Porter (8); and freshmen Kendall Merrill (3) and Justine Tartaglia (5).
Morenci is competing in the 9-member 2A South Region with the Benson Bobcats, the Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic Wolves, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets, the Bisbee Pumas, the Tucson Santa Rita Eagles, the Tucson San Miguel Catholic Vipers, the Willcox Cowgirls, and the Tucson Desert Christian Eagles.
PIMA Roughriders
Pima has played three seeding matches to date, topping Duncan 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) on Aug. 27 and Fort Thomas 3-0 on Aug. 28, plus falling 0-3 (19-25, 14-25, 27-29) to Benson on Sept. 2.
The Roughriders are competing in the 9-member 2A East Region with the Gilbert Classical Spartans, the Gilbert San Tan Charter Roadrunners, the Chandler Lincoln Prep Lightning, the Gilbert Arete Prep Chargers, the Gilbert Leading Edge Spartans, the Chandler Prep Titans, the Miami Vandals, and the San Carlos Braves.
2A South Region
Region member standings as of Sept. 3 are Benson (1-1 seeding, 0-0 region), Tucson Saint Augustine Catholic (1-0, 0-0), Tombstone (0-2, 0-0), Bisbee (0-2, 0-0), Tucson Santa Rita (0-2, 0-0), Tucson San Miguel Catholic (0-2, 0-0), Morenci (0-1, 0-0), Willcox (0-1, 0-0), and Tucson Desert Christian (0-0, 0-0).
2A East Region
Region member standings as of Sept. 3 are Gilbert Classical (3-0 seeding, 0-0 region), Gilbert San Tan Charter (2-0, 0-0), Chandler Lincoln Prep (1-2, 0-0), San Carlos (1-0, 0-0), Pima (2-1, 0-0), Gilbert Arete Prep (1-2, 0-0), Chandler Prep (0-1, 0-0), Gilbert Leading Edge (0-1, 0-0), and Miami (0-0, 0-0).
1A East Region
Region member standings as of Sept. 3 are Scottsdale Cicero Prep (1-0 seeding, 0-0 region), Fort Thomas (1-1, 0-0), Kearny Ray (1-1, 0-0), Phoenix Valley Lutheran (0-1, 0-0), Duncan (0-2, 0-0), San Manuel (0-2, 0-0), Winkelman Hayden (0-0, 0-0), and Superior (0-0, 0-0).
3A South Region
Region member standings as of Sept. 3 are Tucson Empire (3-0 seeding, 0-0 region), Thatcher (2-0, 0-0), Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (2-0, 0-0), Safford (2-0, 0-0), Tucson Palo Verde Magnet (2-1, 0-0) Tucson Catalina (0-2, 0-0), Tucson Tanque Verde (1-1, 0-0), Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (0-1, 0-0), and Tucson Sabino (0-0, 0-0).
Cochise County Roundup
Morenci (4-1 overall, 0-1 seeding, 0-0 region) captured the inaugural Cochise County Roundup title on Aug. 30. The Greenlee County girls topped the Patagonia Lobos (6-1, 3-0, 0-0 1A South Region) 2-0 (25-20, 25-19) for the first place trophy.
The host Willcox Cowgirls (3-3, 0-2, 0-0 2A South Region) defeated the Fort Thomas Apaches (3-3, 1-1, 0-0 1A East Region) 2-0 (25-18 twice) for third place, the Tombstone Yellow Jackets (1-5, 0-2, 0-0 2A South Region) defeated Tucson’s The Gregory School Hawks (5-3, 4-0, 2-0 1A South Region) 2-0 (25-22, 25-21) for fifth place, and the San Simon Longhorns (3-3, 2-0, 1-0 1A South Region) defeated the Tucson San Miguel Catholic Vipers (1-6, 1-2, 0-0 2A South Region) 2-1 (25-15, 22-25, 15-13) for seventh place.
A 14-member all-tourney team include Madilyn Clark (4), Jayliana Guzzo (1), and Justine Tartaglia (5) of Morenci; Brianna Majalca (14), Monique Snell (3), and Amaya Somoza (6) of Patagonia; Kennedy Ebert (19) and Karlie Saint Clair (3) of Willcox; Treyiah DeClay (17) and Jamie Johnson (7) of Fort Thomas; A.C. Carroll (1) of Tombstone; Emerson Myers (7) of The Gregory School; Bryleigh Sloan (1) of San Simon; and Camila Iniguez (5) of San Miguel.
The Wildcats qualified for the championship match with three pool play wins of 42-24 over San Miguel (0-3), 33-25 over Willcox (2-1), and 32-30 over Tombstone (1-2). Other 2A pool play results were Willcox 37-23 over Tombstone and 50-16 over San Miguel, and Tombstone 33-26 over San Miguel.
On the 1A side, Patagonia (3-0) prevailed 34-31 over Fort Thomas (2-1), 46-24 over The Gregory School (1-2), and 44-28 over San Simon (0-3). The other 1A team results were Fort Thomas 34-27 over San Simon and 35-33 over The Gregory School, and The Gregory School 36-28 over San Simon.
