Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Safford slipped past Sahuarita 218-216 for the Division III – Section IV wrestling tile on Feb. 10. The Herman Andrews Jr.-coached Bulldogs qualified 13-14 for this week’s state meet. From left, front row are senior Jeremiah Durazo, freshman Alex Chacon, sophomore Isac Contreras, senior Gabriel Enriquez, freshman Elias Cardenas, senior Anthony Garrobo, junior Teegan Baldwin, and junior Nathaniel Rodriguez. In back are freshman Xavier Rivers, senior Brandon Aguilar, junior Micah Chapman, senior Gary Smith, senior Kaleb Cordova, senior Noah Dominguez, and sophomore Daniel Royal. Durazo did not represent the school in the sectional but did so during some of the regular season meets.
Chacon pins three for first place medal
By Raymundo Frasquillo
SAHUARITA – The Safford Bulldogs left the Walden Grove campus with the 2024 Division III – Section IV title on Feb. 10. The Bulldogs tallied 218 points or two more than runner-up Sahuarita (216). There were 109 participants, 34 seniors, 33 juniors, 26 sophomores, and 16 freshmen from 11 different schools. The state meet begins on Feb. 15.
Sahuarita Walden Grove was third with 161 points, Tucson Mica Mountain fourth (139), Tucson Salpointe Catholic fifth (109), Tucson Empire sixth (40.5), Tucson Amphitheater seventh (33.5), Douglas eighth (24), Tucson Sahuaro ninth (23.5), Rio Rico 10th (22), and Tucson Sabino 11th (16).
The Graham County boys qualified 13 of 14 entrants by placing in the top four, one as section champion, eight as runners-up, one as a third placer, and three as fourth placers. All 14 Bulldogs contributed to the team’s scoring total.
Freshman Alex Chacon (106, 3-0, 3 pins) placed first; senior Gabriel Enriquez (120, 1-1, 1 pin), senior Anthony Garrobo (132, 1-1, 1 pin), junior Teegan Baldwin (138, 3-1, 3 pins), junior Nathaniel Rodriguez (144, 3-1, 2 pins), sophomore Daniel Roybal (150, 2-1, 1 pin), senior Noah Dominguez (157, 2-1, 2 pins), senior Kaleb Cordova (165, 2-1), and senior Gary Smith (175, 1-1, 1 pin) each placed second; junior Micah Chaplin (190, 3-1, 1 pin) placed third; and sophomore Isaac Contreras (113, 2-2, 2 pins), senior Brandon Aguilar (215, 2-2, 2 pins), and freshman Xavier Rivers (285, 2-2, 2 pins) each placed fourth.
The lone non-placer was freshman Elias Cardenas (126, 2-2, 1 pin).
Chacon had 24 points, Baldwin 22, Cordova 19, Garrobo, Roybal, and Dominguez 18 apiece, Enriquez and Smith 16 each, Rodriguez and Chaplin both 14, Contreras, Aguilar and Rivers 11 apiece, and Cardenas six.
Individually, Chacon (106, 3-0, 3 pins) notched first-period pins over Amphitheater sophomore Lohan Kuribara during the quarterfinals, Salpointe junior Rhett Palmer during the semifinals, and Sahuarita freshman Richard Tanori for the championship.
Enriquez (120, 1-1, 1 pin) drew a quarterfinal bye, pinned Salpointe Aaron Gomez in the first period of the semifinals, and was decisioned 2-8 by Sahuarita junior Daniel Guerrero during the title bout.
Garrobo (132, 1-1, 1 pin) drew first-round and quarterfinal byes, pinned Empire senior Pedro Felix in the third period of the semifinals, and was pinned by Walden Grove junior Pedro Mendoza in the second period to place second.
Baldwin (138, 3-1, 3 pins) pinned Amphitheater junior Marquise Anders in the first period of the first round, pinned Salpointe sophomore Gage Geile in the quarterfinal first period, pinned Mica Mountain junior Julian Pappadia in the semifinal second period, and was decisioned 1-2 by Sahuarita junior Jordan Rael for the title.
Rodriguez (144, 3-1, 2 pins) pinned Amphitheater senior Vincent Holcomb in the quarterfinal second period, was pinned by Sahuarita freshman Sergio Macias in the semifinal second period, pinned Walden Grove junior Ammon Kriser in the consolation semifinal third period, and was decisioned 4-6 by Mica Mountain sop[homore Joseph Hernandez for the title.
Roybal (150, 2-1, 1 pin) drew a first-round bye, pinned Walden Grove sophomore Joseph Goehring in the quarterfinal third period, decisioned Sahuaro sophomore Isaac Lugo 6-4 in the semifinal, and was pinned by Sahuarita freshman Nathaniel Gallardo in the second period for the title.
Dominguez (157, 2-1, 2 pins) posted first-period pins over pinned Sahuaro sophomore Theodore Comer Jr. in the quarterfinals and Amphitheater Marques Allen in the semifinals and was pinned in the first period by Sahuarita junior Gabriel Gallardo for the title.
Cordova (165, 2-1) drew a first-round bye, received a quarterfinal forfeit from Salpointe senior Abel Alacron, posted a 13-3 semifinal major decision over Amphitheater senior Riley Robinson, and was decisioned 1-5 by Walden Grove junior Enzo Morales for the title.
Smith (175, 1-1, 1 pin) drew a quarterfinal bye, pinned Rio Rico sophomore Josue Ramirez in the semifinal first period, and was decisioned 5-12 by Mica Mountain junior Tyler Shumway for the title.
Chaplin (190, 3-1, 1 pin) pinned Sahuarita senior Keymon Hollis in the quarterfinal third period, fell by a 2-10 major decision to Empire senior Luke Lambert in the semifinal, pinned Douglas senior Damien Castro in the second period of the consolation semifinal, and decisioned Salpointe sophomore Joseph Figueroa 10-5 for third place.
Contreras (113, 2-2, 2 pins) pinned Douglas junior Conor Poor in the first period of the quarterfinals, was pinned by Salpointe junior Che Jenkins in the second period of the semifinals, pinned Mica Mountain freshman Jackson Arnau in the first period of the consolation semifinals, and was decisioned 4-7 by Walden Grove sophomore Brett Bates for fourth place.
Aguilar (215, 2-2, 2 pins) pinned Douglas senior Juan Galindo in the quarterfinal second period, fell by 2-10 major decision to Salpointe Orlando Gonzalez in the semifinals, pinned Walden Grove freshman Giovanni Coulibably in the consolation semifinal first period, and fell by a 3-13 major decision to Sahuarita senior Malcom Williams for fourth place.
Rivers (285, 2-2, 2 pins) pinned Sabino junior Levi Keippel in the quarterfinal first period, was pinned in the semifinal second period by Walden Grove junior Sal Nieves, pinned Mica Mountain sophomore Tristan Marrotte in the consolation semifinal first period, and was decisioned 0-6 by Salpointe senior Alejandro Arellano to place fourth.
Cardenas (126, 2-2, 1 pin) was decisioned 6-7 by Douglas senior Alexis Barron during the first round, drew a consolation first-round bye, posted a 14-4 major decision over Sabino freshman Daniel Thompson during the consolation second round, pinned Amphitheater freshman Aroda Mohamed in the first period of the consolation third round, and was decisioned 12-14 by Barron during the consolation semifinal.
Division III – Section IV Champions
The other 13 section champions numbered four each from Sahuarita and Walden Grove, three from Salpointe Catholic, and two from Mica Mountain.
Junior Daniel Guerrero (120, 2-0), junior Jordan Rael (138, 3-0, 2 pins), freshman Nathaniel Gallardo (150, 4-0, 4 pins), and junior Gabriel Gallardo (157, 3-0, 3 pins) of Sahuarita; senior Zachary Bates (126, 3-0, 2 pins), junior Pedro Mendoza (132, 4-0, 3 pins), junior Enzo Morales (165, 3-0, 2 pins), and junior Sal Nieves (285, 3-0, 2 pins) of Walden Grove; junior Che Jenkins (113, 2-0, 1 pin), junior Nathaniel Higgins (144, 3-0, 3 pins), and senior Orlando Gonzalez (215, 3-0, 1 pin) of Salpointe; and junior Tyler Shumway (175, 3-0, 2 pins) and senior Zach Shumway (190, 2-0, 1 pin) of Mica Mountain.
Division III – Section IV State Qualifiers
Sahuarita qualified 11 of 14 (.786), Walden Grove 8-13 (.615), Mica Mountain 8-14 (.571), Rio Rico 2-4 (.500), Salpointe Catholic 6-13 (.462), Empire and Sahuaro both 2-5 (.400), Douglas 2-10 (.200), Amphitheater 2-11 (.182), and Sabino none of six.
