Thatcher hosts Florence for quarterfinals
By Raymundo Frasquillo
GRAHAM COUNTY – The Chris Cook-coached No. 3 Thatcher Eagles (13-1 seeding, 19.5321 rating) host the No. 6 Justin Quick-coached Florence Gophers (13-1, 13.0953) on Wednesday, May 6. It is for the state team tourney quarterfinals.
The individual tourneys beginning on Friday, May 1 have 15 Section I entrants: Thatcher with two singles and two doubles, Pima with two singles and two doubles, Safford with a doubles, and Duncan with a singles.
Section II had 14 qualifiers: Pusch Ridge with two singles and two doubles, Sabino with two singles and a doubles, and Tanque Verde with two singles and a doubles.
Section III had 13 entrants: The Gregory School with a singles and two doubles, Saint David with a singles and a doubles, Desert Christian with two singles and a doubles, and Patagonia with a doubles.
Section IV had 13 entrants: Florence with a single and two doubles, Gilbert Classical with a singles and a doubles, Chandler Prep with a singles and a doubles, and Benjamin Franklin with two singles.
Section V had 12 entrants, Scottsdale Christian with a singles and two doubles, Scottsdale Prep a singles and two doubles, and Veritas Prep a doubles.
Section VI had four entrants: Flagstaff Basis with a singles and Anthem Prep with a singles and doubles.
Section VII had 16 entrants, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills with two singles and two doubles, Phoenix Country Day School a singles and two doubles, Saint John Paul II two singles, Glendale Prep a singles and a doubles, Yuma Catholic two singles and a doubles, and Odyssey Institute two doubles.
Division III State Singles Tourney Round 1 (May 1)
The first round of the singles tourney begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 1. Sixteen matches will be played at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 West Thunderbird Rd. Round 2 starts at 4 p.m. The quarterfinals begin at 1 p.m., and the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. The final is on Monday, May 4, at 5 p.m.
Top seed Gilbert Classical sophomore Ayden Thielson (9-0) meets Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills junior Brendon Kurzawski (11-0) for Match 1, Pusch Ridge junior Christian Skinner (12-1) meets Sabino junior Cade Haggert (8-6) for Match 2, Thatcher junior Jacob Reed (8-3) meets No. 8 The Gregory School senior Anthi Christoforidis (9-1) for Match 3, handler Prep sophomore Kenzo de Mesa (7-3) meets Saint David junior Kevin Freestone (8-3) for Match 4, Scottsdale Christian freshman Wesley Hartz (8-3) meets No. 5 Tanque Verde senior Karl Gajda (8-5) for Match 5, Benjamin Franklin senior Brett Poreddy (7-5) meets Scottsdale Prep junior Jackson Houghton (9-4) for Match 6, Desert Christian senior Nate Toresen (9-6) meets No. 4 Saint John Paul II junior Aleksander Piatek (11-2) for Match 7, Pima junior Eli Rogers (11-1) meets Yuma Catholic senior Austin Obika (11-1) for Match 8,
Pima junior Colt Lunt (10-1) meets Duncan sophomore Jared Kempton (12-1) for Match 9, Flagstaff Basis sophomore Karis Lee (6-4) meets No. 3 Pusch Ridge sophomore Dean Morthland (11-1) for Match 10, Desert Christian senior Levi Thigpen (10-5) meets Yuma Catholic junior Marco Gutierrez (9-4) for Match 11, Sabino senior Brandon Lloyd (12-2) meets No. 6 Benjamin Franklin senior Ty Sather (12-2) for Match 12, Thatcher sophomore Jackson Smith (13-1) meets Florence junior Alfred Zaklit (6-9) for Match 13, Phoenix Country Day sophomore Duncan Simpson (12-0) meets No. 7 Tanque Verde junior Jon Hetland (10-5) for Match 14, Saint John Paul II senior Vincent Grabiec (11-2) meets Anthem Prep senior Nicholas Van Cleve (5-3) for Match 15, and Glendale Prep junior Vasco Muro (8-5) meets No. 2 ALA – West Foothills senior Gian Marrero (9-0) for Match 16.
Division III State Doubles Tourney Round 1 (May 1)
The first round of the doubles tourney begins at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 1. Sixteen matches will be played at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center. Round 2 starts at 4 p.m. The quarterfinals begin at 1 p.m., and the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. The final is on Monday, May 4, at 5 p.m.
Top ranked Sabino senior David Gonzalez – junior Adam Olsen (0-0) meets Glendale Prep senior Max Beckenhauer – junior Schlofman (8-2) for Match 1, Tanque Verde juniors Tanner Larson – Brennan Trubee-Wik (7-5) meets Scottsdale Christian freshman John Conover – junior Preston Kinney (6-3) for Match 2, Anthem Prep sophomores Benjamin Young – Austin Simons (7-2) meets Thatcher senior Topher Rubalcava – Ranan Rubalcava (12-2) for Match 3, PCDS freshman Alex Ekpo – sophomore Avish Patel (10-2) meets Florence juniors Manuel Suarez – Joaquin Wilcox (7-8) for Match 4, Gilbert Classical seniors Joshua John – Oliver Anderson (1-0) meets The Gregory School senior John Samii – junior Marcus Swensen (6-1) for Match 5, Odyssey Institute seniors Luis Suessmut – Angelo Avina (9-2) meets Scottsdale Prep juniors Bowen Wood – Paul McCain (0-0) for Match 6, Pima seniors Jackson Paull – Jimmy Smith (8-0) meets No. 4 ALA – West Foothills senior Ryan Nicholl – sophomore Drake Mills (10-0) for Match 7, Patagonia seniors Jaxon Yslava – Lenin Albarran (6-3) meets Pusch Ridge seniors Aviel Arellano – Cody Urias (12-0) for Match 8.
Florence senior Jonathan Palmer – freshman Ezra Hansen (0-0) meets Chandler Prep senior Thomas Richey – freshman Gavin Mancebo (9-2) for Match 9, Odyssey juniors Owen Elledge – Lukas Kunz (7-2) meets No. 3 Thatcher senior Isaac Palmer – junior Braden Huish (10-1) for Match 10, ALA – West Foothills senior Iziic Morales – sophomore Aaron Zerbe (5-1) meets Desert Christian seniors Brayden Davis – Nolen Allen (10-5) for Match 11, Pima senior Garth Lunt – junior Kyler Reed (6-2) meets No. 6 Saint David seniors Ricky Blachly Jaxon Savage (8-1) for Match 12, The Gregory School junior Thomas Escobedo – sophomore Carson Namanny (5-0) meets Veritas Prep freshman August Engel – sophomore Ethan Nguyen (4-6) for Match 13, Safford sophomores Lucas Lackner – Trae Gaines (3-3) meets No. 7 Scottsdale Prep seniors Jack Lundstrom – Kellen Palmer (8-4) for Match 14, Scottsdale Christian seniors Jack Filby – Logan Liston (8-2) meets Yuma Catholic junior Arthur Scarborough – sophomore Deagan Mullis (6-6) for Match 15, PCDS senior Kongkasem Suchart – sophomore Ronan Simpson (0-0) meets No. 2 Pusch Ridge senior Lukas Herndon – junior Nick Herndon (11-0) for Match 16.
Division III State Team Tourney Quarterfinals (May 6)
The quarterfinals at the higher seeds on May 6 have No. 1 Tucson Pusch Ridge (12-0 seeding, 24.9673 rating) hosting No. 8 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-3, 9.6746) and No. 4 Phoenix Country Day School (11-1, 15.9007) hosting No. 5 Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-2, 14.3893) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket has No. 3 Thatcher (13-1, 19.5321) hosting No. 6 Florence (13-1, 13.0953) and No. 2 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) hosting No. 7 Tucson Sabino (10-3, 12.5622).
Division III State Team Tourney First Round (April 29)
The first-round results showed that each of the higher seeds advanced on April 29.
It was No. 1 Pusch Ridge 6-0 over No. 16 Tucson Tanque Verde (7-6, 4.6781), No. 8 Saint John Paul II 5-4 over No. 9 Glendale Prep (10-4, 9.1904), No. 5 The Gregory School 6-0 over No.12 Scottsdale Prep (9-3, 7.3130), and No. 4 Phoenix Country Day 5-1 over No. 13 Saint David (8-2, 7.0716) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket had No. 3 Thatcher 6-0 over No. 14 Chandler Prep (8-3, 6.0715), No. 6 Florence 6-3 over No. 11 Scottsdale Christian (8-2, 8.5169), No. 7 Sabino 5-0 over No. 10 Pima (11-1, 9.1553), and No. 2 ALA – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) 5-0 over No. 15 Gilbert Classical (8-2, 4.9796).
Division III State Rankings
The final statewide rankings as of 7 a.m. on April 23 were Tucson Pusch Ridge (12-0 seeding, 24.9673 rating) was No. 1, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) No. 2, Thatcher (13-1, 19.5321) No. 3, Phoenix Country Day School (11-1, 15.9007) No. 4, Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-2, 14.3893) No. 5, Florence (13-1, 13.0953) No. 6, Tucson Sabino (10-3, 12.5622) No. 7, and Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-3, 9.6746) No. 8.
Glendale Prep (10-4, 9.1904) was No. 9, Pima (11-1, 9.1553) No. 10, Scottsdale Christian (8-2, 8.5169) No. 11, Scottsdale Prep (9-3, 7.3130) No. 12, Saint David (8-2, 7.0716) No. 13, Chandler Prep (8-3, 6.0715) No. 14, Gilbert Classical (8-2, 4.9796) No. 15, and Tucson Tanque Verde (7-6, 4.6781) No. 16.
Division III Section I Standings
The section standing as of April 23 were Thatcher (13-1 seeding, 7-0 section), Pima (11-1, 6-1), Safford (9-6, 5-2), Miami (7-7, 4-3), Benson (5-10, 3-4), Globe (4-7, 2-5), Morenci (3-10, 1-6), and Duncan (0-13, 0-7).
Thatcher was 75-9 in singles and 37-5 in doubles, Pima 62-10 and 29-7, Safford 46-44 and 23-22, Miami 42-42 and 19-23, Benson 30-60 and 14-31, Globe 31-35 and 17-16, Morenci 15-63 and 8-31, and Duncan 14-21 and 9-15.
Twenty-eight section pairings resulted in wins by Thatcher over Globe (9-0, Feb. 26), Morenci (9-0, March 26), Benson (9-0, March 31), Safford (9-0, April 9), Pima (9-0, April 10), Duncan (9-0, April 14), and Miami (9-0, April 16); Pima over Safford (7-2, March 26), Duncan (8-1, March 30), Miami (9-0, April 2), Morenci (9-0, April 14), Benson (9-0, April 16), and Globe (8-1, April 21); Safford over Globe (7-2, March 4), Benson (7-2, April 7), Miami (6-3, April 14), Morenci (7-2, April 16), and Duncan (7-2, April 21); Miami over Globe (7-2, March 10), Morenci (9-0, March 31), Benson (7-2, April 9), and Duncan (7-2, April 20); Benson over Duncan (6-3, March 11), Globe (5-4, March 30), and Morenci (8-1, April 10); Globe over Duncan (7-2, March 26) and Morenci (9-0, April 20); and Morenci over Duncan (6-3, April 9).
No. 3 Thatcher Eagles (13-1 seeding, 19.5321 rating)
The Chris Cook-coached Thatcher Eagles (13-1) were 75-9 in singles and 37-5 in doubles. Singles top seed senior Isaac Palmer was 8-3, No. 2 senior Braden Huish 14-0, No. 3 senior Ranan Rubalcava 12-2, No. 4 senior Topher Rubalcava 14-0, No. 5 junior Jacob Reed 8-3, No. 6 sophomore Jackson Smith 13-1, and sophomore Grady Allen 6-0.
In doubles, No. 1 Palmer – Huish was 10-1, No. 2 Rubalcava – Rubalcava 12-2, No. 3 Smith – Allen 2-0, Reed – Allen 6-2, Huish – Allen 2-0, Huish – Reed 1-0, Reed – Smith 4-0.
No. 10 Pima Roughriders (11-1 seeding, 9.1553 rating)
The Brooke Bingham-coached Pima Roughriders (11-1) were 62-10 in singles and 29-7 in doubles. Top seed senior Jackson Paull was 6-2, No. 2 senior Jimmy Smith 9-1, No. 3 junior Colt Lunt 10-1, No. 4 senior Garth Lunt 8-2, No. 5 junior Eli Rogers 11-1, No. 6 junior Kyler Reed 7-1, junior Hollen Hoopes 4-0, junior Logan McCray 6-2, and senior Milo Raley 1-0.
In doubles, No. 1 Paull – Smith was 8-0, No. 2 Colt Lunt – Rogers 8-1, Colt Lunt – McCray 1-1, No. 3 Garth Lunt – Reed 6-2, Hoopes – Reed 1-0, Paull – Rogers 0-1, Paull – Reed 1-0, Colt Lunt – Raley 1-0, Smith – Rogers 0-1, Garth Lunt – McCray 0-1, Garth Lunt – Hoopes 1-0, Hoopes – McCray 1-0, Reed – Hoopes 1-0.
No. 18 Safford Bulldogs (9-6 seeding, 1.3806 rating
The Katie Jones-coached Safford (9-6) were 46-44 in singles and 23-22 in doubles. Singles top seed sophomore Lucas Lackner was 5-10, No. 2 junior John Archuleta 9-6, No. 3 sophomore Trae Gaines 9-6, No. 4 freshman Gunnar Crockett 9-6, No. 5 sophomore Nathan Tarnutzer 9-6, and No. 6 sophomore Jackson Smith 5-10.
In doubles, No. 1 Lackner – Gaines was 3-3, No. 2 Archuleta – Crockett 5-3, No. 3 Tarnutzer – Smith 7-6, Lackner – Archuleta 3-3, Gaines – Crockett 3-3, Lackner – Smith 0-1, Lackner – Tarnutzer 1-0, Archuleta – Gaines 0-1, Crockett – Tarnutzer 1-1, Gaines – Smith 0-1.
No. 26 Miami Vandals (7-7 seeding, 0.2524)
The Joy Wilson-coached Miami Vandals (7-7) were 42-42 in singles and 19-23 in doubles. Singles top seed junior Jose Zarate was 7-7, No. 2 senior Chris White 4-7, No. 3 junior Hector Mariscal 8-6, No. 4 sophomore Jeriah Palmer 6-8, No. 5 sophomore Joshua Dillon 5-2, No. 6 freshman Brayden Saucedo 4-4, senior Jeffery Askew 5-6, junior Rudy Dozal 3-1, junior Landon Serereid 0-1.
In doubles, No. 1 Askew – Mariscal was 5-5, No. 2 Zarate – White 3-5, No. 3 Dillon – Palmer 1-5, Askew – Zarate 0-1, Zarate – Mariscal 1-1, Zarate – Palmer 3-0, White – Mariscal 0-1, Mariscal – Palmer 1-0, White – Palmer 1-0, Palmer – Saucedo 1-2, Dillon – Dozal 1-0, Dillon – Saucedo 1-0, Dozal – Saucedo 1-2, Dozal – Serereid 0-1.
No. 33 Benson Bobcats (5-10 seeding, minus 5.8880 rating)
The Audrey Chapman-coached Benson Bobcats (5-10) were 30-60 in singles and 14-31 in doubles. Singles top seed junior Casey Acuna was 3-11, No. 2 sophomore Jose Nunez 6-8, No. 3 senior Isaac Garcia 4-10, No. 4 sophomore Guillermo Macias 5-10, No. 5 sophomore Jaxon Davis 3-7, No. 6 sophomore Dominic Estrella 6-9, freshman Lionel Hummel 3-4, and freshman Sebastian Garcia 0-1.
In doubles, No. 1 Acuna – Garcia was 2-12, No. 2 Macias – Nunez 5-9, No. 3 Estrella – Davis 4-5, Estrella – Hummel 2-3, Sebastian Garcia – Hummel 0-1, Macias – Estrella 1-0, Davis – Hummell 0-1.
No. 34 Globe (4-7 seeding, minus 7.3492 rating)
The Emmett McBride-coached Globe Tigers (4-7) were 31-35 in singles and 17-16 in doubles. Singles top seed senior Kaden Graham was 3-7, No. 2 senior Spencer McBride 4-7, No. 3 junior Matthew Pollock 3-7, No. 4 junior Matthew Bolinger 4-6, No. 5 junior Brody East 7-3, No. 6 senior Mario Guerrero 2-0, junior Caden Dryden 4-5, junior Aiden Alvarez 2-0, and junior William Montague 2-0.
In doubles, No. 1 Bolinger – Dryden was 2-4, No. 2 Pollock – East 4-5, No. 3 Graham – Spencer McBride 5-2, East – Dryden 1-0, Spencer McBride – Bolinger 1-2, Bolinger – Graham 1-0, Alvarez – Montague 2-0, Graham – Dryden 0-2, Dryden – Pollock 1-0, and Spencer McBride – Dallin McBride 0-1.
No. 41 Morenci Wildcats (3-10 seeding, minus 12.0816 rating)
The Brenda Street-coached Morenci Wildcats (3-10) were 15-63 in singles and 8-31 in doubles. Singles top seed senior Jaydon Cueto was 1-11, No. 2 senior Hector Morales 1-12, No. 3 freshman Riley Stephenson 3-9, No. 4 junior Ryan Sullivan 3-10, No. 5 freshman William Henrie 3-9, No. 6 senior Bryce McGahee 1-3, and freshman Gabriel Tachie-Menson 3-9.
In doubles, No. 1 Cueto – Morales was 1-11, No. 2 Sullivan – Stephenson 3-7, No. 3 Henrie – McGahee 0-3, Morales – Stephensen 0-1, Sullivan – Tachie-Menson 0-2, Sullivan – Henrie 0-1, Tachie-Menson – Stephenson 0-1, Henrie – Tachie-Menson 3-5, and Tachie-Menson – McGahee 1-0.
No. 46 Duncan Wildkats (0-13 seeding, minus 19.5459 rating)
The Shannon Kempton-coached Duncan Wildkats (0-13) were 14-21 in singles and 9-15 in doubles. Half a full team yielded three singles and two doubles matches to each scheduled opponent.
Top seed sophomore Jared Kempton was 12-1, No. 2 sophomore Canyon Carver 3-10, and No. 3 junior Aaron Zamora 1-10.
In doubles, No. 1 Kempton – Carver was 9-4 and No. 2 Zamora 0-11.
